February 2019 President’s Corner: From the Vice-Presidents: Elaine Barthelemy 952.454.7200 Cindy Menas 952.212.0254 Mary Gerenz 952.985.0647 Happy Valentines Day! Awfully quiet at my place without the laughter and DAKOTA COUNTY AND conversation of my sons who were here for the EARLY MINNESOTA HISTORY holidays, but I am enjoying their Christmas gifts. A Matt Carter, the Executive Director of Dakota white noise machine helps me doze off to ocean County Historical Society (DCHS), will present a waves or a rainstorm, while a weighted blanket program on Dakota County and early Minnesota quiets my restless legs. The tricky part is crawling History at our January meeting. Dakota County out from under that heavy cover when the sounds was one of the nine original counties established of water inspire a trip to the bathroom. in the Minnesota Territory, and many of the im- portant people, places, and things related to Min- What a great turnout we had at our January meet- nesota early culture can be traced back to it. ing! Not only did our speaker Mike Lynch give an entertaining talk, but he also accepted our invita- The mission of the DCHS is “To preserve, inter- tion to join us for lunch at the Fireside giving mem- pret and promote the history of Dakota County.” bers more time to chat with him. Special apprecia- To that end DCHS operates three sites: LeDuc tion this month goes to Vice-Presidents Cindy Historic Estate, Lawshe Memorial Museum, and Menas and Mary Gerenz for booking speakers Sibley Historic Site, as well as offering tours, ex- who are enthusiastic and informative and to Mary hibits, camps, and many interactive programs that Lempke for all of her hard work as Member- cover all manner of topics including the Civil War, ship Chair. the Dakota People, Minnesota as the original “Silicon Valley” of the world, traditional agriculture, Kudos to those who submitted their Member Inter- food processing, and market gardening, Mississip- est Surveys. In case you’re worried that you for- pi, Minnesota, and Vermillion River histories, got, the good news is that you can still turn it in at quack medicine, politics, and much more. Please the February meeting. The nominating committee, join us — Mr. Carter has many topics from which which includes three board members as well as to choose for his presentation! three ladies from the general membership, will meet in February. If you would like to serve on the Matt Carter has served as Executive Director of nominating committee, please contact Myrna Do- DCHS since January 2016. He holds a Masters cherty or me. Degree in Public History from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and has done extensive Although predictions indicate that this could be the research on various topics related to both Minne- mildest winter in a while, I bet we will have enough sota and Wisconsin. cold/snowy days for our snowbirds to justify head- ing south. Wherever you are, I hope your Valen- tines of all ages and sizes are good to you. Monday, February 4 Your POTNS — Elaine Board Meeting* - 8:30am General Meeting - 9:15am ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Business portion begins at 9:30) : If School District Spirit of Life Presbyterian Church Winter Weather Policy 14401 Pilot Knob Road, Apple Valley 196 is closed or running two hours late, our Board Board Meetings are open; All members have “Voice” and General Meetings are cancelled. New Sociables: Bloom Where You Are Transplanted! 50/50 Greeter/Callers Roni Nelson 952.432.3164 Claire Ramsay 952.432.8496 Joan Rockvoy 651.485.7778 Nancy Swoverland 651.628.9464 At each general meeting we sell raffle tickets: 5 We welcomed 7 visitors at our January meet- for $1. The winning ticket is usually drawn by our ing. Diane Meyer and Carol Deal have volun- speaker. The winner gets half the total amount teered to mentor our guests in February. collected; the other half goes to the New Socia- Please consider signing up to wear the daisy bles General Fund. If the Memorial Fund needs sash and help welcome visitors at a general additional money, it comes out of the 50/50 re- meeting. (And thank you to all of the regular ceipts. (Please have dollar bills or small bills to members who shepherd visitors, especially make the “half & half” division easier - thank those who come on their own.) you!!) Members, please be sure to pick up your As in the past, we will not sell tickets during the nametag when you arrive and return it to the break so be sure to buy them before the meeting! box when you leave. Congratulations to Pat Lynam who won $34.50 at the Hospitality January meeting Pat Beseman 651.688.0242 Mary Vogtman 952.898.1599 Linda Kirkey 651.587.5067 Lewis House Regular and decaf coffee, tea, water, and Diane Kouba 651.332.2118 snacks will be available for your enjoyment at Kristy Harms 612.802.0801 the general meetings. In January snacks will be Spread a little love this month and donate Valen- provided by Judy DeNardo, Myrna Docherty, tines for the children residing at Lewis House to Gayle Gulbrandson, and Joan Rockvoy. share with their classmates. (You might include a Please look for the sheet by the snack table Valentine for a child to where you may sign up to provide goodies for give to Mom; we all the following month’s general meeting. need a Valentine, sometimes!) For the sake of our environment, we are again suggesting that you bring your own coffee cup Your donated Valen- to the meeting. tines can be placed in the blue bin at the back of the room at the Feb- ruary meeting. In keep- Membership ing with school re- Mary Lempke 952.693.6605 strictions about edible treats, please limit your To date we have received membership dues donations to paper Valentines. (Stickers, erasers, from 183 women for the 2018-2019 year. pencils, etc. are acceptable.) Please remember, all donations must be unused and unopened. Additional Membership Directories are now available for $2.00. Please contact Mary if you As always, thank you for your generosity. The would like to purchase one (preferably by email residents and staff at Lewis House are grateful for at — [email protected]. - 2 - all that you do each month! location where they are held), and copies of our newsletter for handy reference. There is also an update page con- taining any updates/changes that may have been emailed by Deb after the monthly newsletter was Lunch with the Bunch published. No more searching for lost or deleted Lola Hanna 952.432.1414 emails or monthly newsletters. Check it out on Susan Dentinger 651.423.6132 your computer, tablet or smart phone. Chris Johansen 952.894.3726 Activity chairs, please use the webmaster link After the February general meeting we’ll be going on the home page to notify Cindy of any perma- to the Market Grille located in HyVee at 16150 Pi- nent changes that occur throughout the year, lot Knob Road, Lakeville. Join us for good food, such as leaders, time, locations, etc. fun, and great conversation! Sunshine Carol Turcotte 952.423.2864 Kathy Steen. 651.882.9760 February The purpose of this group is to aid members when special needs arise Activities and to provide appropriate assistance, e.g. rides to medical appointments following surgery. Any member who 500 has such needs should contact Carol Mary Knoblach 952.884.5713 or Kathy. Maxine Abeln 952.881.5683 When possible, it would be helpful if those 2nd Wednesday, needing transportation would contact us at February 13, 11:20 - 3:00 least a week in advance. This will enable us to Players meet at Rascal’s Res- give our volunteers notice for planning their taurant in Apple Valley on the schedules too. second Wednesday of each month. We have lunch at We have just a few new volunteers so far this year 11:20 and play 500 until about and would like to remind our past volunteers to 3:00. A $1.00 playing fee will be collected from sign up again if you are still interested. We could everyone, which is returned as a prize to the win- use your assistance and wish to thank you all for ning scores. There will be a signup sheet at the your help. general meeting or you can call Mary Knoblach or Max Abeln if you would like to be added to the playing list. www.newsociables.org New Sociables Website Cindy Menas 952.212.0254 Our New Sociables website is FULL of infor- mation. Check it out! You will find links to board members & activity chairs, descriptions of our many activities (for directions - just click on the - 3 - Book Group Judy Rau 651.451.7215; Deb Lingen 952.686.7333 NORMALLY 4th Thursday — Special Event: Thursday, February 14; 9:30am—Carpool, 10:30am—Curtain Time On Valentine’s Day we’re attending the play “Stewardess” at the Minnesota History Theatre, 30 - 10th Street East, St. Paul. Curtain time is 10:30. For background, a companion book is Femininity in Flight by Kathleen M. Barry (available as an e-book from the website of the same name, or in paperback from Amazon.) . We encourage you to form your own carpools, however those who have not done so may meet up at the Regal Eagan 16 Theaters, 2055 Cliff Road. Due to the possibility of inclement weather we will depart there at 9:30. Please pay your driver $2.00 and share the cost of parking.