WOW!!!

Do you ever sit back and think, "What have I been doing all year"?  I guess that is a natural question to ask at the beginning of each new year.  So, as we say goodbye to 2012, I thought you might like one last look back at what we, The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club accomplished.

The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club participated in 168 projects this year.  We had 22,833 volunteer hours, and raised around 10,000.00 dollars.  Mentioning every project would be way too long, so I will only list a few of them.

Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention is near to our hearts.  As a club we made donations to several different programs who help women to step away from violence.  We planted a Pinwheel garden, along with the Town Manger, Council Members, and the Mayor of our town, to remind others of the need to be vigilant in our efforts to protect the innocent children.  The pinwheel is the symbol for Child Abuse Prevention.  We also asked the Town to declare April as Child Abuse Awareness Month.

To celebrate Water Day, we set up water stations at the Appalachian School of Law's 5K run.  We labeled the water bottles with our club's name and encouraged the women participants to join our club.

 








We recycled greeting cards to St. Jude, recycled newspapers, bottles, cans, and plastic.  Sent pull tabs to Ronald McDonald House and saved Coca Cola lids and Campbell's Soup labels for local schools.  To help bring nature to residents confined to their beds at our local nursing home, we collected birds feeders and food.

 

A college shower for three local High School students was hosted in March.  Supplies to make the transition from home to college smoother were purchased and given out at the March meeting.  We presented three college scholarships to our local colleges.  $1,000.00 to Southwest Virginia Community College, $500.00 to both the Appalachian School of Law and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy.  We held a book drive for the Appalachian School of Law Library and collected/donated 125 books!

Appalachian School of Law scholarship

Appalachian College of Pharmacy scholarship

Southwest Virginia Community College scholarship

The nursing home was provided items for Valentines, Easter, an money was donated to purchase fireworks for them at the 4th of July.  Toiletries and personal items, along with clothing, were donated to the local Abuse Shelter.  A coat drive was held and over 200 coats were collected and given to the abuse shelter and the Social Services for those in the community that were in need.

R.A.M. (Remote Area Medial) provides Medical and Dental Care to those who cannot afford it otherwise.  Club member Frannie Minton serves on the board and is the organizer for the program in our community.  Our club helps by working the event and providing food, water, blankets, and monetary donations to the program.

We not only donate locally, but also Internationally.  Donations were made to Heifer International, Shot@Life, and Operation Smile.  And this year, one member traveled to India and presented a check to K Homes, a home for orphaned children, with a check.  Notice that she is wearing her GFWC emblematic shirt.

Wash clothes, hand towels, and bath towels were collected and sent to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. One member sold ornaments as a fundraiser and help raise over $1,000.00 for the Hurricane Sandy victims.

For the second year in a row, a member of our club was chosen as the GFWC Virginia LEADS candidate.  And even more impressive:  Betty Shields was elected at GFWC Virginia 1st Vice President/President Elect!!!!

GFWC President Carlene Garner and Tania Stephens

Betty Shields, GFWC Virginia 1st Vice President/President Elect

We attended Town Meetings, School Board Meetings, Board of Supervisors Meetings, Chamber of Commerce Meetings, Clean Energy Rallies, Chamber of Commerce Meetings, and serve on local boards in the community.  Our members include the Dean of the Appalachian School of Law, and the Mayor of the Town of Grundy.

Black History Month and Women's History Month were both celebrated.  We joined the 1734 Society and have several members who are members of Dogwood and 1907 Society.

We worked extremely hard to raise funds for our club.  An annual spring yard sale, the 2nd Annual Vintage Fashion Show, and the 7th Annual Holidays in the Hills were all held this year.  Two new events were added: the Mom Prom and a Silent Auction at the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet.  The proceeds from Mom Prom went to BackPack Blessings, a local organization that provides food to needy children in the county over the weekends.

We are a GOLD sponsor for the Relay for Life.  Several members serve on the State and local Board of Directors and work tirelessly to promote the Relay throughout the year.  Our club also participates (you can say that again) in the Breast Cancer Awareness "Ladies Night Out".  This year our club made and wore Boobie scarves to promote awareness of Breast Cancer.

 I think I will just end on this note, I am left speechless......

 

Busy, Busy, Busy Fall....

The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club has had a very busy late Summer, early Fall.  I suppose every organization has their busy time but it has been CRAZY!

Let's start off from the last blog in July 2012.  The GWC does not have regular meeting during the Summer months of June, July and August, but that does not mean we don't do anything.  Starting in June we held the 2nd Annual Vintage Fashion Show and Sale.  This is always a great deal of fun and it has turned into a good fundraiser.  This year our models were Kimberlyn Thompson and GWC members, Kayla Yates, Kim Ratliff, and Shonna Powers.

This years show was such a success that we are going to have to move to a larger facility next year!

The GFWC Virginia Conference was held August 11-12, 2012 at the Inn at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.  The GWC was very involved with this Conference.  Betty Shields is 1st Vice-President/President Elect and therefore had a large role.  In addition to her duties as 1st Vice-President she also held a workshop on Leadership.  Tania Stephens, GWC President, is Fundraising and Development Chairman for GFWC Virginia.  She was kept busy making all the arrangements for the vendors who attended the event and she also had to hold a workshop on Fundraising.  Sandy Stiltner, Southwestern District President, was also quite busy.  SWD was the host for this Conference, meaning Sandy had to see to the decorating and all the little things that have to be done in order to make the event go smoothly.  Thank goodness for Liz Stiltner, Pam Wolford, Ginger Robertson, and Bertha Street, they worked their fingers to the bone helping everyone get all their stuff together.

Now it time to move on to September and the means SpiritFest.  This was the second year that GWC has organized the event for the Town of Grundy.  SpiritFest in an all day event that anyone in the county can attend and have a great time at no charge.  The GWC went before the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors and persuaded them to help sponsor this event.  Because of their help, and the help of Consol Energy, most of the rides and all the entertainment was free.  Inflatable slides and bounce house kept the younger children occupied while the zip line and mechanical bull held the teenagers attention.  Everyone was entertained by the musicians and the grand finale was a fireworks show that was terrific.

October started with our regular meeting of the woman's club, but it was anything but normal.  1st, we were privileged to hold our meeting at the Appalachian School of Law, it was beautiful.  We gathered outside on the steps and had our picture taken.  2nd, we had two surprise attendees; Jenny Martin, last years Southwestern District President and this years SWD Third Vice-President and GFWC Virginia President, Teresa Craig were in town for the Southwestern District meeting (Grundy was the host) and decided to attend our meeting.

Front row:  Betty Shields, Jenny Martin, Sandy Stiltner, Tania Stephens, Ginger Robertson and Bertha Street                           Next row:  Karen Harvey, Debbie Deel, Glenna Owens, Liz Stiltner, Pam Wolford, Anna Ruth Coleman, Jessica Brown, Ruth Horn, Barbara Fleenor, Amanda Kash, Betty Flo Raines, and Peggy Yates

 

 

Of course October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and that means a trip to the Town Council meeting.  Once again GWC appeared before the Town of Grundy council members and asked them to declare October as Breast Cancer Awareness month in Grundy.  We also asked for permission to decorate the bridge and gate in town.  The members readily agreed and once again commended our club for all the good works we do.  While we were there, we took the opportunity to recruit the Mayor to become a woman's club member.  Never overlook an opportunity.

Ladies Night Out is a Relay for Life event that is put on annually with speakers on "women's health" and ladies vendors.  It brings the topic of breast cancer out into the light of day and helps us women understand the need for regular mammograms.  The GWC did there part by having 21 members attend the event and we tried to "start the conversation" by donning scarves........

I can hardly wait for November and December, I need some rest.....

GFWC International Convention 2012

The GFWC International Convention was held this year in Charlotte, NC.  This is the closest that a convention has been to Grundy, EVER.  The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club had five ladies attend and GFWC Virginia had over fifty.  There were about one thousand women in all that attended.  It was fabulous, except for trying to get an elevator.  That one task could sometimes take over half an hour, so we learned a lot about patience and a lot about how visiting a bar gives you patience.

The first day there was a day of LEADS, (Leadership, Education, and Development Seminar) training for Tania Stephens.  She was chosen as the candidate from Virginia.  Forty three states sent their representative for an ALL day training session.  They had seminars on Roberts Rules, on writing a speech, on the generation gap, and on conflict resolutions.  Information was given out and soaked up like a sponge, hopefully most everyone will retain the knowledge and go on to share with their fellow Clubs, Districts, and State.   GFWC International President, Carlene Garner, presented each graduate with a certificate and her "Wings" pin.

President Carlene Garner and Tania Stephens

 

Virginia LEADS Candidates for 2012, 2005, and 2011

Sandy Stiltner, Bertha Street, and Liz Stiltner all took advantage of the day off and went on a tour of Charlotte Motor Speedway.  They got to ride on the track and they even saw Dale Earnhardt Jr., he was filming a commercial at the track.

Most of our days were full of meetings and workshops, but will did manage to spend a little time with the tons of vendors that were there.  Purses, jewelry, hand-crafted bird feeders, scarves and clothing, books, GFWC merchandise, and lots of other items were on hand to separate our money from us.  The nights consisted of banquets and GALA's, a horrible burden, but we somehow managed to shoulder the load.

State night was Wednesday night and before we continued on to the Southeastern Region Banquet we posed for pictures.  Each State's attendees all gathered together and had a group picture.

The SER Banquet was held afterward and offered a good opportunity for everyone to meet new ladies in the Region.

Awards were given out at the GALA's the following nights and GFWC Virginia racked up.

  Home Life Collaboration, Home Life Partner, March of Dimes, GFWC Junior Woman's Club of Loudoun
  International Outreach Partner, INMED, Mother and Child Health, GFWC Dominion Woman's Club, Operation Smile, Paula Cutler Award
  Public Issues Collaboration     Special Project: Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention
  Special Project: Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Club Award: GFWC Kanawha Woman's Club  
  Special Project: Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Fund Awards, 8th Place GFWC Woman's Club of Manassas, 7th Place GFWC Woman's Club of Fairfax, 3rd Place GFWC Herndon Woman's Club  
  Legislation and Public Policy  
  Membership  
  Southeastern Region President's Award of $100 for the greatest number of volunteer hours per member
  GFWC Writing Contest, Youth Short Story Winner, Grades 9-12 "Live as If You are Dying", Ben Temple, Sponsored by the GFWC Norfolk Woman's Club

The Grundy Gals with Kathryn Sowers

 Getting to dress up if half the fun.  Wearing lots of bling jewelry and putting on all your finery is a MUST.  

Next years GFWC International Convention will be held in Hollywood Florida...See you there!

Mom Prom 2012

Never heard of a Mom Prom?  Mention a Mom Prom to most people and they look at you with a blank stare.  But the GFWC Grundy Woman's Club is a hip, happening group of women that know the latest trends.  The first Mom Prom happened six years ago and is the brainchild of a suburban Detroit mother, the ladies-only event invites women to squeeze into an old prom gown or bridesmaid's dress for a charity dance night.  The GWC choose Back Pack Blessings as the charity to donate the proceeds.  After expenses, we managed to raise $750.00 to donate this year.  Back Pack Blessings provide weekend nourishment to school children on the Federal Free and Reduced Meal Program.  Children in the Hurley and J.M. Bevins Middle Schools are who benefited from the Back Pack Blessings we supported.

Forty women over the county came out for our first, (hopefully annual), Mom Prom.  There was a couple of ladies who had "NEVER" attended a Prom before.  Kim for instance had never been to Prom.

We had friends, Mother-Daughters, Grandmother-Granddaughters, Sisters, Cousins, and neighbors.  This could possibly be the start of a tradition, an annual outing that we will cherish.

 Here are a few of the Mother-Daughter pairs.  

Now for the Grandmother-granddaughters

How about relatives?  Any of those attend Mom Prom?

The crazy "Street" gang!!!

Best Friends Forever.....

A real life D. J. played all the songs we requested and Heather Viers Bowman was the official photographer for the night.  A really, really good time was had by all.  There was lots of food, lots of dancing, and lots and lots of laughing.

The Queen, two Princesses and the Tackiest dress winner.

Start looking now for that perfect dress for next years Prom, it will be here before you can blink an eye.  Maybe you can start your own tradition next year. Remember the most important rule............

NO MEN ALLOWED!!!