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 promotes equity for all women and girls, lifelong education, and positive societal change.

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     FEBRUARY  2006

 

CALENDAR

                          February 5, Sunday             Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons Hotel, Boston

 

                        February 7, Tuesday              Branch Meeting: Never Kissed A Frog; Never Had To: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Literacy,

                                                                            Bella’s Italian Restaurant, 933 Rockland Street, Rockland, 7:00 PM.                                                   

                                                                            Facilitator: Heather Gregory, 781-319-0465, hlld@aol.com

 

                        February 16, Thursday          Girls Game Night, Home of Sandy Carle, 7:00PM

 

                        February 23, Thursday          Adventures in Dining: Dinner, Home of Ruth Powell, 6:30 PM

 

                        February 27, Monday            Writers’ Group, 7:30 PM, home of Patricia McKay

 

                        March 4, Saturday                 My Turn to Learn: A College Fair for the Non-Traditional Student,                                                                        Branch collaborative project with Foxboro, Taunton and Worcester,

                                                                              1-5PM, The Westgate Mall, Brockton, MA

                                   

                        March 14, Tuesday                Branch Meeting: Energy Plans for Our Future:

                                 What Can Your Town Do? Hingham Public Library, 7:00 PM.

 

Branch Meeting

 

Tuesday, February 7, 2006, from 7 to 9 PM, Bella’s Restaurant, 933 Hingham Street, Rockland

Financial Literacy Workshop

 

Peace of Mind means knowing where your money is. Financial security means Independence. Come and enjoy yourself as we take the mystery out of money management and learn how to build our financial confidence.  Louise "Weejie" Dodd and Nancy Olt, both partners of the Women's Financial Network, will give us a presentation entitled Never Kissed a Frog Never Had To: A Women’s Guide to Financial Security. We'll convene in the private dining room at Bella's in Rockland at 7PM. Cheese and crackers will be provided and you may order beverages on your own from the menu. Bella's is located at 933 Hingham Street, Rockland (just off Exit 14 from Route 3). Please bring a friend and join us for what promises to be an enlightening evening.  Note: no products or services are being sold at this meeting. For more information on the meeting, contact Heather Gregory.  (781-319-0465, hlld@aol.com)

 

PRESIDENT’S LETTER, Thank You Note

 

Today was one of those mild and sunny January days we have enjoyed this winter. Late in the afternoon, I went for a quiet walk, so grateful to hear the birds singing hesitantly as if they couldn’t believe the reality of the warmth either. Even though Spring was still 59 days away, the earth smelled sweet in the woods and wetlands around our neighborhood. Imagine, just a year ago, the snow was piling up and we were looking down the barrel at a looming, two-day Nor’easter!  I’m so grateful for each of these rare days. Certainly we’ll get our share of snow this winter, but hasn’t it been a glorious January?

 

Now that we’re half-way through our program year, many members deserve so much appreciation for their ideas, hospitality, and hard work. Thanks to Hollie Bagley and her family for hosting the holiday party at their beautiful home in December. Thanks to all who attended, making it a lively evening filled with delicious food and amazing travel stories. Thanks to Priscilla Johnsen and Allison Marshall for organizing the very interesting January dinner and book discussion at Derby Academy, and thanks to Elaine Cadogan and Patricia McKay who led the very stimulating discussion of Year of Wonders. I also appreciate the good discussion by the membership about the Recognition Award that night. More thanks to Hollie for continually updating our website, and for writing and pulling together the Community Action Grant application we just submitted (with our branch partners) to fund next year’s My Turn to Learn project (and to Patricia McKay for suggesting that we do this many months ago). Thanks to Pat Bologna for all her encouragement as we go into high gear on many fronts.

 

Thanks to Heather Gregory, whose enthusiasm for AAUW is infectious, as she organizes the upcoming branch meeting on Financial Literacy for Women.  I hope you’ll come out to this intriguingly-titled and very practical presentation at Bella’s on February 7th.

 

And lastly, thank you Hollie for letting me ‘borrow’ the phrase you write in your e-mails……“Thank you, everyone, for all you do for AAUW!”  -  Kay

 

 

 

WRITERS’ GROUP 

 

 We will be meeting next at Patricia McKay's home on Monday, February 27th at 7:30PM.  Even if you just want to come and talk about writing and are too shy to do one of our essay exercises, we'd love to have you join our discussion. It's always stimulating.

 

 

 

ADVENTURES IN DINING

 

Ruth Powell is inviting six lucky branch members to a special dinner in her Braintree home on Thursday February 23, 2006 at 6:30 PM. She would like to share some of the fine wines that she and her late husband Chic collected over the years. The cost is $25 per person, $10 of which will be donated to EF or the Recognition Award. We’ll hold a drawing at the February branch meeting to determine the names of the six diners, so if you didn’t sign up at the January meeting, please come to Bella’s and enter your name in our ‘mini lottery’. 

 

 

 

 

 

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

 

Our February program is perfect for inviting a guest or two.  Although it was planned to help attract younger women (think daughter, niece, colleague), financial literacy is important for every stage in a woman’s life.  One never knows what the future holds.  We all know horror stories of women who were left unprepared when divorce or widowhood struck unexpectedly.  We should know what to do or be reassured we are doing the right things.  So, pick up the phone and extend an invitation to a guest to meet for a cappuccino or a glass of wine, sit back, relax and enjoy a program that could potentially be life–changing.  And if your guest should happen to choose to join AAUW that evening, we have a fantastic bargain for her!  Branch, state and national dues are half-price from January 1-March 15, but for joining on the spot at an AAUW event, we can extend the Shape the Future discount of 50% off national dues which means your guest could become a member of our branch from now through June 30th for the incredibly low price of  $22.25!  A financially literate woman will recognize that by joining AAUW she will have made a smart investment in herself and the future of all women and girls.

 

Chit Chat:  All who attended January’s meeting will agree it was great to see so many members in attendance.  The group was a good mix of regulars plus new members Gwen Sayian and Deanne Noiseux and long time members Jane Street and Pat Granahan.   In addition to delicious food we had lots of food for thought.  On the coldest day in January Hollie Bagley and Sandy Carle helped Ruthanne Kennedy celebrate a “special” birthday by attending Little Women at the Opera House followed by dinner in town.  New member Beatrice Kelly is recovering from shoulder surgery.  We send our best get-well wishes and hope she'll be back at writing group asap. Who was seen stepping out of a limo in NYC for a performance of the Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas show?  Ask at the next meeting.  Our branch members certainly get around.  Let us know what you have been up to.

 

Sheila and Hollie

 

 

GIRLS GAME NIGHT

The Girls Game Night group will meet on Thursday, February 16 at 7:00 pm at the home of Sandy Carle, Weymouth.  As the song goes, “Girls just like to have fun,” and fun we have.  So far we have played a variety of games, the last of which was the Red Sox version of Uno.  All are welcome to attend.  Give Sandy a call at 781 340-6281 and tell her you’ll be there.

 

LOUSIANA LIBRARY FUND

 

Thank you to all who contributed so generously to help Hurricane Katrina victims.  $200 will be sent from the Hingham Area Branch to the Louisana Library Foundation to help devastated libraries rebuild their collections.

 

 

ATTENTION!            ATTENTION!            ATTENTION!

 

Final chance for a student (high school or college) to submit an application for the Pamela J. Lincoln Award.   Deadline is March 1, 2006.  For an application dontact P.A. McKay at 781-337-3375.

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC POLICY

 

  AAUW Action Network is a nationwide network of e-activists, numbering in the thousands, who have helped AAUW make an impressive impact in 2005. Achievements include:

·                          Sent over 76,000 messages to members of Congress, the Bush administration and media outlets which supported the work of AAUW’s Capitol Hill Lobby Corps which made over 1000 in-person visits to Congressional offices last year

·                          Successfully defended Social Security from efforts to privatize the system

·                          Convinced the House and Senate to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act before they left for the holidays

·                          Made sure the Patsy T. Mink Graduate Fellowship Program was one of a handful of new programs included in the Senate Higher Education Act reauthorization bill

·                          Ensured the Dept. of Labor continued to collect critical data on women workers

·                          Passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the House

·                          Strengthened and improved the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act to better assist women and girls to move into nontraditional fields.

You can keep up-to-date on all the news by signing up for AAUW Action Network. Go onto the AAUW website and read Action Alert online or get it sent to your email.

                                                                        Diane & Jennifer Morash

  

 

My Turn to Learn:  On Saturday afternoon, March 5th from 1-5 PM, representatives from our branch as well as our sister branches in Taunton, Foxboro and Worcester will be running the first-ever My Turn to Learn college fair for non-traditional students at the Westgate Mall in Brockton. Our team has been working hard to make this pioneer event a success, drumming up participation by local and regional colleges, as well as banks and educational financing agencies. Check on our progress on our website: www.myturntolearn.net. Thanks to the incredible energy of Hollie Bagley, we just submitted a Community Action Grant to AAUW’s Educational Foundation to assist us in funding My Turn to Learn next year; with the goal of expanding to an additional location in Massachusetts.  

 

Would you like to spend an afternoon putting the AAUW Mission into action? Join us and members of our sister branches at the college fair as we hand out flyers at the mall, help with merchant drawings, and ‘man’ the AAUW table. Even if you’d just like to come by and visit the college fair, we’d love to see you. If you’d like to be involved that day, please contact Hollie or Kay.

 

Grace:  Branch members requested a copy of this grace which was read at our Supper/Book Discussion.

 

“You who are smaller than the smallest seed; more beautiful than the rarest gem; Who hold the mountains and oceans in Your hand; Who breathes us with the breath of life; enfold us in Your great love that we may open our hearts to all mankind. – Annabelle Woodward, (from A Grateful Heart, Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from the Buddha to the Beatles edited by M.J. Ryan.)