Happy Valentineâs Day and Happy Heart Health Month! I hope all of you are doing well, staying warm and keeping safe and healthy. I know we all had hoped to be a little more social as we entered the new year but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. We will continue to meet via Zoom and when the weather breaks we will start our outdoor meetings again. We all miss each other and I know we are all looking forward to doing things together. Keep positive! We got this.
âAs you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and one for helping othersâ ~Audrey Hepburn
 When I found this quote, it reminded me of so many of our club members. After reading all of the reports that were handed in and the amount of work that we have done this past year, we have definitely continued our pledge to help others in our community and beyond. You have all done so much for others and it was reflected as we summarized 2020. Thank you for all that you do!
Speaking of reports, I am happy to say that ALL of our committee reports have been received, read, copied and sent out to the NJSFWC chairs for each committee. I know that they are being received because some of the chairs in our club have heard from the state chair and so have I. You have all kept such good notes and hours that I just want to let you know that as a club we logged 24,210 hours of community service. I know that this is modest because of all the hard work that everyone has done and just estimated hours. RegardlessâŚthis is amazing! AgainâŚthanks to all the chairs of each committee and sub committee for their detailed reports. All was sent in as a representation of the amazing ladies of Womanâs Club of West Deptford.
Your Executive Board held their meeting on the 26th and worked hard on how to use what money we have in our budget to support Scholarship and our annual Donations. We will be reporting on what we came up with for Scholarship at our February meeting and get your feedback as club members before we put it to a vote. I do think everyone will be pleased. For our March meeting, we will work on the donations list. I will share with you last yearâs donation list and a suggested list for 2021 before our March meeting. All club members will be able to give feedback and have discussion before a vote. Because of the success of our internal fundraisers, we were able to add $1,000 to our Operating Account. Thank you to all who participated in our fundraisers and a special Thank You to Linda J. who set up each and every event. Every dollar that we earn helps an organization or family in our community.
WellâŚafter a very long couple of Covid-19 months, your Executive Board has finally been installed. Because of the frigid weather, we changed the outdoor location and were able to hold a socially distanced and safe indoor installation at St. Paulâs Methodist Church on January 30th at 2:00 pm. District Vice President Jill McDonald graciously agreed to do the installation and did a marvelous job! The theme of the installation was âEmpowered Womenâ which was written especially for celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the NJSFWC and the 100th Anniversary of Womenâs Suffrage. The installation of each office matched each board member to a past NJSFWC President. A history of that President was read for the matched board member and an empowered word was also given to each board member. It was a very special event and we hope to do it again with Jill when we can have a dinner and celebrate with all of you. Thank you to all the board members and especially Denise H. for helping to make this happen and to Ellen S. who took the time to come and watch the Installation. Now moving on to the rest of our club year…
The Garden District Zoom meeting was held on Thursday, January 21st at 10 a.m. As I am a Virtual Learning Grandmom during the day, Cynthia H-B. reported on my behalf for the club. Isabella C., Denise H. and Margie M. were also in attendance and Isabella and Cynthia will be making a report at our February meeting. Thank you, ladies, for attending this important meeting.
Our Order of the Lily/Honor Roll Committee has been set up and is meeting to decide who will receive these special awards for the WCWD. A big thank you to Carol F. and her committee for taking on this enormous task. So many of our ladies do so much for the club and the community. They have a big job ahead of them.
An update came in about the State Spring Conference and Achievement Days. This event has been canceled for in person and will be held by Zoom. President Jan Hansen reports that District and Membership Awards will still be given as well as hearing from the Club Presidents attending. The keynote address will be given by either the NJSFWC President or First Vice President. As more information comes in I will share it with all of you.
I sent out the Zoom link to everyone about the upcoming ABCs of Leadership Zoom workshop that is coming up. It is open to all club members and will be held on February 6th at 10:00 a.m. If you did not received the link and are interested in listening in, let me know and I will resend it.
When you receive your Tidbits on Tuesday, Jody H. and Holly R. will be ready to host our Book Club Zoom meeting that evening. The book is âThe Book of Lost Friendsâ by Lisa Wingate. What a great story! I canât wait to discuss it with the members who will be participating. It was a wonderful pick and a captivating read.
Our February Club meeting will be on Tuesday, February 9th. Right now the time is still 6:30 p.m. It was requested that maybe we start our meetings at 7:00 p.m. while we are home on Zoom. I will be sending out an email to get everyoneâs opinion as to whether to keep the meeting at 6:30 or change it to 7:00. We will go with the majority of all who respond. If it changes to 7:00 p.m., Iâll let all of you know. As of right now it is still 6:30.
And when we meet in person again, it will continue to be 6:30 p.m.
Donât forget to wear red at our February Zoom meeting. Chris T. reminded us that it is Heart Health Month and requested that we wear red. This is a great reminder to take care of ourselves!
Stay warm and enjoy the snow!
Warmly (and I mean warmly),
April   Â