Grand Rapids Timberline
Volume 48, Issue 10 June, July & August, 2024
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT
AAUW GRAND RAPIDS
BRANCH MEMBERS
EDITOR; Myrna Peterson
myrnakay67@gmail.com
218-301-6028
MISSION: AAUW advances gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy.
President's Message
Hello, Friends!
I have enjoyed my role as president and would like to thank all who have been so helpful for the past two years. Enjoy summer and hope to see you at the potluck in August!
Laurie Clausen, President
***Travel Treasures
Thank you to our wonderful Aauw members. We had many beautiful items from your travels and added $90 to our Scholarship Fund!
* Linda Johnson wintered in North Padre, Texas, and brought back real vanilla, flower decor, and moonshine.
* Louise Koglin Fideldy was also in Texas and donated honey, a variety of pecans and Birds of Paradise seeds from her niece from Hawaii.
* Jan Hill donated turtle earrings from the Turtle Hospital and and Ernest Hemingway logbook, both from the Florida Keys.
* Julie Skallman traveled to the 'Stans' and donated a scarf from an active mosque in Kyrystan, a variety of fruits and nuts from Turkmenistan and soap from Cyprus.
* A lovely evening bag from India was donated by Cathy Davies.
* Cyndy Agle wintered at the Gulf Shores and brought mango salsa.
A big thank you to Jan Hill. She held a raffle for a lovely fuchsia hanging basket which added another $140 to our Scholarship Fund.
The spring banquet was so much fun, a good time was had by all!
Marlys Mestemacher and Jean Gardner
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Thank You!
Our sincere thanks to the members that are going off the board:
Laurie Clausen served as President
Diane Anderson served 2 terms as Secretary
Terri Friesen served as Co-Vice President/Programs
Welcome!
Welcome to the Members joining the board:
President: Susan Lavelle
Secretary: Vicki Holmstrom
Co-Vice President/Programs: Anita Firman
Vice president/Membership: Janis Johnson (doing a 2nd term)
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***Membership
Congratulations to the winner of our Membership drawing! All members that had paid the $100 dues by the May meeting were entered in the drawing.
Our winner was: Judy McAlpine! Congratulations, Judy!
The members attending the state convention in April received information on all state branches. We rank 6th in membership for the state out of 27 branches. We can be proud of our accomplishment for both existing and new members.
Our Grand Rapids branch received an award for increased membership. We were one of five in the state that had an increased membership over the past year. Thank you to all our members for referrals to our Vice President of Membership - Janis Johnson.
Hastings did a wonderful job of hosting the 95th AAUW Of Minnesota Annual Meeting. The program was headed Confluence = Inclusion, Collaboration, Empowerment. It was held at the Confluence Hotel, which is newly-opened in a repurposed factory, making use of much of the old fixtures and materials. It is located at the confluence of the Mississippi, St. Croissant and Vermillion Rivers.
All the presenters were excellent and stressed the importance of women working together, standing up for gender equity, being willing to take risks both in speaking up as well as trying new things like starting a business. There was a presentation by five women entrepreneurs as well as a welcome from the Hastings Mayor, Mary Fasbender. There were video presentations by Rep. Angie Craig and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as well as a live representation by Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is very impressive. Sen. Kl-obuchar said that women get things done, that not only must they be at the table, but at the head of the table.
Hastings is an old river city that has done a nice job of retaining old buildings in a core area with lots of little shops and restaurants, all and easy walk from the hotel. Our time was limited, but Hastings would be worth a visit if you want to take a little road trip. There is a nice river walk and falls we did not see.
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***Summer Happenings
***Summer Happenings
Our summer potluck will be held on Monday, August 19. Cathy Davies has generously offered to host the potluck with a tour of her gardens.
Thank you, Cathy!
***Exploring Our Community
Julie Skallman will be speaking on her trip to the Central Asian countries of Kazakhsta, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. We will meet at Smoke On The Water at 11 AM on Monday, June 10, with lunch after. The address is: 94 Roosevelt Ave., Coleraine. RSVP: lindajohnson@q.com.
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**INTEREST GROUPS**
***Literature
The AAUW Monday morning, Litz group will meet on June 3 to discuss congressman Jamie Raskin's UNTHINKABLE: TRAUMA, TRUTH AND THE TRIALS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. (In his memoir, congressman Raskin tells the searing story of the 45 days at the start of 2021 when he lost his son to suicide and lived to the January 6th violent insurrection in our Nation's Capital.) On August 5th, we will discuss THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride. (The novel tells the story of Black and Jewish residents of the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s and 1930s who mobilize to help a young Black boy who is deaf.) We will meet both months at 9:30 AM at Majestic Pines. Coffee will be provided. We will NOT meet in July.
***Walking and Talking
The group is switching to the summer schedule of walking on Wednesday mornings at 9 AM. The locations change from week to week, but usually in the Grand Rapids area. During the summer, we expanded the area to include Hill City, Bovev and some trails around. The group is open to new members interested in walking. If you would like to join us, send your email address and cell number to Karen Karls at k.karls@yahoo.com. You will receive an email with the weekly walk location. Members walk when they can or want to; no need to RSVP.
Summer schedule: Wednesday mornings at 9 AM.
***Sunshine and Caring
If any member of Aauw needs a bit of sunshine because of illness or a sympathy card, please let me know and I will send a card from Aauw. You can email me at: cyndy.agle@gmail.com.
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AAUW National Election Results
The initiative to open AAUW's membership did not pass. This would have eliminated the education requirement.
Changes to AAUW's bylaws require 2/3 majority (66%) to pass. AAUW members voted 65.1% to approve to measure, just shy of passing.
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Lifetime Members Honored
We honored our Lifetime Members at our May meeting. We appreciate our Lifetime Members for their commitment to AAUW for 50+ years. Think of all the changes these members have seen promoting our 'Mission of Advancing gender, equity for women and girls to research, education and advocacy.' The Lifetime Members were presented with flowers. They are:
Sharon Burt
Dody Davies
Marilyn Rossman
Shirley Jacobson
Karen Karls
Colleen Nardone
Harriet Lucia
Thank you for your years of support and all that you have done for our organization, including offices that you have held.
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Meet a Member - Judy MacAlpine
Hi! I am Judy MacAlpine and I graduated from Grand Rapids High School many years ago. I was born in Minneapolis, but visited often in Grand Rapids because we had a cabin on Pokegama Lake. I never thought we would be moving here, but we did. I went to Central School, the Junior and Senior High School. I was planning to be a teacher and so I started my college career at St. Catherine's College.
I had no idea about the excellent education I received here until I went to college. I thought about becoming either a math or science teacher and then focused on math. I still remember my first final at St. Catherine's and it was physics. I was surprised at how easy it seemed as I had physics as a class in high school. With what I brought with me from high school, I received the highest grade in the class and earned the Freshman Physics Award at the college. I also tried out mathematics and like that even more, so I declared my major as mathematics with a minor in German.
I decided to transfer to the University of Minnesota after two years at St. Catherine's. I was definitely among the very few females who were pursuing a major in mathematics. I have one class where there were about 200 males in the class and me!! I graduated and started teaching in Minneapolis, where I had done my student teaching. I was married and moved to Bloomington, MN. I continue teaching and various schools in Minneapolis and then was a substitute teacher, as well, when my children were little.
I went back to school while teaching and earned a Master's degree at St. Thomas. It was a great program with business and education majors. I believe it was called Learning, Human Development and Technology. It was interesting to learn the application of mathematics in the business world.
I finished my teaching career at Edison High School in Northeast Minneapolis. it was interesting and a challenge as many of these students were legal immigrants from countries in Africa and Asia. I did not speak their languages, but they quickly learned English and mathematics. They often told me stories about why they had to leave their country.
Retired in 1998 and moved to Grand Rapids. I am enjoying my retired life here and have met so many new friends.
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Scholarships
The AAUW MN North Scholarship recipient of $1500 is Heather Smith from Bovey, MN. She is a 30-year-old Practical Nursing student who will be working toward an associate degree.
Our Anniversary Scholarship recipients awarded from the GRACF are;
Amy Glass from Bovey, MN. She is a Psychiatric Nursing major from Walden University.
Lacey Paulley from Deer River, MN. She is a Veterinary Technician major from Penn Foster.
Roni Davis from Marble, MN. She is an RN major from Northwest Technical College (Bemidji)
Meghan Meyer from Marble, MN. She is an Accounting/Finance major from the College of Scholastica.
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Happy Birthday Wishes to June, July and August AAUW Members!!
Judith 'Judy' McAlpine - June 1
JoAnn Solberg - June 4
Marjorie 'Marj' Lavalier - June 5
Harriet Lucia - June 6
Juliet Jones - June 9
Sharon Burt - June 12
Helen Albrecht - June 15
Sharon Quern - June 20
Cheryl Vogel - June 24
Marcia Anderson - June 25
Vicky Harding - June 25
Lynette Eck - June 27
Janis Johnson - June 28
Nancy Raymond - July 1
Julianne 'Julie' Erickson - July 10
Margaret 'Marge' Domish - July 30
Laurie Clausen - August 3
Julie Karels - August 3
Judith Gorham - August 14
Anita Firman - August 16
Marilyn Rossman - August 17
Johnnie Fulton - August 18
Kathleen Spencer - August 21
Karen Karls - August 30
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