Florida
Clubwoman
GFWC Florida
April 2015
From the President
As we come to the
close of the first
year of my administration, many may
think that their term
as an officer, a
chairman or a committee chairman or
member is now half
over…the glass is half empty; that is totally
not so!
We have only just begun! The groundwork
has been laid, all our plans are in place, and
we are now venturing full speed ahead.
What an exciting adventure we are about
to begin in the second year of this administration.
You have participated in the GFWC six
departments, the advanced departments,
supported GFWC's signature project, Domestic Violence, participated in the GFWC
sponsored contests and you are truly
“Living the Volunteer Spirit.” You, the
members, have embraced my president’s
project, Canine Companions for Independence, with such enthusiasm and commitment that it is simply astonishing.
Thank you from the bottom of my
heart!
Be proud of all that you’ve accomplished in just this first year and
build on those accomplishments in
Volume 93, Issue 4
Inside this issue:
GFWC FLORIDA FEDERATION
OF WOMEN’S CLUBS
1895 – 2015
Exec. Board
Articles
2 - 5
CSP articles
6 - 9
Director of
Junior Clubs
9
District 1 News
10 - 15
District 2 News
15 - 17
District 3 News
18 - 19
Junior Club
News
20 - 23
CELEBRATES 120 YEARS
OF
“LIVING THE VOLUNTEER SPIRIT”
AT THE
GFWC FLORIDA
SPRING CONVENTION
MAY 15 – 17, 2015
Rosen Plaza Hotel
Orlando, Florida
the new one. This is our year!
Leaders not only have an eye on the horizon, they can see just beyond it.
One of the marks of leadership is the ability to look beyond the immediate to a better, brighter tomorrow and to anticipate with great expectation what will happen next.
In Federation Service,
“Living the Volunteer
Spirit”
Carole Weaver
[email protected]
From the President-Elect
As many clubs wind down their club
year, it’s time to think about future
leadership. As you prepare to “turn
over the reins” of the management of
your organization, and in particular,
your district, we need to take a look at
the process.
3. Be a member in good standing of
the woman’s club proposing her;
4. Have served as president of a per
capita dues paying GFWC Florida
club;
5. Submit in writing her consent to
serve if elected.”
Paragraph F states:
“A nominee for the office of junior
district director shall:
1. Be a member of a club in the district in which she is to serve;
Although elections will not occur until
the Annual District Meetings in November 2015, nominations for this
prestigious position will begin soon.
Since clubs do not hold general meetings during the summer, it’s important
to consider handling the endorsement
of your candidate while your club is
still in session. Any club in good standing may nominate someone for district
director or junior district director.
Your district elections committees will
be communicating with you soon regarding these specific requirements.
The GFWC Florida Bylaws, Article VI
Officers, Section 2, Eligibility, Paragraph E states:
“A nominee for the office of district
director shall:
1. Be a member of a club in the district which she is to serve;
2. Be nominated by an GFWC Florida junior club in good standing;
3. Be a member in good standing of
the junior club proposing her;
4. Have served as president of a per
capita dues paying GFWC Florida
junior club or a member of the
state junior planning committee;
when the club voted to nominate the
candidate as well as an explanation that
indicates that the candidate meets all
eligibility requirements. At the Annual
District Meetings in November 2015,
nominations may also be made from
the floor. However, those nominees
must also meet all eligibility requirements and submit all indicated letters
at that time to the election committee.
Serving as District Director for the 14
districts in GFWC Florida Federation
is a rewarding and exciting experience.
Not only do you strengthen your relationship with your own club but you
get to know and learn about all the
clubs and members in your district.
When asked if you will serve, say
“YES” and accept the challenge. We
need YOU to be a leader and what
5. Submit in writing her consent to
serve if elected.”
All letters of nomination and letters of
consent to serve if elected should be
sent to the chairman of the district
elections committee, postmarked no
later than the designated date. It is up
to the individual clubs to nominate a
candidate for district director/junior
district director, and the letter of
nomination should include the date
better place to begin than with those
who already know and appreciate you.
I can’t wait to meet all of our 20162018 District Directors and Junior
District Directors. Way to go girls!
Mary Powell
GFWC Florida President-Elect
[email protected]
2. Be nominated by an GFWC Florida club in good standing;
Page 2
Volume 93, Issue 4
Report of the First Vice President
the gun to make sure that the
reports and confirmations,
along with postmarks were done
before my trip and the GFWC
reporting deadline.
Noun: 1 - utterance of the word
“hallelujah” as an expression of
worship or rejoicing!
That is what was heard at my house on
March 13 as the reports were placed in
envelopes and prepared for “snail
mail” to our GFWC Chairmen. I
started sending the reports by email on
the evening of March 10 with a few at
a time being sent into cyber space with
anticipation that the reports were being received by the GFWC Chairmen.
With the deadline of March 15 looming and a business trip with my husband planned for the 14th, I was under
A day of working through reports and finalizing the necessary deadlines and requirements
started on a rainy Saturday at
President Carole’s house with
President Elect Mary and me at
the dining room table with computers,
papers, phones, notes and the reports
from our GFWC Florida Chairmen.
That continued on for another week at
my dining room table, as last minute
final numbers and projects were collected for submission.
I have to tell you what a challenge it
was to pick the best of the best! Our
own chairmen had to review each report, statistics, numbers and projects
to make sure the clubs reported them
correctly. They then had to pick 10 of
the top report projects and compile a
report that is sent to me to put into a
spreadsheet,
cover sheet and
report to our
GFWC Chairmen
for their judging.
I know that the
reports we sent
are award winners, and I know
that
President
Carole and Director of Junior
Clubs
Catrina
Florida Clubwoman
better wear some tennis shoes when
the winners are revealed at our State
Convention in May and the GFWC
International Convention in Memphis
in June. They will be smiling, handing
out awards, accepting awards, hugging
and applauding all of the work done by
GFWC Florida Clubwomen.
Thank you all of the GFWC Membership for your dedication to your communities and the families and organizations that you help. It was quite overwhelming to read the reports and the
projects that you all do around our
great state. We are award winners.
Even if your club isn’t the top winner,
you have so much to celebrate as we
come together to recognize all clubs,
club women, districts and our own
state.
Thank you for sharing with me your
reports. These past few months have
been very humbling as I read about the
difference you make in your clubs, and
I have been so proud to present our
reports to the GFWC Chairmen for
them to judge, I know that they are
winning reports and it is because of
each one of you. I can tell you my
AOL email account had over 500
emails for the month of February and
March, and I was afraid to move or file
them until that HALLELUJAH moment that the sent button, and the
stamp of the postman was done.
Sharon Oliphant
GFWC Florida First Vice President
[email protected]
Page 3
Report of the Second Vice President
Congratulations to the GFWC club
women of Florida! Due to your efforts
and enthusiasm, our state membership
has grown! For the first time in several
years we reported a total membership
of 8,972 GFWC Florida members,
which is an increase of over 100 members from the previous year. Wow!
Please keep up the great work!
The Starfish Recruitment plan has
been very successful and will continue
for the remainder of this administration. It has been simplified to just
sending a list of new members, and the
name of the club, district, and a mailing address of where to send the starfish pins, plus $23 per new member, to
GFWC FL Headquarters.
Email me a copy of the list (no dues to
me) at the same time… no form
needed. I will send you the pins as
soon as possible. The time frame for
this will be January 1, 2015 –October
1, 2015. This is a separate thing from
your remittance form. Send in new
members as soon as they have joined
your club and paid dues, all throughout the year. You will not be charged
twice for 2015 dues. Please contact me
with any questions. I am very happy to
say that headquarters has already received at least 150 new member dues
at this point. Join the crowd and
“Catch the Wave of Membership!”
Dianne Foerster
GFWC Florida 2nd Vice President/
Membership Chairman
[email protected]
From Your Member at Large
Hello, GFWC Florida Clubwomen!
I was chatting with Jennie June the
other day, and she mentioned how impressed she was with your annual reports that she had seen. She said she
truly was amazed at the work you do in
your communities, adding that Florida
clubwomen really are Living the Volunteer Spirit! I explained to Jennie that
GFWC Florida clubwomen have been
doing so for 120 years now, only 5
years shy of when she invited clubs
throughout the U.S. to meet in New
York City, when 63 of them officially
formed GFWC by ratifying a constitution. When she heard we will be cele-
Page 4
brating these 120 years at our Annual
Convention May 15-17, she was so disappointed she could not be with us in
Orlando for all the festivities.
GFWC Florida Executive Committee.
Karen Morris
GFWC Florida Member at Large
[email protected]
It has been wonderful visiting with
some of you at your clubs, and I just
wish I could take advantage of every
invitation received. However, as a reminder, I'm never more than an email
away at www.gfwcflorida.org (just click
on the right hand side of our Home
Page, under News), or directly to my
personal email, below.
I am so proud to be representing you,
the member, while serving on the
Florida
VolumeClubwoman
93, Issue 4
From your Corresponding Secretary
Presidents, please remember to update
your club’s information. The reason I
keep asking for updates is that we recently had an incident where a prospective member was looking to join a particular club in GFWC Florida. She
turned to
us to find
some information
on
the
club, for
which we
had only a
few lines in the manual, and the e-mail
was wrong. The president we had listed
was no longer the president.
Ladies, this is why we need everyone to
update their information as soon as
their e-mails are changed, a new president is elected, or if a contact phone
number is changed. How many prospective members do we lose if prospective members are unable to obtain
the necessary contact information from
us?
Presidents, please update your information by going to our website,
www.gfwcflorida.org.
Under Resources/Downloads, go down to Club
and President Update Form,
download and save to your computer,
fill in and send to me at
[email protected].
Or
print out the form, fill in by hand and
mail to me. Manual updates are done
once a month at the end of the month.
Cheryl Benton
GFWC FL Corresponding Secretary
[email protected]
From the Finance Officer
It’s almost time for our May Convention and we are very excited to have
some new & exciting vendors scheduled. We hope you will support them,
as 20% of their gross sales are given to
GFWC Florida.
The vendors taking part in the May
convention are:
MEEKS SCARF SECRET
ONE TOUCH ART & BEDDING
Florida Clubwoman
ORIGAMI OWL
H&M JEWELRY
SCENTSY
WILDTREE ORGANIC HERBS & SPICES
LECAPTIVE BOUTIQUE
CREATIVE CRAFTS BY LORRAINE
ACCESSORIES & MORE
SILVER SUN
EMBROIDERY BY - LYN
INTERNATIONAL PHOTO
We will have a special contest, “WAG
OUR TAILS FOR SALES,” where
you will have a chance to win cash and
prizes by supporting our vendors.
Look for our sign in the lobby and
stop by our table for details.
Sara Dessureau
GFWC Florida Finance Officer
[email protected]
Page 5
Arts
Art Is Essential to
our Quality of Life
Spring is here! All
the beautiful flowers
are out. Beauty is in
the air and Art is all around us! Ladies,
look around, wherever you are. If you
are inside, look at the pictures on the
walls, the furniture in the room, the
rugs or the tiles on the floor. That’s all
Art. It was designed and made by people. If you are outside, look around.
You might see a car, a building, a
house, a fountain. They all were designed and made by someone. That is
Art!! So, Ladies, “Art IS Essential to
our Quality of Life.”
Your
reports
were
a weso me!
Throughout the state, your arts and
crafts shows were enjoyed and showed
the great talent of all our members.
You visited museums, galleries, exhibits, music festivals and dramatic events.
You supported artists, musical programs and children in music and dance
programs in schools. You didn’t forget
our service men or nursing homes, you
did it all! Thank You!
One Club worked with a museum
board of directors and its curator in
designing the tribute to the awesome
“Everglades Natural Wonder.” This
Everglades Diorama features the day-to
-night sounds of the Glades. Ingenious
animals of the Glades are highlighted
along with native plants. Their mem-
bers worked diligently as docents for
tours of this new attraction.
One club took a “Selfie” of all the
members at their meeting and sent it,
by email, to all the members that were
absent. They told them that they missed
them and hoped to see them soon.
That was fun for the members attending and also fun for the members receiving the email.
Now, just continue the great jobs that
you are doing and remember to have
FUN in the creative process. Enjoy and
be a HAPPY CLUB!
Jeanette Basile
GFWCFL Art Chairman
386-738-2184
[email protected]
International Outreach
I’m always amazed
how life has a way of
always going full
circle. Who knew
that as a club woman
in 2006 who purchased a $20.00 ticket to support our
Florida State President’s Linda Dennis’s project Heifer International, that
6 years later I would serve as our International Outreach Chair.
It has been my pleasure to spread the
news about Heifer International, an
Page 6
organization working to end hunger
and poverty around the world by providing livestock and training to struggling communities.
Also Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip,
cleft palate and other facial deformities
for children around the globe.
Unicef, which is the United Nations
Children's Fund, works for children’s
rights, survival, development and pro-
tection, and their newest project, a
Shot@Life.
We clubwomen belong to the greatest
community service organization in the
world. We give women the opportunity to learn, grow and have the opportunity to make a difference in our
community, state and all over the
world. Together we can achieve more
than what we can do alone. PROUD
TO BE A GFWC WOMAN!
Respectfully submitted,
Marie Ambrosino
GFWCFL
International Outreach Chairman
[email protected]
Florida Clubwoman
Education
GFWC Florida Federation of Woman’s
Clubs is a shaking
and
moving
“Education Team”
The amount of hours, members and
funds that were invested in 2014 certainly attest to that.
Reported
Projects - 1174
Education is the
most powerful
weapon which
Reported
Project Hours 87,930
As I reviewed
you can use to
the 2014 Educhange
cation Reports
it was most
the world. -difficult
to
make the deciNelson Mandela
sions
for
AWARDS.
Each club that submitted reports show
the true Philanthropic Spirit of their
members .
Welaka Public Library is located in
the clubhouse of GFWC Woman’s
Club of Welaka. Club members volunteer time and assistance to their community. Computer Access/WIFI is
available.
The Dictionary Project - GFWC
Mayo Woman’s Club - A dictionary
is presented to every third grade student. Knowledge is power and a student’s knowledge is only as good as
their vocabulary
Prime Time Family Reading Program - GFWC Umatilla Woman’s
Volume 93, Issue 4
Club - Members partner with the library and the Humanities Council to
three North Lake County Libraries.
This program is for the entire family.
Parents are tutored for illiteracy and
obtaining a GED.
Scholarships - Most all of the clubs
give scholarships to students entering
college or returning to finish schooling. Also, women who need educational assistance for other forms of
education, enriching their lives and the
lives of their families.
Book Fairy Project - Provides books
for children, restaurants, Laundromats,
churches and Hospitals.
EDUCATION PARTNER– HOBY
“HOBY” programs provide youth
with unique leadership training to
make a better world and a better society. Each program strives to follow the
HOBY motto of teaching young leaders “how to think, not what to think”
– creatively, critically.
Reported Project Hours - 23,538
GFWC His tor ical B rooks ville
Woman’s Club planned, organized and
hosted a CLEW Workshop. From
what I heard and the pictures posted it
was a huge success.
Ideas:
Community Leadership Workshop
(CLEW) – One-day program for high
school freshmen
State Leadership Seminar (LS) – Three
or Four-day program for sophomores
World Leadership Congress (WLC) Week long program, ages 15-17
Advanced Leadership Academy (ALA)
– Five-day program, ages 16-18
International Tours Program – Eight
or Nine-day programs – HOBY
Alumni, siblings and friends are invited
to participate in this program
ESO
Reading program – Epsilon Sigma
Omricon
(An
honorary educaEducation is
tional society open
to all per capita the movement
paying
GFWC
from
Federated Club
Members)
Darkness
Reported Project
Hours – 38,986
to light. –
Allan Bloom
How many children do we as
GFWC
sisters
touch and encourage and through our
efforts make a difference in their lives
and future?
This brief article does not begin to
address the work of each and every
club and their wonderful projects.
An overview of the GFWC Florida
Federation of Women’s Clubs shows
the compassionate, caring and love the
Women of Florida give every day.
Nancy B. Garlanger
GFWCFL Education Chairman
407-365-5235
[email protected]
Page 7
Public Issues
My Fall Board suggestion was to focus
on Wreaths Across
America.
Myra
Kinnie presented a
brief video, passing
out information and answering questions from the workshop.
GFWC Tampa Woman’s Club came
through. Working through emails,
Facebook and their newsletter they
informed club members of the
Wreaths Across America event.
GFWC Tampa Woman’s Club sponsored 38 wreaths for the American
Legion Cemetery with their own club
page utilizing the Wreaths Across
America website. Club members also
reposted their Wreaths Across America website on their own pages.
Teaming up with the GFWC Tampa
Woman’s Club were 25 to 30 members
of the Tampa Chapter of Team Red
White and Blue. Team Red White and
Blue also attended the ceremony with
GFWC Tampa Woman’s Club at the
American Legion Cemetery.
It is always heartwarming when a club
helps out high school students, at the
same time saving the school system big
money. GFWC North Pinellas
Woman’s Club conducted CPR and
First Aid Training at local high
schools. CPR and First Aid classes
were taught to 48 high school students
from 4 different high schools needing
it for state ECPC (Early Childhood
Professional Certificate) certification.
A club member is a certified instructor
and taught the classes for free. Club
members from GFWC North Pinellas Woman’s Club assisted in the
training. Each student normally pays
$25 for certification in both courses.
This saved the school system $1200.
Students with an ECPC earn “Staff
Credential” from the Florida Department of Children and Families to work
in licensed child care centers.
Marguerite Robinson
GFWCFL Public Issues Chairman
(352) 528-3522
[email protected]
Home Life
Home Life offers
more opportunities,
with more programs,
with more excitement than any other
CSP. We are definitely the open door to serving in our
communities in such a wide variety of
ways that it is hard to determine where
to begin.
Page 8
Inside Knowledge (women’s gynecological cancers), The Heart Truth;
Easter Seals, and Canine Companions
for Independence are the Partner’s for
Home Life.
Florida Clubwoman
Home Life (cont.)
Junior Home Life features March of
Dimes, and on GFWC FL level, we
have “Give Kids the World.”
Let’s focus just on The Heart Truth,
GFWC International President Babs
Condon’s project. The Home Life
Challenge for GFWC FL is to find the
best Heart Program in our clubs. A
winner of a Heart Basket for the club
with the most innovative Heart Programs will be announced at the 2016
convention.
Did you know that according to the
Red Cross, 50,000 lives a year could be
saved by people who have taken CPR
and who know how to use an AED?
What’s an AED? It is an Automated
External Defibrillator. When someone
is in cardiac arrest, seconds make the
difference. Does your clubhouse have
an AED? Does the building where
your club meets have an AED? If it
does, do any of your club members
know how to use it, along with CPR?
If your answer isn’t yes to all those
questions, it is time to call the Red
Cross and get ready to have class for
your club and the community.
See the Home Life Bulletin #2 for
some more program ideas for Heart
Health, and for ideas from our 2014
reports for innovative and interesting
community service by our GFWC FL
clubs at www.GFWCFlorida.org.
See you in May at Convention? There
won’t be a HL Workshop, but there
will be wonderful presentations and
exciting awards! See you at the HL
Workshop at Fall Board, when we will
have some guest speakers from among
our own members.
In Federation,
Maureen Taylor
GFWCFL Home Life Chairman
[email protected]
From the GFWC FL Director of Junior Clubs
As I have just completed the GFWC
Florida Juniors' Report, I am completely amazed by the Volunteer Spirit
evident in Florida! With 28 Junior
Clubs, 615 members, 1533 projects,
47,228 hours, $72,245 donated, and
$218,507of in kind donations in 2014,
our One Voice for Children is loud and
clear! With two possible new Junior
clubs federating, our voice is getting
louder.
Use your volunteer hands to give yourself a pat on the back for a job well
done. High-five another clubwoman
for your commitment to our Federation. Hug a dear friend as our volun-
teerism brings us closer together. Most
of all, open your arms to welcome new
friends at our 2015 GFWC Florida
Convention!
Catrina Sistrunk
GFWCFL Director of Junior Clubs
352-538-1293
[email protected]
Living the Volunteer Spirit
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 9
District 1 News
DISTRICT 1 ARTS FESTIVAL 2015
On Monday, February 23, the Fort
Walton Beach Woman's Club hosted
the District 1 Arts Festival. Representatives from our sister Clubs attended the
meeting and luncheon. These Clubs
included Crestview, Escarosa, Milton,
and Santa Rosa. Of these four visiting
Clubs, Santa Rosa and Crestview had
Arts and Craft entries for the Arts Festival itself.
The Fort Walton Beach Woman's Club
had 24 entries, Santa Rosa had 21 entries, and Crestview entered 5. The
FWB Woman's Club earned the most
Blue Ribbons with twenty 1st places,
three 2nd places, and one 3rd place.
With their 21 entries, the Santa Rosa
Woman's Club placed twelve 1st place
awards and nine 2nd places. Of the 5
entries by the Woman's Club of Crestview, there were three 1st place wins
and two 2nd places.
Members of the GFWC Ft. Walton
Beach Woman's Club have been
involved with civic and Federation
activities in the past months. Development of the "Bud and Dorie Day Patriot Trail," the club's President's Project, has been partnered with the local
Chamber of Commerce and the City
of Ft. Walton Beach.
Two members of the FWB Club won
specialty awards. Those ladies are Jan
Reagle for Best in Show, chosen by
the judges, and Betty Boudreau with
the President's Pick, an award chosen
by the current District 1 Club Presidents. The Audience Favorite Award,
chosen by those attending, was
awarded to Ranae Rader, a member of
the Santa Rosa Club. With these numbers, the FWB Woman's Club retains
the District 1 Silver award plate for
another year! The 1st place winners will
go on to the State Arts Festival scheduled for the May Convention in Orlando.
Congratulations and a job
well done to all of our artists and craftswomen for
their beautiful work. Every
entry did our District
proud! Good luck to those
moving on to State. You
will represent the your
Clubs well. Thanks to all of
you for sharing your work
with your sister Clubwomen.
Eve DeMaria, host club Arts Chair, Jan Reagle, winner of
Best in Show, and Mary Jo Vinquist, District 1 Arts Chair,
admire award
Mary Jo Vinquist
District 1 Arts Director
[email protected]
hosted the District Arts Festival. As part
of this festival, the "Taters Ladies" were
introduced by club President, Cissy Wyninegar.
Recent acquisition of their club house
prompted an experts' review for both
renovation needs and development of
rental growth for the building. The holiday
Meet Ms. Sweet Tater. She is the dream of all the
The club hosted the Reporting Workclub members in the GFWC Fort Walton Beach
shop for District 1, conducted by
Woman’s Club. She represents all the character
GFWC Florida Home Life chairman,
traits we want to attain: cheerfulness, patience,
Maureen Taylor. The club also helpfulness, charity, and a positive can-do attitude.
Page 10
Florida Clubwoman
District 1 News
season was shared with children from a local Christian
school who sang Christmas songs during the annual
Christmas luncheon. New members are continuing to increase club rolls, and we all look forward to continuing the
good works of both Federation and community.
Motivation is the key. Growing and giving and sharing are the
traits of leaders. Good advice from GFWC Fort Walton Beach
Woman’s Club President Cissy Wyninegar as she addresses her
officers at a meeting. The tomato theme followed each meeting
with a motivational gift and message for all who attended.
GFWC Fort Walton Beach Woman’s Club President, Cissy
Wyninegar, introduces the proposed center of the Bud and
Dorie Day Patriots’ Trail. The club partnered with the Day
Family, the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce and with the City of Fort Walton Beach to generate
donations. Additional funding was received from The Florida Recreation Trails Grant Program and the State of Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Grant Program. Together they have raised over $220,000 to build and
maintain the trail.
Karen Legrand treated GFWC Fort Walton Beach Woman’s
Club members to a delicious Homemade Apple Pie Class. This
fundraiser was so successful that a second class was held this
time filling yummy crusts with quiche.
GFWC Fort Walton Beach Woman’s Club members held an art
show extravaganza. The judges, Dr. Dan Robison (University of
West Florida History teacher, local artist) and Helen Blair (Board of
Directors for Arts and Design Society, local artist), are busy assisting
Arts CSP co-chairs, Betty Kentosh and Eve DeMaria, with the difficult job of picking the club art show winners.
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 11
District 1 News
The District 1 2014 Reporting Workshop was held in October at the Brooks Beal
Center. Hosted by the GFWC Fort Walton Beach Woman's Club, the meeting was
conducted by GFWC Florida Home Life Chairman, Maureen Taylor.
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club participated in the “2014 Festival of
Trees” held November 22, 2014 at the
historic Imogene Theatre in downtown Milton. Event sponsored by
Santa Rosa Kids’ House. Our club
participated, for the 5th year, with the
donation of a decorated Christmas tree
for Silent Auction titled “His Eye Is on
The Sparrow”, a seven foot lighted
tree with 200 brightly colored cloth
birds accompanied with tree skirt and
ten birdhouses. At the Silent Auction,
our tree was purchased for $380. A
total of $80,000 raised at Silent Auction benefitting Santa Rosa Kids’
House that serves the children and
families of Santa Rosa County in helping to prevent child abuse and neglect.
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club partnered with a local church and their
youth ministry in an outreach project
donating 60 teddy bears for children to
The Salvation Army of Santa Rosa
County for their 2014 Christmas Outreach for the Needy. The teddy bears,
provided by our club, were part of the
distribution of Christmas items to 25
Page 12
Youthful singers from the Cinco Bayou
Christian School entertained the GFWC
Fort Walton Beach Woman’s Club members with Christmas carols on pajama day.
Theirs – not ours – although that would
be an interesting fundraiser!
needy families and their 102 children at
our clubhouse. The Salvation Army of
Santa Rosa County has rented two of
our clubhouse offices for the past 15
years and are good neighbors of our
club indeed!
Florida Clubwoman
District 1 News
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club is a
member of the 25 member Board of
Directors of Santa Rosa Education
Foundation (SREF), a 501(c)3 established in 1987 by the Florida Legislature as a direct support organization
for Santa Rosa County District
Schools. SREF is a direct link between
the school system and the community
and a way to invest in education, a
concerned public response to high
priority school needs, and a way to
recognize that all citizens have a stake
in public school.
Our club was asked to become a member of SREF in 1992 serving as the
only non-profit organization on the
Board of Directors.
Santa Rosa District Schools are comprised of 33 schools, 1,800 teachers
and 25,000 plus students.
Our club is an ongoing partner with
SREF with sponsoring the following
three projects:
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club spon-
sors with SREF the “Teacher Appreciation Years of Service Pins” presented to teachers for their years of
service as teachers in Santa Rosa District Schools in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,
35, 40 & 45-year increments. These
attractive “Years of Service” wearable
pins designed with school house and
apple are worn by teachers on their
dress/shirt/lapel. Pins are donated by
our club. This January 2015, club packaged pins distributed by SREF board
members to 290 teachers in our 33
schools. This is the 5th year our club
has sponsored project.
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club partners
with SREF every year in providing
engraved photo frames for each of the
33 Teachers of the Year. The 2016
Santa Rosa County Teachers of the
Year were recognized at annual
“Golden Apple Banquet” held February 27, 2015 at New World Landing in
Pensacola for 700 teachers, administrators and guests.
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club has
been a partner with SREF for the past
seven years in sponsorship of “The
Little Red Schoolhouse Teacher Supply Depot” (TLRS) located in portable
building giving the 1,800 teachers in
the school district the opportunity to
shop for closeout merchandise donated by our four local Walmarts.
Opened monthly, teachers shop and
receive a free voucher to shop for
items that enhance their classrooms
and benefit their students. Our members unpackage and display merchandise in TLRS and serve as volunteers
servicing the teachers. Over 200 teachers visited TLRS on March 31, 2015
from 3 - 5 PM leaving with bags of
school supplies and Easter supplies
coupled with used children’s books
donated by a local library for their
classrooms.
Paula Lou Mapoles, President
850-384-1069
[email protected]
GFWC Milton Woman’s Club
Founded 1913 - Federated 1916
1938 Clubhouse located in the Historic District of Downtown Milton
Listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings
Membership - 12
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 13
District 1 News
GFWC Santa Rosa Woman’s Club
celebrated “50 years of Service” to
Gulf Breeze with a reception of past
and present members, area GFWC
groups, Gulf Breeze organizations,
business and community leaders, and
prospective members.
group with an official proclamation at
city council meeting. The digital marquee board at the entrance to Gulf
Breeze announced the 50th anniversary
event and the Gulf Breeze News featured
articles before and after the celebration.
The event showcased GFWC-Santa
Rosa’s history with a slide show highlighting the club’s areas of service.
Guests entered to the sound of sixties
music and viewed displays depicting
the club’s fifty years since its affiliation
with GFWC. Prior to the event, on
behalf of the City of Gulf Breeze,
Mayor Matt Deinnhesser proclaimed
March 12, 2015 as GFWC Santa Rosa
Woman’s Club Day and presented the
The occasion also served as new member orientation, recruitment and as a
philanthropy fundraiser. Professionally
printed display boards featured the
new GFWC icons incorporated with
club photos. The displays were so
popular that other clubs have already
borrowed them.
Yellow roses with accents of purple
for domestic violence provided symbolic decorations. Each table featured
a President's Scrapbook to reinforce
the history theme.
Attendees bid on tables of times from
luxury hotel stays to original artwork.
The silent auction raised $1,956 to
benefit the Weekend Food Program, a
local program that feeds 402 children
with sack lunches on weekends during
the school year.
Those belonging to GFWC-Santa
Rosa for more than 10 years were recognized at the event. Carolyn Pfeiffer,
who has been a member of the group
for 48 years, presented the official anniversary toast and President Martha
Brenenstahl cut the golden anniversary cake.
A busy spring also
included making paper hats, halos and
head bands at area
arts and craft fairs,
working the Sports
Ability Special Olympics field day, and
collecting toiletries
for battered women.
To commemorate 50
years, SRWC also
launched a new
Facebook page and
printed
brochures
for distribution at
events and at the
Chamber of Commerce.
Diane Skelton
Publicity Chair
Page 14
Florida Clubwoman
District 1 News
District 2 News
October 2014 saw the GFWC
Marianna Woman’s Club participating in the 11th Breast Cancer Awareness Symposium, held in Jackson
County, with over 400 in attendance.
The Marianna Woman’s Club cosponsors the Symposium each year
and the members graciously contribute
their time to decorate for the event.
For the past three years the Club’s October Home Life Department’s program has been business and professional men of the community who feel
strongly enough about breast cancer
Volume 93, Issue 4
awareness that they will dress up in
ridiculous costumes and parade before
the club members modeling and strutting their strange appearance to put
“boots” to their concern for breast
cancer awareness.
After strutting at the Woman’s Club
noon meeting, the men mount the
Marianna PINK Fire truck, IN COSTUME, and ride all over town, siren
blaring, to promote breast cancer
awareness throughout the community.
Over the years, many other “men of
the town” have participated in the
Marianna Woman’s Club’s October
program. Following this obviously hilarious event, twice in the recent past,
the October speakers have been men
who are breast cancer survivors.
This very successful activity was the
brainchild of Lanet James, Home
Life Department Chair. Lanet experienced two benign lumps earlier in her
life which she accidently found in her
breasts, the first in 1977 and one again
in 1985. However, in 2004 she found
one in a self-examination that was
Page 15
District 2 News
Clockwise, beginning at
12:00:
Wayne Cherry, Retired
EMS Worker; Sheriff
Lou Roberts; Edwin
Blitch, Jackson Hospital Food Service Director; Kenny Folsom,
representing Chipola
Ford; Dr. VeChai
Arunakul, Jackson Hospital surgeon; Steve
Benton, Jackson
County School Superintendent; Mark Basford
representing Pinecrest
Memorial Gardens;
Scott Owens, representing Jackson Hospital’s Respiratory Department and William
Long, Director of the
Jackson County Health
Department. Centered
are William Long and
Nikki Lovett, Marianna
Fire Chief.
soon diagnosed as Stage II invasive
breast cancer. Surgery was performed
at UAB, after a round of chemo, and
radiation followed the surgery. Although suffering from lymphedema,
she has been cancer free for eleven
years.
Her Symposium story began when she
encountered a lady on a cruise soon
after her surgery, who told her about a
very successful breast cancer awareness program they had in Enterprise,
Alabama. Upon returning home she
received a call late one night inviting
Page 16
her to attend the Enterprise Breast
Cancer program the next day. Hesitantly, she agreed, and during the
program, attended by about 400
people, Lanet realized that
Marianna needed this program,
and she felt she was the one who
was being presented with the
“Birth of a Vision.”
teers, which involved making lots of
chicken salad in Lanet’s kitchen and
Over the past 11 years the symposium has developed from its
beginning when about 100 people attended a gathering put to- Lanet James, Chair and originator of the Jackson
County Breast Cancer Awareness Symposium
gether in five weeks with volun-
Florida Clubwoman
District 2 News
women in a small community to hear
them speak about their individual
fields, and to realize that we have the
same medical expertise represented
locally as other hospitals much larger
and far away.
hard work by a few. The success of
this event only spurred her and her
friends to make sure there would be a
second symposium the next year. Their
enthusiasm was contagious when business owners graciously agreed to help
fund the event, and the rest is a wonderful history.
Over the years Lanet, continuing to
chair the event, has been able to involve Jackson Hospital, the Jackson
County Health Department, and many
business owners in the county to support the events with their expertise and
their contributions. She has also been
able to bring outside speakers into the
area who make the evenings very informative and challenging.
For the past 8 years she has been fortunate enough to present speakers
from UAB who bring vast knowledge
and experience with them. She has also
developed a friendship with Lucille
Latham with the Avon Breast Cancer
Foundation. Lucille is a two-time
breast cancer survivor who speaks,
providing information on breast selfexaminations, and brings wonderful
information in her powerful presentations. In addition, purchase a “Beads
of Hope” gift for everyone who attends. This unusual bead grouping
Volume 93, Issue 4
Lucille Latham, representing the Avon
Breast Cancer Foundation
represents the different sizes and
shapes of lumps an individual can have
in their breasts. Louise explains the
stages and treatments of those lumps
represented by the beads. She is an
excellent speaker!
This project is now one which is anticipated by the ladies in our area, and
in addition, Lanet has been able to go
into prisons in the area to speak with
women there. She would be very
pleased to visit any club interested in
such a program. Her success with this
very important program has resulted in
women writing her to let her know
that “attending the symposium saved
my life!” These types of positive comments help her to know that all her
hard work is a true “Fulfillment of a
Vision.” Lanet James’ contact number
is (850)482-4573.
One of her recent speakers was Dr.
Edward Partridge, the Director of the
Comprehensive Cancer Center at
UAB, who was the out-going president
Pat Crisp
of the American Cancer Society.
Marianna
WC
Newsletter
Editor
Other very outstanding speakers from
[email protected]
UAB’s cancer department have spoken, including the
2014 speaker, Dr.
Jorge I. DeLaTorre.
Following his presentation,
Lanet
brought five physicians to the stage
from Jackson Hospital, who represented
a team with exactly
the same specialties
at Jackson Hospital
as that which Dr. L-R: Dr. Steven H. Stokes, Radiation Oncology; Dr. Patrick
DeLaTorre has at Kelley, Plastic Surgeon; Dr. William S. Campbell, Jr., IntervenUAB. It was very tional Radiologist; Dr. Teresa Goodpaster, Surgeon; Dr. David
comforting
for Flick, Hematology/Oncology
Page 17
District 3 News
The GFWC Woman’s Club of Tallahassee in District 3 celebrated 110
years of history and erected an official
historical marker in front of our clubhouse from Florida’s Department of
State, Bureau of Historic Preservation.
The clubhouse, soon to be 90 years
old, is also listed as a famous Mediterranean Revival Style Architecture
building, along with Villa Vizcaya and
Coral Gables-Biltmore in south Florida. Understandably, a lot of time and
effort is spent on upkeep and preservation of our pink stucco “grande
dame” so it will remain available for
memorable weddings and parties for
many years to come!
We created a quilt square for GFWC
Florida’s 120th year anniversary quilt
that depicts our building in an intricate
machine-embroidered “photo” of the
front of our clubhouse. Look for this
square when the finished quilt is presented and see the detail in the shrubbery and lighting and the tile roof embroidered into a 7-inch piece of fabric.
Volume 93, Issue 4
Even though our
members tend to be
senior citizens, we
focus much of our
efforts on improving
the community for
children and providing fun opportunities
for young families.
We host a Christmas
party for area foster
families each December that is really enjoyed by our mem- Susan McLeod, Donna Peacock, Peggy Woodham, Charlene
bers, as well as our Bevis-Reese, Nancy O'Farrell--at the Pumpkin Patch
young guests.
The children are encouraged to write a letter to
Santa, and they even get
a hand-written response
to their letters!
We also staffed a local
Pumpkin Patch in October, reading to the 85
visiting pre-K and kindergartners and painting
their faces, too.
Page 18
District 3 News
In February, we threw a baby shower
for a home for pregnant women and
their families and learned from the
Executive Director about their successful outreach program that strives
to prevent child abuse and neglect.
The diapers and toys were arranged on
the tables to resemble large “cakes” to
make the event festive. Enough diapers, baby wipes, and baby clothes
were collected to fill a van.
through Grand Circle Tours and the
Woman’s Club will receive a donation
from GCT for sending a group.
Della Fordham and Diane Lawson deliver school supplies to Astoria Park
Elementary School
Throughout the year, we collect school
supplies for a Title I school but we
wait until January to deliver them,
since we learned that is when the
teachers’ supply cabinets are really
empty. We partner with two magnet
schools for the Performing Arts, one
elementary and one middle school, and
had fundraisers for each to help them
buy sheet music and instruments for
their students.
a wonderful trip to Costa Rica in 2014
with AAA, and AAA made a very substantial donation to our club for every
person who went on that trip.
AAA in the meantime is a major sponsor of our spring fundraiser, “Dancing
with the Stars,” a formal gala complete
with red carpet and professional dance
instructors to teach us to dance the
night away!
Susan McLeod, President
[email protected]
In 2016, the travel club is planning a
trip to see the tulips in Holland
We plan on escaping the Tallahassee
heat this summer by organizing some
sewing projects for children, too, like
the pillowcase dresses for Africa, and
no-sew tie blankets for our foster children.
Our club is going to try a new venture
in the next year—a travel club for
members and their guests. We created
Page 19
Apalachee Elementary School Magnet Program String Band
Florida Clubwoman
Florida Juniors
GFWC Junior Woman's Club of Midtown
The GFWC Junior Woman's Club of Midtown has more
than doubled our membership during this club year. We
have an outstanding group of young women who are
dedicated to making a difference in our community.
In February we held our 3rd Annual Crawl for a Cause. The
Crawl for a Cause is an annual bar crawl hosted in the
Midtown area of Tallahassee benefiting a different charity
each year. This year's event raised over $7,000 to be
donated to the Florida Coalition for Children. This event
was our most successful to date - it sold out days before the
event!!!
We
received amazing
feedback from the participants, as well as the contributing businesses, and
look forward to continuing to making each year better than the last.
Last month we voted on the new board for the upcoming club year. For the
first time in club history, we had multiple ladies run for the same offices. We
were able to have a true election - another club first. We are excited to have
so many wonderful ladies who are dedicated to our federation. Check out
our website at www.gfwcmidtownjuniors.org
GFWC Tallahassee Junior Woman's Club
The GFWC Tallahassee Junior Woman's Club has been busy
keeping their legacy projects alive. We have spent many hours
volunteering with LeMoyne Center for the Arts and the Tallahassee
Museum. Recently our members got together and cooked a
scrumptious dinner for the residents of the Ronald McDonald
house here in Tallahassee.
At the end of April, we will be hosting our 3rd Annual Bunco for
Boots fundraiser. This fundraiser benefits Shoe Club. Shoe Club is
a longstanding project of the Tallahassee Juniors. All proceeds are
used by the Shoe Club to purchase gift cards for the Leon County
School District to enable the staff to purchase shoes for children
who come to school in need. We always have a fun afternoon of
friendly Bunco competition and it all goes for a great cause! Check
out our website at www.tallahasseejuniors.org
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Florida Clubwoman
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 21
GFWC Temple Terrace Junior Woman’s Club
GFWC Pasco Junior Woman’s Club
The GFWC Pasco Junior Woman’s Club has partnered with March of Dimes that
advocates on behalf of children everywhere. To this end we urge you all to please start
sifting through your loose change and save DIMES to bring to our meetings to put into
the MARCH OF DIMES baby bottle!
If any GFWC members are interested in joining us, here is the information for our local
March of Dimes Walk.
MARCH FOR BABIES
SUNCOAST 2015
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2015
Time: 8:30AM
Registration Time: 7:30AM
The Shops at Wiregrass
28211 Paseo Drive
Wesley Chapel, FL 33543
We're getting ready to walk in March for Babies! It promises to be a fun day out with people who share our passion for
improving the health of babies. Join family teams, company teams and people walking with friends for a great cause:
making a difference for real families right here in our community. Sign up and raise money to help more moms have fullterm pregnancies and healthy babies.
Page 22
Florida Clubwoman
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 23
Official Publication of
GFWC Florida
Federation of Women’s Clubs
4444 Florida National Drive
Lakeland, FL 33813
863-647-2642
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.gfwcflorida.org
www.gfwc.org
Former GFWC FL and GFWC President Jeannine Faubion
wrote, "The history of the state would be incomplete without the
immeasurable contributions of the thousands of club members,
state officers and chairmen whose vision of a better community
and state has been made into a reality by their untiring, unselfish
work through the years…The gifts of service which they have
freely given helped to make Florida what it is today."
The GFWC Florida Federation of Women's Clubs, now in its
second century of community service, traces its history to the community interest found in Florida women in the late 1890s and
during 1900.
Neila O’Neill - Managing Editor
April Simons - Junior Editor
GFWC Florida
Federation of Women’s Clubs
4444 Florida National Drive
Lakeland, FL 33813
GFWC Florida is celebrating 120 YEARS
at our Spring Convention
May 15 – 17, 2015
Mark your calendars for GFWC Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs
celebration at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando for our 120th Birthday. We
will also be celebrating our LEADS and Volunteer of the Year candidates
on Friday and Saturday nights. Our guest speaker Saturday night will be GF
International President Babs Condon and the guest speaker at our membership/leadership workshop will be GFWC Chief Operating Officer,
Rosemary M. Thomas, Ed.D.
Hope to see you all there, dancing to “Celebration!”
Volume 93, Issue 4
Page 24