Going International!

The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club has gone "International".   As most of you are aware, GFWC has an International program.  As a member of the GFWC our small rural club has struggled with this program.  We have contributed to Heifer International, a very worthy cause, and also to Operation Smile, another worthy cause, but have lacked an up close and personal connection.

This year at our March meeting we voted to once again contribute to Heifer International and Operation Smile, but we also voted  for something a little different.  Lisa Tyre "VOLUNTEERED", as in arm twisted behind the back, to become a Chairman for the International committee.  She was planning to travel to Bangalore India and visit with Tammy Ma, and her 48 children.  Yes, I said 48....  Tammy Ma runs K-Homes, a place of refuge for children with no hope.  Her vision is clear:

The ultimate and absolute purpose of K- homes is to provide these children with loving care in the context of family, while consistently pointing them to the cross of Christ. Our vision is to raise up children radically committed to Jesus Christ, who, empowered by His Holy Spirit, will spread the good news and transform this region of the world!

The children that come to Tammy Ma are orphaned or have at least one parent who is sick or that cannot take care of their child.  They come from a  world of hopelessness and at K-Homes they are are transformed.

The Club decided to help K-Homes and presented Lisa with a $200.00 check to take to Tammy Ma when she went to India.  While two hundred is not a "HUGE" amount of money the check certainly was.

I am sure that K-Homes appreciated the money and will put it to good use.  If in the future Lisa again travels to India, I'm sure she would like an even "LARGER" check.

                                                At least Tammy Ma and the kids liked it:)

ASL 5K Memorial

The Appalachian School of Law held its 5K Memorial on Saturday, March 17th, 2012.  This Memorial race marked the 10 year anniversary of the horrible tragedy that shook the school and the surrounding community.  Grundy Virginia was a small, quite, peaceful town but the events on January 16, 2002 changed the town forever.  The town was incredibly proud when the Appalachian School of Law began accepting students in 1997.  No one knew that a student from Nigeria would one day come to the school and take the lives of three people.  Dean Anthony Sutin, Professor Thomas Blackwell and student Angela Dales were all three killed and three other students were wounded.

The following days, months, and years ahead have been a healing time.  The school planted trees in memory of the victims on the front lawn of the school and have each year held a 5K Memorial Race.  The GFWC Grundy Woman's Club wanted to participate this year and decided to set up water stations to hand out water to the runners.

Five water stations were set up along the course.  When the tired and thirsty runners came by, a bottle of water that had a label attached reading GFWC Grundy Woman's Club, was handed to them.

In an effort to make sure runners could find the water stations, we made a few signs, fluorescent of course.

Just in case they were color blind we all dressed in our green St. Patrick shirts to catch their eyes.

Bertha and I were lucky enough to have an Irish Leprechaun named Matt from Montana helping us.  I think his skirt looked great.

The Woman's Club is an important part of the community, and though the events of the January can never be changed, we hope that in a small way we can help make sure they are never forgotten.

Legacy

Legacy is defined as anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.  What kind of "legacy" are you leaving behind?

The new officers for the GFWC Grundy Woman's Club are soon going to be taking office; and with the change of administrations, comes the change of the official handbook.  With the date approaching swiftly, I have been working on typing all the pages into the computer to compile the upcoming handbook.  Most organizations or clubs give out handbooks, but how many of us take the time to read through ALL the pages?  Ours contains the Club Collect, list of past Presidents, a list of the Charter Members, and the By-Laws and Constitution along with a few other tidbits of information.  In my typing of the Constitution I  started to feel blessed to be part of this organization.  Read the following:

The object of the club shall be to promote good citizenship, public welfare and to unite all loyal and progressive citizens in an intelligent effort to develop an increase in civic interest, and to instill a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation; and to inaugurate, encourage and promote philanthropic, benevolent, altruistic, literary and education movements for the benefit of the community, state and the nation.

 

What better legacy could you possibly hand down to the next generation than to strive to fulfill this objective.  Shirley Belcher presented a "Legacy" program at our last meeting and she showed the connections from several of the founding Charter Members to some of our current members.  One branch from Nannie Dotson had at least seven members who were interconnected.  At this very time there are several mother/daughter members and one family who have three generations all currently active in our club. 

The General Federation of Women's Clubs, GFWC Virginia, GFWC Southwestern District, and GFWC Grundy Woman's Club is where your legacy can begin. 

What does the Grundy Woman's Club do?

At the beginning of each year all Woman's Clubs do their reports.  You total all the hours spent, monies donated or spent on projects, the amount of projects, the number of members who participated, etc.  Easy peasy right.  WRONG!!!  This is hard, I mean really hard.

First, you need to be an organized person who keeps up with all those things and actually writes the information down.  That is already one strick against me but luckily we have a couple of members who actually does this and thankfully they are willing to share.

Second, you have to decide where your information goes.  The GFWC has six major programs:  Arts, Conservation, Education, Home Life, International Outreach, and Public Issues.  There are also GFWC Advancement categories such as:  Communication and Identity, Fundraising, Leadership, Legislation and Public Policy, Membership, and Women's History and Resource Center.
 
Third, total all the hours, monies, etc. for all members of the club and enter it on the GFWC Reporting Form. 

Forth, now the fun part, narrate everything you did.

Soooo, what did the Grundy Woman's Club do?  We participated in 139 programs!  We had 40 members participate!  We spent 5,553 hours on projects!  We spent or donated $32,635.00!

I am simply amazed how a relatively small number of women in a relatively small town accomplished so much.  We are already making plans for this upcoming year and have even more projects in the works.  We may have to adapt the Army's catch phrase:  We're looking for a few more good women! 

Looking back on 2011.

It is January 2012 and that can only mean one thing in the world of Women's Club's....it is "Reporting" time.  It is the time when we look back at the previous year and put in writing all the time, money, and energy we have spent on activities throughout the year.  Even though this sounds easy enough to do, it is not; in fact it is quite hard.  Thank goodness we have some club members who are good at writing down everything they do and are willing to help those of us who aren't as through.  Let's start with December:

A Christmas auction was held at the Grundy Presbyterian Church and 16 members and 4 guests attended.  A total of $830.00 was raised to go toward our general fund.  The GWC tried really, really hard to give away money to various charities.  We succeed in donating $250.00 to the Social Services to be used to purchase food for a Christmas dinner to feed local area children.

Ginger giving a check to Cecil Stiltner for Social Services

We also donated $200.00 to Heritage Hall's resident aide fund so that they could purchase need articles for 5 new residents.  A DVD/CD player and a digital camera were also donated to the center to be used throughout the year at their functions.

Sandy, Bertha, and Tania presenting to Heritage Hall.

Socks, blankets, toiletries, and various other gifts were donated to the local Woman's Shelter.  The shelter had 3 children and 5 women in residence for the month of December.

Glenna, Bertha and Sandy showing some of the gifts.

Two scholarships were awarded.  The Appalachian School of Law and The Appalachian College of Pharmacy each received $500.00.  These scholarships are to be awarded to a woman from Buchanan County.

Tania presenting Dean Mayhew with a check.

96 pairs of socks were also collected from club members and donated to the local Woman's Shelter.  Each pair of socks were put in a plastic bag with a note that read:

As you begin your new life and Step Away from Abuse,
we hope you will find comfort and warmth as you walk into your newly found freedom.

Peggy, Sandy, and Ginger giving Kristi sock for Woman's Shelter.

November:

SER was held in Kentucky this year and 5 members and 1 guest attended.

?, Sandy, Bertha, Tania, Liz, and Shirley at SER in Lexington, KY.

November is also the month we hold our largest fundraiser.  The 6th annual Holidays in the Hills was held November 19th.  This year's event was sponsored by Consol Energy and had over 40 vendors attend.  This year the Mt. Mission Choir had a small concert and a professional photographer was on hand to take Christmas Card pictures.  A total of over $3400.00 was raised.

October:

The Southwestern District meeting was held in Hillsville, VA and eight members attended.  We even preformed a skit entitled "When I grow old I shall wear purple".

Jenny, Sandy, Tania. Ginger, Betty, Peggy, Liz, and not pictured was Shirley.

A 5 gal. jug of "pull tabs" were presented to District President Jenny Martin to be donated to the Ronald McDonald House.

Tania giving Jenny the pull tabs as Sandy looks on.

Ladies Night Out is a Relay for Life event that 10 members attended.  We wore our decorated bras on the outside of our shirts to bring awareness to breast cancer.  We attended a Town Council meeting and asked that October be declared Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

  
The Town of Grundy asked the GWC  to take over their annual Spiritfest.  A small event that was free to anyone who chose to come.  Lots of work went into making the event a huge success and we have already been asked to undertake this event again next year.

Betty, Bertha, Tania, Sandy, Pam, Liz, and Nikki accepting a check from Consol Energy.

September:

We held our first Roundup Rodeo membership drive.  We send out invitations to past members encouraging them to re-join and also to potential members that had expressed interest in joining.  One new member was added, Tamara Neo.

Looking good in our hats and boots.

Nikki Stiltner walked in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Philadelphia.  The Liberty Garden that was replanted to remember the events of 911 and a new sign was added.

Tania Bertha, and Sandy in front of the garden.

August:

The Grundy Woman's Club was acknowledged at the Relay for Life event as a Gold Level Corporate sponsor.  
We had 5 members attend GFWC VA LEADS in Lynchburg, VA.  We had a lot of fun learning new ideas and making lots of friends.

Tania, Liz, Sandy and Bertha with Lori Chevalier and Hope Royer, GFWC VA Presidnent.

July:
A well deserved break.

June:

GFWC International Convention was held in Milwaukee, WI and Sandy Stiltner and Liz Stiltner attended.  Sandy was chosen as GFWC Virgina's LEADS candidate.  She garnered lots of knowledge from the seminars and shared it with our club. 

Sandy accepting her certificate from GFWC Int. President Carlene Garner

The 1st annual Vintage Fashion Show and Jewelry Sale was also held in June.  This was a great fundraiser and also took advantage of recycling jewelry and clothing.  We raised over 1100.0 to go toward our scholarship funds.

Betty, Sandy, Pam and Ginger enjoying the Vintage Fashion Show.

May:

The annual College Shower was held in May.  This year we expanded from two participants to three.  They were provided blankets, gift cards,  lamps, clocks, computer accessories, etc.    We also attended Family night out, a Relay for Life sponsored event. 

Margaret, Ginger, Kristi, and Peggy with our plaque.

April:

A yard sale was held at Margaret Wakeland's house.  Even though it was cold and windy we managed to raise close to $400.00 and recycled a lot of nice clothing.


GFWC Virginia held its State convention in Richmond Virginia and eight member attended.  

Liz, Sandy, Betty, Tania, Peggy, Ginger, and Bertha with Sue Meredith.

April was also Child Abuse Awareness month and the GWC sold pinwheels, the national symbol of child abuse prevention, and planted a pinwheel garden.  The proceeds from the sale was sent to Prevent Child Abuse Virginia and a book was donated to the Imagination Library in the memory Ethan Stacy a local child who suffered and died at the hands of a child abuser.

Planting a pinwheel garden to prevent child abuse.

March:

At our March meeting we honored June Croley, the founder of GFWC, and Ginger Robertson dressed as June and gave a speech. Past presidents of our club that were at the meeting were also honored.

Present and past presidents of GWC Sandy, Betty, Ginger, Anna Ruth, and Jessie.

We also had eleven members go to the Southwestern District meeting held in Richlands, VA. 

February:

  In honor of February being American Heart Month the members of the GWC wore Red to their meeting.  Members brought watches to be sent to the American Mural Project.  Five new members joined our club.

 

 Cammy Crockett, Donita Estep, Pam Wolford, Debbie Bostic, and Mary Stacy all joined.  Glenna is congratulating the ladies.


January:


A reporting meeting was held at the Buchanan County Library.  One member attended the Legislative Reception in Richmond, VA.

If after reading this you think that being a member of the Grundy Woman's Club is time consuming, you are right.  This is only a FEW events that we did throughout the year, there are many, many more that did not get listed.  If you think that being a member of the Grundy Woman's Club is rewarding, you hit the nail on the head.  Come join us and  make a difference in someone's life.

SER=FUN

Southeastern Regional Conference may not immediately make you think of having a good time, but you would be wrong.  This years SER was held at the Marriott Griffin Gate Spa and Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky and was fabulous.  Well, except for the part where the hotel did not get the room reservations correct and we had to share a bed instead of having one by ourselves.  Just a little togetherness.

The tours were fun, the meetings were informative, the food was great, and there were plenty of fabulous vendors willing to take your money.  If that was all there was to do you would have had a great time, but we found a few other things to occupy our time.

Meet some of the players from Ole Miss.  They were there for a football game against Kentucky the next day.  I am sure it made their day having their pictures taken with Sandy and Bertha, until some lady made the girls leave.

As you can see, these conferences are a lot of work.  You have to attend meetings all day, shop till you drop and then they expect you to dress up in fancy outfits for dinner.  Jeans and Bling was the theme for dinner on Friday night.

Tania and Bertha just horsing around!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Bar - two little words that can really make a conference.  That is a place where you give them "cash" and they give you "alcohol".  I really loved that concept, Bertha really loved that concept, Liz really loved that concept, but Sandy really, really, really loved that concept.

Just a little togetherness!!!

See you next year in Roanoke, VA

P.S. -  bring plenty of cash.

Holidays in the Hills 2011

The 6th Annual Holidays in the Hills was held November 19th at the Appalachian School of Law's Booth Center in Grundy, VA.  This is the Grundy Woman's Club's largest fund raiser and this year was the best yet with over 3400.00 raised.  Let's hear it for the "Girls".  A lot of hard work goes into making the event a success but it is all worth while.

This year 40+ vendors came out to display their goods.

There were vendors of all kinds, make-up, jewelry, crafts, candles, fishing poles, floral arrangements and more.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mt. Mission Choir even stopped by and sang several songs to the delight of the vendor and customers.  They have already penciled us in for next year.

 These nice people were from Wise and made stain glass jewelry.  If they try to tell you they brought me a case of wine just ignore them.  I think they are a little delusional.

Anna Ruth, Peggy and Jessie enjoyed the day.

As you can imagine an event of this size does not happen without a few mishaps.  What if a vendor shows up that you don't have a table for - no problem, what if there were more vendors than you really had room for - no problem, what if the elevator decided to completely shut down about two hours before the show ended - BIG problem.  Some of the vendors had really, really heavy items and lots of them to load up after the show.  Thankfully Jeff, (the gentleman hired to help with set-up and clean-up), and Cade, (Bertha Street's grandson), were happy to help carry a lot of boxes and packages to cars.  However this brings up the subject that maybe we have outgrown our current facility and finding one on the ground floor would be nice.

But didn't our table look nice.  Big thanks to all that helped and plans are already underway for next year.  Mark your calendar for November 17th, 2012.