the alexandria schooner · 2019. 12. 11. · presidents letter gail & lane dear ms. claus,...
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THE ALEXANDRIA SCHOONER
Series 74, #4
Presidents Letter Gail & Lane
Dear Ms. Claus,
We’re co-presidents of Alexandria AAUW. Our wish list is long so we thought it best to address this letter to the person who can make things happen. We understand you are the brains of the organization.
We need a bylaws chair, a five-star coordinator, and nominating committee members. These rewarding and important jobs aren’t hard. We also would like 12 new members to reach our goal of 75 members for our 75th anniversary. Please fill our stockings with blog posts for Eugenia. And most important of all, we really want Virginia to ratify the ERA!
Best wishes for the season, Lane & Gail
December 2019 & January 2020
Important Dates
Board Meeting Holiday Lunch WBCCF Great Decisions Deadline: Autumn Leaves Mystery Book
Christ House
12/8 12/8
12/11 12/12 12/21
12/17 - 1/28 1/29
In principle and in practice, AAUW values and seeks an inclusive membership, workforce, leadership team, and board of directors. There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, geographical location, national origin, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.
Table of Contents
Presidents Letter Holiday Party WBCCF Autumn Leaves January Program Member News Special Initiatives Interest Groups Christ House Great Decisions State Conference Lobby Day Falls Church Book Sale Officers
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SAVE THE DATE:
AAUW ALEXANDRIA’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY WILL BE ON
DECEMBER 8, 2019
11:30 -1:00
AT BELLE HAVEN COUNTRY CLUB
6023 Fort Hunt Road, Alexandria
Once again we will collect donations for women in need in Alexandria. You have several choices:
• Toys for children at Alexandria’s Domestic Violence Program Shelter• Gift cards for their moms. Grocery store and Metro cards are appreciated.• Towel sets (or money to buy towels) for formerly incarcerated women at the
Guest House.• We will pass the hat for Alexandria’s scholarship fund.
Thanks in advance for your usual generosity!
For more info see:
Arrangements: Virginia Kress, [email protected] and Lynn O’Connell, [email protected]
Donations: Mary Ann Bier, [email protected]
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Wednesday, December 11 6:00 PM—8:30 PM
Beatley Central Library Large Mee ng Room
What winter celebra ons delight you?
Come share your experiences of these celebra ons— from November through February—whether they be
tradi onal, religious, familial, cultural, ethnic, personal, roman c, or mark the first official day of winter. Widen
your circle of friends or deepen friendships you’ve already made in our amazingly, diverse city. If you like,
bring a sweet or savory treat represen ng your celebra on that others might also enjoy. Through
a fun ac vity and structured small group conversa ons, we will feast and learn, first-hand, about other women’s experiences as we con nue
building cross-cultural friendships.
Women of All Ages Are Welcome! Please RSVP to [email protected] by December 4.
Women Building Women Building CrossCross--Cultural FriendshipsCultural Friendships
Strangers No MoreStrangers No More
Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library 5005 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22304 703.746.1751 alexlibraryva.org
For reasonable disability accommodation, contact [email protected] or call 703.746.1701, TTY 703.746.1790.
Sponsored by the Alexandria Branch of the AAUW American Association of University Women
“Autumn Leaves" Donation Drive
JANUARY PROGRAM January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Join us in January for a program presented by AAUW members Elizabeth Hendrix and Diane Schrier and their guest, Kristina Celeste, for a program on human trafficking. After the program they will have post cards available for us with the Virginia Crime Commission's 2019 recommendations sp we can write to your legislators to express your concerns. Stay tuned for more details, including the date of the January program.
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Our "Autumn Leaves" donation drive continues. Thanks to you who have already contributed to this effort to raise funds for AAUW National and Alexandria Branch projects. As mentioned in the last newsletter, funds received will be divided 50/50 between AAUW National and the Alexandria
Branch. The Alexandria Branch projects the donations will support include closing the gender pay gap, our human trafficking initiative, and Women Building Cross Cultural Friendships. Your
donations to this fundraising drive will be 50% tax deductible.
To credit the AAUW National portion of the funds we raise toward our 2019 contribution, we will need to mail our check by December 21. Donations received later will be credited toward our 2020
contribution. Therefore, the branch needs to receive any donations that you want to be counted toward 2019 by December 19. Please make your check (in the amount of your choice) payable to Alexandria Branch AAUW, with Autumn Leaves on the memo line and mail to Susan Cash, 8402
West Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.
All those whose donations are received by Friday, December 6 will be eligible for entry into a drawing at the Holiday Luncheon.
MEMBER NEWS PLEASE WELCOME NEW MEMBER: BARBARA ROSS. Barbara has already attended the November Francophile meeting. We look forward to her participation in more Branch events.
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Kvell & Kudos to Members
Last month, Lynn O'Connell was elected national board chair for Dining for Women, a global giving circle dedicated to empowering women and girls and promoting gender equity (www.diningforwomen.org).
In October, Susan Werner spent 2 weeks touring Ireland. Beautiful country with a tragic history. Very nice people. Her favorite photo — is the Irish Wolfhound puppy:”
Margaret Batko’s art work will be on exhibit Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th at the Hollin Hall Senior Center, 1500 Shenandoah Rd., Alexandria, VA 22308. Look for the work by “Margaret Anne” - her artist name. She is one of 60 artists included in this “27th Annual Famous Artists of the 21st Century Watercolor Exhibition and Sale”. All artists are students of Gwendolyn C. Bragg. If you go (would be in the neighborhood following the holiday luncheon!) be sure to have cash or your check book with you. Credit cards will not be accepted.
Special Initiatives
On the Go with AAUW On the Go with AAUW is a public access cable TV show started by a member of the Alexandria Branch. We tape one show each month at Fairfax Public Access (FPA) located in the Merrifield area of Fairfax County. Please come watch us tape a show! Or, you can take a class at FPA and help produce shows. If you are interested in participating in producing/taping our public access cable TV show please call Ruth Bennett at 703-765-4536.
Just Neighbors, our October show, is now on YouTube - https://youtu.be/994NGWa2Ih0
Our November show was about the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia (LCNV), an award winning organization whose mission is to “teach adults the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding English so they can access employment and educational opportunities and more fully and equitably participate in the community.”
Dr. Carole Vinograd Bausell, Director of Academic and Student Affairs, and Ruba Marshood Afzal, Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement, our guests from LCNV, said “Literacy is a survival skill” and talked about the work of LCNV and shared some of their success stories. On the Go with AAUW has a YouTube channel. Go to YouTube.com and search for our shows. If you subscribe you will be notified when a new show is uploaded.
Alexandria Branch Interest Groups
Groups are open to all members.
Francophile Group Susan Cash
Please check future newsletters and email for information on upcoming events.
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Gourmet Out Susan Cash, Chair
Details on future events will appear in later newsletters or in email.
Mystery Book Discussion Group Susan Werner, Chair
December Mystery: The Ghost of Christmas Past by Rhys Bowen. Please join us at the home of Nancy Kula to talk about this holiday mystery. We will be meeting a week earlier because of the Christmas Holiday: December 17 -- time: 7 PM. Nancy’s address and phone number: Marina Towers 501 Slaters Lane, Apt 507, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-644 0505 or 301-523-4534. Please let Nancy know if you are attending the meeting.
January Mystery (Our 1st Mystery of 2020): Come To Grief by Dick Francis. We will meet on January 28 at 7 PM. Host: Arlene Shapiro. Dress and phone number: 6216 Driftwood Dr., Alexandria, VA 22310; 703-719-5467. Please let the host know if you plan to attend the meeting. Thank You.
All mystery lovers are welcome as are your mystery book suggestions.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS – Susan Werner
Cultural Events While we wait for a new chair, members are encouraged to share information about events that might be of interest to the membership.
This recommendation comes Eugenia Burkes. This is a FREE event at the Episcopal High School and it happens 4 times a year. These are professional musicians, not high school students! Here’s the message from the director: It’s time to start planning for our next National Chamber Players concert taking place on Tuesday, December 3. Save the date; it's a big one!
For more information go to the National Chamber Players web site.
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Christ House The next Christ House Soup Kitchen supper is Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
GREAT DECISIONS
2020 AAUW of Virginia State Conference 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, therefore our conference will be themed around this momentous event and what’s happened in advancing gender equity for women and girls in the past 100 years. The conference will be held in the AAUW-VA Northern District at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Alexandria - Old Town, 625 First Street, from April 17-19, 2020. For details on rates, etc., see the state’s web site. Joanne Clark of the Mt. Vernon Branch ([email protected]) and Arlene Shapiro ([email protected]) of the Alexandria Branch, are the co-chairs of the Local Arrangements Committee. Tammie Mullins-Rice of the Virginia Beach Branch is the conference treasurer and registrar, and Mary Anne Graham of the McLean Area Branch is the Program Book Chair.
Additional information will be forthcoming in the next few months.
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The December meeting will be held on the 12th at the Cameron Station Club House. Sylvia Linke will lead a discussion on The Rise of Populism in Europe.
We’ll continue with Great Decisions in 2020 with our meetings on the second Thursday evenings of most months. First meeting of 2020: Thursday, January 9, T 7 PM to hand out books that were pre-ordered and to set topic schedule. While most members are our own AAUW chapter members, we welcome guests, both male and female. Please contact Lynn O’Connell for more information, [email protected]. Here are the upcoming topics:
• Climate Change and the Global Order
• China’s Road into Latin America
• Red Sea Security
• U.S. Relations with the Northern Triangle
• India and Pakistan
• The Philippines and the U.S.
• Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
• Artificial Intelligence and Data
AAUW-VA State Lobby Day Susan Burk and Sylvia Rogers
Co-Vice Presidents for Public Policy AAUW of Virginia
Our first AAUW-VA State Lobby Day will be on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, in Richmond. Following the recent state election, we sent congratulatory letters to every delegate and senator who will be serving in Richmond next year. We have received a number of great responses acknowledging AAUW-VA’s efforts and expressing interest in working with us in the future. We are encouraged and excited. Last year, as you know, AAUW-VA joined the massive state-wide effort led by VAratifyERA to secure Virginia’s ratification of the ERA. Delegate Carroll Foy and Senators McClellan and Locke dropped ERA resolutions on 11/18/19 and there are indications that ERA will be one of the first actions taken up by the 2020 Virginia General Assembly. With ERA appearing to be well in hand in Virginia, AAUW-VA will be focusing on closing the gender pay gap/pay equity during our Lobby Day. We have confirmed a meeting with Governor Northam at 9:00 am on January 15. We are preparing materials to leave with him and with delegates and senators on this important issue. We will provide more details on our program as soon as we can and encourage you to let us know if there are particular delegates/senators that you would like to visit. We have two items for your urgent attention: 1. Overnight Lodging. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Omni Hotel in Richmond, VA for January 15, 2020. Reservations must be made on line, https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/richmond/meetings/aauw-01142020 or call 1-800-OMNI and identify yourself with the “American Association of University Women” group. ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY DECEMBER 31, 2019, TO GUARANTEE THE GROUP RATE OF $144.00/ROOM (PLUS TAXES/FEES). Members of the Greater Richmond Branch also have offered to host our members overnight on January 14, 2020. If you would like to take advantage of GRAAUW’s hospitality, please let Carol Stephens, Co-President of AAUW of VA ([email protected]), KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. CC Susan ([email protected]) and Sylvia ([email protected]). 2. Reception for Women Legislators. AAUW of VA will host its third annual reception in honor of Virginia’s women legislators on January 14, 2020, the evening before Lobby Day. The reception will be an open house from 6-8 pm at the Commonwealth Strategy Group, 118 N. 8th Street, Richmond, VA 23219. All lobby day participants are invited to attend. Please let us know BY JANUARY 8, 2020, WHETHER YOU PLAN TO JOIN US FOR STATE LOBBY DAY, AND IF YOU WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE JANUARY 14 RECEPTION. We must have a firm headcount to determine food/drink amounts for the reception. We also will need a list of individuals who will be joining our meetings with the Governor. SNOW DATE: Although we may not be able to reschedule our meeting with the Governor, if the weather prevents our travel to Richmond, we will plan to meet there on January 22, 2020. Thanks, Susan and Sylvia Co-Vice Presidents for Public Policy AAUW of Virginia
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FALLS CHURCH AAUW BOOK SALE Falls Church AAUW is happy to announce the dates for our 2020 sale – April 17 and 18 at the Falls Church Community Center. We have just completed an agreement for book storage space, allowing us to go forward with plans for the sale. With storage space arranged, we have scheduled our first collection date for January 4 at the Willston Multi-Cultural Center from 10am-2pm, at 6131 Willston Dr, near Seven Corners - look for our signs. Additional collection dates are January 18, Feb 1 and 15, and every Saturday in March as well as April 4 and 11. The book sale benefits scholarships, research and programs for women.Start saving your books now for donation starting January 4. For more information, visit https://FallsChurchArea-va.aauw.net/booksale/ or call 703-637-4488 or email to [email protected].
2019-2020 Officers
ELECTED OFFICERS APPOINTED OFFICERS
Co-Presidents Gail Kalin 202-365-5212 Bylaws/Policy Open
Lane Stone 703-307-2431 Christ House Jan Jaynes 703-765-3203
Co-VP Programs
Virginia Kress 703-683-6196 Margaret Zebrowski
703-765-3076
Lynn O’Connell
703867-4942 Directory Susan Werner 703-764-1773
Co-VP Membership
Sylvia Linke 703-461-6822 Hositality Open
Susan Werner 703-764-1773 AAUW Funds Susan Cash 703-780-3902
Treasurer Anne Simpson 909-921-7111 Ed. Opportunity Fund
Arlene Shapiro 703-719-5467
Corresponding-Recording Sec.
Margaret Batko
703-941-2217 Historian Arlene Shapiro 703-719-5467
Editor Eugenia Burkes [email protected]
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Send your suggestions/comments about the newsletter to [email protected].
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
Campus Outreach
Lane StoneDanielle Beach
703-307-2431703-751-1691
AAUW On The Go
Ruth Bennett 703-765-4536 Public Policy Elizabeth HendrixDiane Schrier
816-248-0793352-209-3094
Cultural Open
Francophile & Gourmet Out
Susan Cash 703-780-3902
Mystery Book Susan Werner 703-764-1773
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AAUW CONTACTS
AAUW National Office: 1310 L St. NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 www.aauw.org
800/326-AAUW (2289) 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
202/785-7700 - 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Fax: 202/872-1425
TDD: 202/785-7777 AAUW of Virginia: aauw-va.aauw.net Virginia General Assembly: virginiageneralassembly.gov