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March 2008 Vol. 1, Issue 2
February, 2008 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
KAAUW Calendar
President's Letter
Reflections by Victoria Reiss
Spotlight Mary Gelhaus
Diversity Report
Communications Committee
Quick Links
Kingston AAUW Branch Communications Committee
Garnette Arledge
Doris Goldberg
ViVi Hlavsa
Susan Holland
Doris Licht
Irwin Rosenthal
Ruth Wahtera, Editor

If you have something you would like posted on either the Kingston AAUW or the Unofficial Passions site, e-mail the information to a committee member.




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Kingston AAUW Calendar

March and April  Events:

 3/8 - Bus trip to MOMA

3/11 - Board Meeting

3/14 - Enjoying TOSCA - pre-trip program

3/18 -Book Club - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

3/26 - Branch Meeting - Stacey Rein, United Way, introducing Hope's Fund

3/27, 29, 4/03, 11, 15 - One Book, One Community Events: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe*

4/1 - Communications Committee

4/2 - Pay Equity Day in Albany

4/3 - AAUW hosted luncheon: LISTENING TO ACHEBE'S WORDS* (please contribute dishes)

4/5 - Bus Trip to TOSCA

4/8 - Board Meeting

4/15 - Book Club Discussion of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe*

4/22 - Branch Meeting

4/24-27 - Bus Trip to Washington, DC

4/25-27 - NYS AAUW Convention
 
*One Book, One Community events this year are co-sponsored with Bard College. Celebrating the 50th annaversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart

Make the KAAUW calendar a favorite and you'll always know what's happening.
Greetings!
Your responses to our first e-newsletter ranged from 'bravo' to 'unsubscribe me.' We appreciate your honest feedback and, after listening, have modified our format a bit.

You'll find complete articles from our local contributors -- Vicoria Reiss, Bernie Carpino, and Arlene Bruck -- and links to other articles of interest.

Want a calendar of AAUW events you can keep on your desk? Just click on the calendar link. You'll see a print option on the upper right corner of the calendar.

Wishing you a warm and healthy March.
Keep your comments coming.

From the President

garnette arledgeNot to be defeated by yet another snow storm, we had our first branch meeting by conference call last week. Lois Haignere provided insight into the status of pay equity in NYS today. And, it's not good.

The NYS legislature will take yet another vote on the Fair Pay Bill this spring, so AAUW has joined a large coalition of women's groups who will visit with legislators April 2nd. I hope to have a large group from Kingston AAUW. Please let me know whether you can come.

You can download a pdf of Lois' slides from here.

Woodstock Time Exchange: Our branch has joined the Woodstock Time Exchange -- part of a world-wide time-banking movement. KAAUW gets credit for the time we provide in community service and education. We can use that time to "purchase" services from other Woodstock Time Exchange Members. (Currently, some help with accounting while our treasurer is out of commission).

Time exchange is a wonderful way to build community and find solutions to those difficult issues like pet sitting, computer updates, transportation to airports, etc. I encourage you to consider joining as individuals.

New Contact Info: Now AAUW Kingston Branch has its own address, telephone number and email address. In the past, whoever was president gave out her own private information. But, it occurred to me that as we become more visible in our area and, in fact, over the world wide web, we need continuity in our contact information.

So, please note in your directory:

The postal address is AAUW Kingston, PO Box 14, Glenford, NY 12433.
The email address is kaauw12401@gmail.com.
The telephone is 845-704-2120.

These contacts will be passed on from president to president. The new information will gradually seep into the trips list, our press releases, and fliers. FYI, I still have my personal numbers.

Extend your sympathy and support to our members: Please let me know when members are dealing with life's challenges and transitions. If I get permission from the people involved, I will share that information with the membership.

This month our thoughts and prayers go out to:

  • Andrea Winston on the death of her fianc�
  • Denise Springer on the death of her husband
  • Liz Rosen on the death of her son-in-law. And our best wishes to Liz's husband, Bernie, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
I depend on you all to keep me posted.

SCRABBLE! Please email me, at kaauw12401@gmail.com, if you would enjoy a Sunday evening Scrabble game or two. Susan Holland and I have talked about trying one Sunday evening a month (the fourth, not to conflict with the Film-Discussion.) Let me know your interest and please use the new e-address so it will be in your e-address book.

We are moving into a busy AAUW spring. I hope to share many of the events with you.
Aloha,
Garnette

Reflecting on Rabbi Heschel's Question
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Contributed by Victoria Reiss


Every morning when The New York Times arrives my habit is to peruse the front page and op-eds, then turn to the obituaries. I realize that sounds like a gloomy way to start the day but obituaries tell me more about our famous contemporaries than I knew, and I'm always curious about the paths that led to their success.

Recently it was a "Connections" biographical article about Rabbi Abraham Heschel, not an obituary (he died in 1972) that caught my eye because I had been on one of the anti-war marches he led. It was 1967-68, a march from Central Park to the United Nations that he led along with Martin Luther King,Jr., Dr. Benjamin Spock, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Paul Moore of St. John the Divine, and William Sloane Coffin among others.

My ten-year-old son Tom was with me and when he got bored with the slow pace, I suggested that if we walked faster we could be right behind Dr. Spock, and that's how, in one slice of archival footage that is shown on TV occasionally, there is Tom's face in the first row behind the leaders.

Heschel was an important ecumenical leader who asked "What way of living is compatible with the grandeur and mystery of life?" To me, one perfect question.

I thought of the mysterious chemistry of our bodies. This week a report was announced that may finally explain muscle fatigue; that it is caused by stored calcium leaking into muscle cells. Scientists live constantly with "the grandeur and mystery of life" and hopefully the rest of us share in the wonder.

But now I find myself reflecting every day on Heschel's speculation on how we should live to be "compatible with the grandeur and mystery of life."

Photograph by Benedict Fernandez. Published in: Kasher, Steven. The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. Found on the Stanford University Lesson Plan: Martin Luther King, Jr's "Beyond Vietnam."
Branch Historian Interviews Mary Gelhaus

Branch HistoryThis month Bernie Carpino interviewed Mary Gelhaus. Mary has been a member since 1963 and has served in a variety of capacities including branch president from 1989 to 1992.

Mary Gelhaus is a wonderful source of AAUW information. Mary's mother had been an AAUW member so Mary was quick to join the Kingston Branch when she moved here. She has been a member of our branch since July, 1963.

Adelaide Van Wagenen gave her rides to meetings which were then held at the YWCA.

In her second year of membership, Mary was asked to be Treasurer. She remembered that National began using spreadsheets to track membership dues during that time.

Communication also underwent changes. The newsletter was originally churned out on a mimeograph machine. In the 80's it was done by a non-member for a nominal fee until Mary began doing it on the computer. Due to postage costs, it was decided to print bi-monthly rather than monthly. Among other contributions, Mary did the Directory for three years, finding it often difficult to get all the necessary information.

In the late 80's leadership became a problem - younger women were not joining and some members had dropped out because of National's very aggressive pro-abortion ads.

Jean Guzewich agreed to be president to keep the organization alive. (1987-89) Next Mary took over the position (1989-92) with Veronica Rafferty helping with programming. Mary instituted Saturday morning membership coffees; membership gradually increased and new leaders emerged.

Mary recalls AAUW's involvement in community affairs.

  • As an advocate for the Library, a film was made to be shown to community groups at the time the library was moving to its present location.
  • Members assisted Ulster Literacy with a project in which members would rewrite a news story so it could be used as a teaching aid.
  • A panel and study on child abuse chaired by Edna Vickers was a catalyst for awareness and change.
  • Members visited the homeless shelter and prepared and served a meal to the residents.

Social connections are important to AAUW members and Mary is no exception. She speaks fondly of June picnics, the Christmas potluck dinners with spouses attending and doing the clean-up. Fellowship was generated in attending performances at UPAC and other venues.

Mary feels AAUW is doing well locally. Nationally membership has dropped and Mary thinks there is too much emphasis on a mission-based approach.


What do you think?
Diversity Report from Arlene Bruck, Chair

In December I presented $50 Wal-mart gift cards to 10 deserving families in the Kingston School District. We presented the cards as rewards for their hard work and progress at school. The families were selected by the Family Care Worker and the ESL Teachers.

The families were able to use the cards for food, clothing,holiday gifts or anything else they needed at Wal-mart. The families are very grateful to AAUW for our generosity and interest in helping them.

These students must pass the same New York State Regents Exam given to all students. I am happy to report that all the ESL students who took the January Regents passed. This success is a tribute to the students and their teachers. Since many of our students born in the United States have difficulty with this exam, we can appreciate the extra effort the ESL students and teachers put forth to achieve this result .

The deadline for the Diversity Scholarship is April. The $700 scholarship will be awarded to the student whose essay demonstrates a commitment to promoting understanding and harmony among the diverse groups comprising our community. In the past applicants have volunteered in the community, organized walk-a-thons, sponsored panel discussions and benefit concerts and even set up new support groups in Kingston.

Last year we received 75 applications from excellent candidates which made it very difficult to choose a winner. I will have the applications available in May for any member who would like to read the them. On June 2nd I will present the scholarship to the winner at the Awards Presentation.

Communications Committee
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Are you one of the 707 unique visitors to our website/blog in February?  The statistics show that every month we attract more people interested in the things we do and the issues we care about. If you're a regular reader there, please add comments to postings that speak to you.

We continue to post non-AAUW items to our Unofficial Passions pages. We envision the day when that site will be a favorite for Ulster County people who want to know about local happenings of interest. Please continue to send the events and issues you'd like to publicize to committee members for posting.

We've settled on a regular Communications Committee meeting date, time, and place -- first Tuesday, 10:30 am, Kingston Library, starting April 1st.

Each meeting will have two parts:
  • Communications planning -- What needs to be done? What's going well? What do we need to change?
  • Expanding our knowledge and competency with new communications tools and techniques. We are all learning all the time and this is our chance to share. All are welcome. No experience required.
Please feel free to join us. Bring your laptop if you have one. Bring your questions. Bring your curiosity. No experience necessary. Contact Ruth Wahtera for more information.

BTW (internet for 'by the way'), if you want to know more about social networking, read this month's blog entry on AAUW and Facebook.

We look forward, once again, to your feedback. Do tell us what you think.

Now, to get a paper version together for our snail-mail members.