AAUW NEWS OF NOTE

President: Kay Campbell (781) 740-0788

Membership VPs:Sheila Doherty (781) 848-8122 and Hollie Bagley (781) 749-6274

Program VPs:Allison Marshall (781) 749-8591 and Jane Moore (781) 659-9443

Mission Statement: AAUW advocates equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

Vision Statement: AAUW is committed to making a significant impact on education and equity for all women and girls.

We will remove barriers and develop opportunities to enable women and girls to reach their full potential.

This shared vision drives the work of AAUW at all levels.

HINGHAM AREA BRANCH APRIL 2007

CALENDAR

April 4, Wednesday Adventures in Dining, 6:30 PM

Ecco, Weymouth

April 5, Thursday Clutter-Bugs, 4:30 PM

Panera, Derby Shoppes, Hingham

April 10, Tuesday Branch Meeting, 7:00 PM

Hingham Public Library

April 11, Wednesday Writer’s Group, 7:30 PM

Home of Gwen Sayian

April 16, Monday Girls’ Game Night, 7:00 PM

Home of Hollie Bagley

April 23, Monday Equal Pay Day Event, 10AM – 3PM

Great Hall, State House, Boston

May 5-6, 2007 State Spring Convention and Annual Meeting

Holiday Inn, Marlborough, MA

May 8, Tuesday Girls’ Game Night, 7:00 PM

Home of Sharon Lemoff

May 15, Tuesday Celebration Banquet, 6:30 PM

The Common Market, Quincy

BRANCH MEETING

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 10^th at 7:00 PM at the Hingham Public Library. The program will feature Coach Yourself to Leadership by Ginny O’Brien. Author O'Brien is an executive and corporate coach, specializing in leadership development and women’s advancement. Ginny’s coaching model encompasses five core areas of development: authenticity, vision and strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, assertive communication, and the ability to build and nurture strategic relationships. She has worked with managers, directors and senior executives — both men and women — from small, medium and large companies, including corporations such as Avery Dennison, Thomson Financial, Texas Instruments, and Time. Learn more about Ginny at: www.columbiaconsult.com. Ginny’s latest book, Coach Yourself to Leadership, resonates with adults at every stage of life who want to be the best they can be, as business people, parents, teachers, volunteers and retirees. Copies of the book will be available for sale at this event, which will be co-sponsored by Buttonwood Books and Toys. Be sure to come to be informed and entertained.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Thanks to Allison Marshall for arranging to have Sally Matson appear at our March Branch meeting as Susan B. Anthony. Though we couldn’t publicize the program to the outside world, we had a large crowd of residents, as well as a respectable showing of members, including two of our newest -- Judith Gabbe and Patricia Laidler.

It is a thrill to peruse the talented roster of leaders for our branch officer elections on April 10th. Thank you all for taking on these challenging yet rewarding roles. And those of you who are interested in serving on a committee or in an appointed position on the board, please don’t forget to fill out the enclosed survey. We need your talent and input to keep growing! Kudos and bravo to our talented and persuasive Nominating Committee: Pat Bologna and Elaine Cadogan.

Please try to attend our April 10^th meeting, which will feature a fascinating and entertaining speaker. We’ll also present our Annual Recognition Award. We’ll vote on our proposed budget, and on our proposed slate of officers. That being said, I promise to keep the business portion short and sweet.

If you are free the weekend of May 5-6, try to make time to attend the Spring Convention in Marlborough. See below for more details. They have some wonderful speakers lined up, and it will be a great time to network, be inspired, and get ideas for our branch for next year. Registration information will be available in the next BayStater.

A warm AAUW welcome to Catherine Schindewolf, who joined our branch just last week. We look forward to getting to know all our new members in the months to come. Enjoy Spring, everyone! Kay

NOMINATIONS:

The Nominations Committee is pleased to present the following outstanding candidates for office:

President: Sheila Doherty
Co-Vice Presidents, Program: Jane Moore and Diane Morash

Co-Vice President, Membership: Patricia McKay (one year)
Treasurer/Finance: Allison Marshall
Secretary: Katherine Gabriel

This slate of nominees for the 2007-2009 biennium will be presented for ballot at the April Branch meeting. Installation of branch officers will occur at the May banquet.

We thank everyone who participated in this process, and we are very grateful for your invaluable contributions.

Sincerely,

Pat Bologna
Elaine Cadogan

Equal Pay Day Event at the State House in Boston, Monday April 23, 2007 10 AM-3 PM

AAUW-MA and the MA Commission on the Status of Women are collaborating, along with several other organizations, in an Equal Pay Day kick-off event at the State House. Evelyn Murphy will be the keynote speaker. After a panel presentation on wage inequity issues, participants will receive lobbying training and will have the chance to visit some legislators. Check out the state website for more details: www.aauw-ma.org. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in something at the state level, this might be the event for you!

WAGE Clubs and Equal Pay Day

With Equal Pay Day approaching on April 24, AAUW has joined forces with The WAGE Project (http://www.wageproject.org/) and other coalition partners to promote WAGE Clubs, a grassroots effort designed to help close the wage gap and get women treated and paid fairly at work. They are groups of 5-10 women who come together in a safe place where they can obtain support from other women as they share personal stories about sex discrimination at work, gather information, build allies, then go to the top to create change in their workplaces and communities. AAUW branches are encouraged to join this effort by committing to launch WAGE Clubs in their communities and their workplaces. Information about how to start a WAGE Club can be found in the AAUW Pay Equity Resource Kit along with other resources to fight for pay equity.

STATE CONVENTION May 5-6, 2007, Holiday Inn, Marlborough

Women of the World: Perspectives on Health, Wealth and Music

Watch the next BayStater and www.aauw-ma.org for the final agenda of what promises to be an inspiring weekend. The convention will include a musical performance, an EF Fundraising dinner, an awards luncheon, as well speakers on microeconomic lending, undocumented female workers, and women around the world making music. The Holiday Inn is offering double occupancy rooms at $95 plus tax. To get that rate, call 508-481-3000 and mention “AAUW-MA Convention”. Reservation deadline is April 20^th.

Use the registration form below if you’d like.

GIRLS’ GAME NIGHT

Hollie Bagley will host the next game night at her home on Monday, April 16^th. Call her at 781-749-6274 or e-mail: holliebagley@gmail.com to RSVP.

WRITER’S GROUP

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 11th at the home of Gwen Sayian. We always welcome new writers, so if you’re interested in attending please call Kay Campbell at 781-740-0788 or e-mail: kaycam@aol.com for the writing assignment.

ADVENTURES IN DINING

Join us at Ecco, a highly-recommended Italian restaurant on Route 18. Wednesday’s are Pasta Nights at Ecco, so bring your appetites! We’ll meet there at 6:30PM on Wednesday, April 4^th. Call or e-mail Kay Campbell if you want to join us. (781-740-0788 or kaycam@aol.com).

CLUTTER BUGS

The group will convene at Panera’s Restaurant at Hingham’s Derby Shoppes on Thursday, April 5^th at 4:30PM

ANNUAL DINNER

It's time again for our annual dinner - the time flies and it's spring again! We will be meeting this year at the Common Market on Tuesday, May 15 at 6:30 PM. The Common Market is located at 93 Willard Street in Quincy. Choices of entree are chicken cordon bleu or baked stuffed haddock. Please e-mail me at sheilad1234@usadatanet.net or call me at (781) 267-1098 by May 8th to let me know if will attend. The price for dinner is $23 per person which includes salad, entree, rolls and butter, dessert and coffee.

Checks made out to AAUW-Hingham should be sent Sheila Doherty. Thanks in advance for your prompt response. We hope to see you all there! Sheila

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Plant a seed and watch membership grow.

This month we want to tell you a membership success story about our latest new member, Catherine Schindewolf. She found our branch through a chance meeting with Taunton Area Branch member Beryl Domingo. Catherine and Beryl attended the MassGAP Celebration of the Women of the Patrick Administration event at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel on March 13^th. Beryl attended the event because, as AAUW members, we were invited since AAUW-MA participated in the MassGAP Steering Committee to recruit outstanding women for the Patrick administration. AAUW’s member on the steering committee was Marion Kilson, AAUW-MA Past President. Beryl and Catherine struck up a conversation when Catherine learned that Beryl was an AAUW member since Catherine’s Aunt Angela, who is a lifelong AAUW member on Long Island, has long been encouraging Catherine to join AAUW. Beryl was able to suggest our branch since the Taunton Area Branch and our branch worked closely on our collaborative action projects, Family Friendly Workplaces and My Turn to Learn. It just goes to show that when we talk about AAUW and show our enthusiasm for AAUW, we are encouraging women to join AAUW. We should talk up AAUW every chance we get. We are planting the seeds for the future, and when the time is right, AAUW will continue to grow one member at a time. Thank you to Aunt Angela and Beryl for your role in recruiting Catherine. Beryl gets a chance to partake in the awards of the Member-Get-A-Member campaign and Aunt Angela gets the satisfaction of knowing that her niece is finally an AAUW member. Catherine joined at the perfect time. By paying next year’s dues, the rest of this year is free and there are still some outstanding events coming up: the April branch meeting, the May banquet, our special interest groups meetings, the April 23 Equal Pay Day Event at the State House and the Spring Convention, May 5-6 in Marlborough. Please continue to help AAUW to grow. Plant a seed—bring a guest to the branch meeting.

We extend a warm welcome to Catherine Schindewolf, Grinnell College BA (History and Biology), Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich MS (Biology), Julius-Maximillians University, Wurzburg PhD (Biochemistry).

Chit Chat: First, our condolences go out to Mary Ryan on the passing of her husband Pat on March 29th. Mary is a former branch president and a long-time branch member. As he wished, Pat will be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. Mary writes that there are no memorial services or visiting hours planned. Kathy Gabriel brought an international guest to our March branch meeting - Hongwei Liu from China. Hongwei will be teaching Chinese language and culture at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School next year. She is here as part of a program sponsored and funded by the College Board. Back home, she teaches English at the University level, and lives a four hour train ride southwest of Bejing. We look forward to seeing her at future branch events while she's in the U.S.! Pat Bologna announced that Ginny Giordano has accepted the nomination for AAUW-MA treasurer. Our branch will be well represented at the state level. Congratulations, Ginny. We'll be sure to vote for you at the annual. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Patricia McKay on her recent surgery. We are sure she will feel better each day especially now that spring is approaching. It was great to see two of our newest members, Judith Gabbe and Patricia Laidler enjoying Susan B. Anthony. The audience was so packed we did not get a chance to introduce them properly. Next month!

Happy Spring Everyone! Hollie and Sheila

PUBLIC FORUM

AAUW has been invited to attend a public Form on Wind Power for Hingham. Branch Member Pat Granahan is involved in an effort to introduce wind power to Hingham. Through her, we are invited to attend a public forum on the session at Hingham Town Hall on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 from 7:30-9:00 PM in the Sanborn Auditorium. The principal speaker is Melissa Elkinton, an assistant staff engineer at the UMass Renewal Energy Research Laboratory at UMass Amherst. There will be a panel and a Q&A session.

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP SHEET

Spring is the time to start thinking of the Fall. As the AAUW year winds down for the summer, we have to begin planning for another AAUW year. There is much that goes into making this branch function and grow. We need every member’s help. Enclosed in this month’s newsletter is a list of volunteer tasks that run the gamut from “a nice little job” to an elected office. As a new slate of officers begins to plan, they need to know who is willing to do what. Look over the list and think about how you can contribute to your branch. Send in your top three choices with your dues. There is space on the bottom of the dues bill. If you are already volunteering for a job listed, please indicate you are willing to continue. We need you, but wanted others to know many of the tasks necessary for the operation of the branch. New members, we need you. We train and we mentor and we have fun. Veteran members, we need you too. Maybe the time is finally right for you to “give back” to the branch. We recognize that everyone’s time is valuable, so the more volunteers we have, the less time all of us have to spend. Take a risk—volunteer. You won’t regret it!

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Our branch needs your support. Many hands make light work. Look at the list below and decide how you can help. You may choose more than one way. Each bullet is a separate task. If you already serve in one of these capacities and are willing to continue, please indicate such. If you need more information about what is involved, ask Hollie, Kay or Sheila. Please return your top three choices with your dues payment.

Program

· Serve as co-chair of Program Committee

· Organize one branch program

· Serve on Program Committee to help plan and develop programs

Publicity

· Write and distribute branch publicity monthly

· Clip news articles and keep scrapbook of branch publicity

· Write an AAUW Corner article

· Design flyers for monthly programs

· Distribute flyers for AAUW publicity

Membership

· Serve as Co-Membership VP

· Serve on Membership Committee

· Publish the Membership Directory

Social

· Set up coffee and refreshments at monthly meetings

· Arrange Holiday Social and May Banquet

· Organize Pot Luck supper

Recognition Award

· Raise funds to support the award

· Chair the Recognition Award Committee

· Serve on the committee

Nominating

· Chair the Nominating Committee

· Serve on the committee

Educational Foundation

· Serve as EF chair

· Help raise funds for EF

Legal Advocacy Fund

· Serve as LAF chair

· Help raise funds for LAF

Newsletter

· Publish and distribute monthly

Finance

· Serve as branch treasurer

Secretary

· Serve as recording secretary for board meetings

· Corresponding secretary—send appropriate cards to members

· Distribute BayStater to those who cannot receive it electronically

Public policy

· Keep members informed on issues important to AAUW mission

Non-elected board position

· Women’s issues

· Community issues

· Education issues