Onward

Greetings,

This blog is no longer the CURRENT blogsite for Soroptimist International of Benicia. You can use this site to see all of the wonderful activities this group is involved in, but, if you want current news, contact the current President, Helaine Bowles, at  .

Onward
Linda

April News

Hi all,

This week (Thursday at Noon) we will be meeting at the Community Park, Soroptimist Grove for a picnic lunch. Bonnie’s lunch email went out and many of you have responded. Please also respond even if you will not be coming or having lunch. We will be having special guests from the City Parks and Community Services Department and Judith Judson who was instrumental in getting the Soroptimist Grove planned.

Directions are:

From Downtown take East Second Street toward the industrial Park. Turn left at Rose Drive. You will see the Mathew Turner elementary school as you come down a long hill. Turn right into the school and go past the school to the first parking lot on the right.  You are now in Community Park. Take the walking path that goes around the park to the right. It goes next to the large play yard and picnic area and bathrooms. The Soroptimist Grove is on the back side of the park about a ¼ mile walk. There are two picnic tables and a Soroptimist sign. Bring an extra chair if you have a light one. There will be a truck in the parking lot to haul the food and chairs to the area. My cell phone number is 580-9508 if you need to call me.

Conference is coming up this weekend. There is still an opening for Saturday night dinner and Sunday brunch if anyone wants to join us. I will be sending out directions to those who have signed up. It is a great opportunity to learn more about Soroptimist and have some fun.

Casino Night is coming up quickly, May 7th. It is a new event we are doing with the Rotary Club. Please bring a raffle prize (not wrapped)valued at $25 to Nancy at Main Street this week for the event. Also please send the attached flyer to your friends via email and print it out to hand out or post where you can. Please plan to come to the event and bring friends. We are also selling keys to a treasure chest with a potential of winning $500. Helaine has keys and they are $20 each. There has always been friendly competition between the Rotary club and our Soroptimist club and we want to make sure our club holds up our part of the partnership!

A big thank you goes to Lisa for overseeing the meeting last Wednesday and to Eileen for making dinner plus a thank you to the set-up and clean-up crew. Whoever took pictures of the meeting, could you email them to Susie? Thank you!

Calling all new members and members who want to learn more about Soroptimist. Save the Date: Tuesday, May 17, for the Soroptimist Orientation, 6:30 PM at the Chamber (Dinner included). More information to come later.

Soroptimist Headquarters sent the Ruby award ballot to all member’s email. Everyone can vote, even friends and family. It is easy to follow the link and vote on who you want to win. One of the three women will be awarded $5,000 for their charity of choice.

Correspondence: Valero sent a check for $400 to purchase 16 tickets for the Chocolate Champagne and Couture event.  SIA sent a ballot for the election of Federation President –elect 2011-2012.  Benicia Historical Museum sent their newsletter and member application.

I hope to see you Thursday,

Pres Libbey

It’s planting time! “Sow the Seeds of Soroptimist”

LunaFest

Hi all,

The LunaFest was an amazing success. Here is a letter written by one of our members to Helaine who helped organize the event. It says it all.

“Dear Helaine (and crew)

I thought Lunafest was terrific! You and your committee did a great job - it seemed well organized - and amazingly enough there were lots of people there! I thought it was great to have the folks from Namaste House - they made it real - not just donating to a thing - but to people. I think that man that donated his 50/50 winnings back was terrific...what a nice gesture. I think we also showcased Soroptimist - I wouldn't be surprised if we get a few new members out of it. I've been working on my friend Mary Anne for a while now, and she was very impressed with the whole event, with us, and with Namaste House.

Thanks for letting me be a part of the event…..

Bobbi”

Soroptimist Weekly March 1

Hi all,

Tonight at the Council meeting we will be presenting the City a check for $10,000 for the Soroptimist Grove. If you can join us, come to the Council Chambers at 7PM.

A big thank you goes to Lisa McV.for organizing our Mystery Auction, to Mina Byrne (Fellowship chair for District III) for being our auctioneer and to all the members who brought gifts and bid them up at the auction. We collected $1,873.25,  just $126.75 short from being able to award a Fellow and a Laurel to two of our club members. If you were not able to attend the auction or were not a winner of one of the gifts please consider donating to the cause. Every little bit helps. The money collected for Fellowship goes to women in the last year of their doctoral degree. It will be given away at Conference and is the identifying service project of Founder Region. The Laurel Society is an exclusive group of Soroptimists who have donated $1,000 or more to Soroptimist International of America for their many amazing projects.

Correspondence: A Thank you letter from Mina Byrne for being invited to be the auctioneer at the Mystery Auction. She said, “ SI Benicia’s enthusiasm for raising money for Fellowship, evidenced by the lively auction, was truly inspiring!”

Pres Libbey

“To reach great heights a person needs to have great depth”

January Update

Hi all,

Last Wednesday evening we had 10 guests and a fun meeting with information about Soroptimist programs presented by Governor Linda Sue Hansen and Bobbie Enderlin. Also present was our District Director Linda Glantz.  So far, we have four new members who have joined and we are planning inductions for Feb 10^th and Feb 16^th. If you are a sponsor of a new member be sure to get their paper work in so they can be inducted with the group.

This coming Thursday our speaker will be Tim Hoyle. He is a life coach and I’m told you will not want to miss this meeting. New members and other guest will be attending so be sure to wear your name tag and introduce yourself to anyone you don’t recognize. Also, Please let Bonnie (sileria1@sbcglobal.net) know if you are coming or not.

President Libbey

Happy New Year!!!

Please join us on January 6, 2011 for our first of the year business meeting, 12pm.

December News

Hi all,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.  We all have so many things to be thankful for and high on my list is our Soroptimist Club. Not just because of the friendships and enjoyment of working together but because we are helping so many women and girls through our many projects.


The wreaths are here! Terry would like everyone to pick them up on tomorrow, Wednesday between 4 and 6 PM at her home, 916 Bolton Circle.  If that time is not good for some members, you can email or call Terry to arrange pick-up at another time.

This week I received my Best for Women Soroptimist magazine. The feature article is on breast Cancer and the costly results. I know that many of us have been touched by breast and other cancers in our mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, and ourselves. It is an article worth reading. The side bars include symptoms of a little known breast cancer and actions our club can take to help women in our local community.

This Thursday we will be having our regular business meeting at the Baptist Church. It is a sack lunch affair. Business meetings are very important. It is where we make plans and report how we are doing with our projects. If you are not able to attend all the meetings please try to come to the business meeting, the first Thursday of the month. Please print out the Agenda, Minutes and Calendar of Events for reference.

A big thank you goes to Susie and the work that is done to prepare and send out our monthly e-news letter. In an effort for our club members to connect with the bigger picture of Soroptimist our guest author for Dec. is Governor Linda Sue Hansen.

Helaine is collecting children's book for our book project at each business meeting. If you don't have any to donate, talk with Helaine about purchasing some from her list.

At the meeting we will have sign up sheets for the Parlor Tour Dec 4, Bell Ringing Dec 18&19, and gifts for the Rosewood House Christmas Party Dec 22.

December is upon us and there is a lot going on. Hopefully everyone will take part in one or more of our projects but remember, DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO DO EVERYTHING. Pick and choose what is important to you.

Correspondence: Chamber Newsletter - Business After Hours, Dec 9 Westamerica Bank 5:30-7:30 and the STAND newsletter

Pres Libbey