Greetings from Pat

Dear AAUW Branch Members:

Welcome to a brand new Program Year!  I wanted to greet you with a title that included alliteration, but I struggled to create anything that made sense.  The best I could come up with was an unacceptable Pat’s Post-Its.  I will be using the above title for the next two years.  Simplicity has some value.

My reading this summer included Jane Fonda’s My Life So Far.  Her third, final chapter, was titled Beginnings.  I’m kind of relating to that in that I’m in my 60s, like Jane, and I have, in the past year, had some new beginnings.  I have become a mother-in-law, a grandmother, and now a President.  Titles change.  Each change is a challenge and one to look forward to; not giving in to looking back and lamenting what was.  I hope I can carry out the title of President to everyone’s acceptance.  I look forward to it.

I attended Kay Crisanti’s memorial service in June.  I was totally impressed with her devotion to nature, the arts, and community.  She was a genuine asset to Lock Haven, and I know she will be missed by all who knew her.

Andie and I attended an AAUW Leadership Conference in July.  It was inspiring to be among so many dynamic women with so many innovative ideas.

I hope to see all of you at the September meeting.  I am enthusiastic about the things we have planned.  I am encouraging all of you to become involved in some part of our fine organization.  Our mission statement includes Positive Societal Changes and there are so many possibilities for our group to be recognized in that area.

See you in September.

Sincerely,

Pat

Please bring one of your delicious creations to share and come and meet our scholarship winners.  Meeting will follow and yearbooks will be distributed.

Directions to Carol Hildebrand’s House

Enter Woolrich on Park Avenue.  The second left turn after Hillcrest Nursery is Sagamore Hills.  Turn left into Sagamore Hills on Cardinal Drive, East.  Stay on that until you come to the first right, which is Hummingbird Lane.  Hildebrand’s house is the first on the right.  It is 1024 Hummingbird Lane.

No minutes were taken at the May dinner.

Minutes of the Program Planning Meeting of the American Association of University Women, Lock Haven Branch, July 21, 2005

The program planning meeting was held on July 21, 2005, at the Ross Library.  In attendance were Andie Bennett, Beth Brobst, Pat Burd, Amy Carroll, Linda Frye, Sandy Hammann, Carol Hildebrand, Jo Anne Hoberman, Margaret Irwin, and Dianne Whitaker.

Program:  The following tentative program was agreed upon for 2005–2006.  The program as listed is tentative until Andie is able to confirm speakers and dates of some of the events.

Education Foundation:  Beth Brobst reported that seven scholarships, four undergraduate and three graduate, were awarded to the following people:

Undergraduate

Graduate

New Business

New Committees

Pat Burd stated that she would like to form two new committees, Continued Learning and New Member Strategies. The role of these committees will be explained at the general meeting in September. Pat asked that all members consider serving on one of these committees.

Holiday Event

Dianne Whitaker reported that the city of Lock Haven is planning a Festival of Trees. Trees will be decorated by various community organizations and placed on display in the Ross Library. An auction of the trees will be held December 3, 2005 and the proceeds from each tree will be given to the sponsoring organization. The members agreed that we should take part in this event. Pat will ask for volunteers to form a committee to plan the decorations for the tree.

News and Updates after the summer

√  Welcome Back to Mary Coploff and all returning members and welcome to new members Lorraine Haines and Lisa May.

√  Laura Long and Michelle Long have graciously agreed to head up Candidates' Night (Tues. Oct. 11) this year, but will need help and are looking for some volunteers to be on the committee.

√  National has issued some new criteria for membership which will be posted on the website where you get your Lockletter.  If you do not have access to a computer we will try to have some extra copies at our Sept. and Oct. meetings or you can ask a member with email to print one for you.

√  Our two high school service awards went to Taryn Bartholomew and Willa Vaccaro this past May.

√  Regina Kraus spoke at the Board meeting on 8/18 about the Friends of Ross Library's literacy project "Books for Babies."  They would like us to consider becoming a partner with them.  This will be discussed at the Sept. meeting.  For more information contact Regina 726-6294 or rkraus@kcnet.org.

√  Pat brought up the idea of having a discussion group to meet during the week (during the day) to discuss topics of interest.  There would not be any set schedule of meeting.  Just hoping to get us together to share ideas.  More at Sept. meeting.

√  Our membership chair, Jayne Arnone, is recovering from major surgery and doing much better.  However, until she is feeling stronger, Toni Tomasi will be taking over the duties of her office.

√  Information concerning the AAUW Clarification of Associate Degree or Equivalent Criteria will appear on our website.

Christmas Tree Auction in December

Early in December, the city of Lock Haven will sponsor a Christmas Tree auction.  The trees, decorated, will be placed throughout the Ross Library.  All trees will need to have a theme and decorations to go with the theme.  Money received for the trees will go back to the organizations that decorated them.  We have a new member, Lisa May, who has agreed to chair this program for AAUW.  A few members have responded, but we could use a few more.  We need members who have some Christmas ideas for a theme and perhaps some skills to show others how to make decorations.  I am thrilled that Lisa has agreed to chair this and I would like to see more members respond.  We will need to start in September, as the auction is December 3^rd and 4^th.  That will give us a good two months to carry the project off.  Please let Lisa know at lmay2@suscom.net or Pat at aburd@kcnet.org.

Here are two additions for your address book

Madeleine Davis
100 West Avenue, B-12
Jenkintown, PA  19046

Peg Schwarz
1001 Oppenheimer Drive, Apt 312
Los Alamos, NM  87544

Other Information

AAUW PA Branch Leaders Meeting

In July, Andie and I attended the AAUW PA Branch Leaders Meeting in Lewisburg.  We were proud to represent our branch.  It was a day filled with a lot of information.  Some aspects of the National Convention were brought to our attention.  The theme was Education as the Gateway to Women’s Economic Security.  One major happening at the national level was a change in By-Laws.  We will now be accepting, for membership, women with an Associate’s Degree or (equivalent) and women with a Nursing Degree (3 years), but not having a Bachelor’s Degree.  I look forward to receiving the By-Laws change in writing as I tried to take notes, but was unable to grasp all that was mentioned.  The By-Laws will be something we will have to be working on at our level this year.

In the afternoon, we broke up into small groups and brainstormed ideas on different topics all leading to how we could be more visible in our communities.  I hope to receive some feedback on the results

We also were informed that AAUW’s Education Foundation is the largest funding source of scholarships for women in the WORLD!  I thought that was an impressive fact.  It feels great belonging to a group that has achieved that status.