January President’s Message

Happy New Year!!! As we start to put away our presents, take down decorations, review all the pictures we took and think about the memories we made…it was a great holiday! As 2022 becomes a memory of its own, we are excited to enter 2023 with a new slate of activities, fellowship and community service.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” —Edith Lovejoy Pierce

As I was getting ready to write this month’s message, I was thinking about all we have accomplished just this past year. It is exciting to think that we have a whole new year to do even more, and with the support of each and every one of you, we will be able to succeed and continue to make a difference. Changes are inevitable. We are up to the challenge and will move forward to be even better than before.

One of the changes I will be making personally is to shorten my President’s Message each month. Tidbits is our information portal to all things going on in the Club. Articles are submitted each month to keep you up to date, give you the opportunity to share what is going on in a committee, personally, or recognizing your Secret Pal. This also keeps our meetings shorter as Committee Chairs do not have to tell you everything going on as it is in Tidbits. I like to recognize club sisters each month for the incredible amount of work they do behind the scenes and between general meetings.

As my article is usually long because I like to recognize you as well as give you NJSFWC, Garden District, and Club information, I am going to write two separate articles. I will continue to give you the most up-to-date information before our meetings but I am also going to write a “Shout Out to Members.” This article will be where I recognize ladies each month for what they are doing during the days before our next meeting. This will start next month with our February Tidbits. Hope-fully, this will shorten the length of my message and give our hard working club sisters the recognition they deserve.

While we were all enjoying Thanksgiving and Holiday Season, the surveys that all of you filled out were being entered into a spreadsheet, double- and triple-checked and are now ready to share with all of you at our January Meeting. I have to recognize Janice M. and Sue N. for entering the data and checking every question’s responses so that everyone’s opinions were reflected. This was hours and hours of work. I have seen the draft and I am thrilled to say that the information that will be shared reflects all of your thoughts and opinions. I can’t wait to have Janice present it to all of you. Above I said that there will be changes…you have spoken and the changes will be coming. This will take time but the board is committed to making sure that our club continues to be the best. Majority rules!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Holiday Dinner. Everyone had a great time and the cookie exchange was amazing. We have some talented bakers among us. It was so much fun finding out who our Secret Pals were and I can’t wait to spoil a club sister again this year. If you have not done so, fill out the Secret Pal form and get it to Cynthia H-B. It truly is a fun way to brighten a friend’s day.

Our Garden District Meeting is coming up on January 19th. This is a Zoom meeting and registration starts at 9:30 with the meeting starting at 10:00. Please let me know by our General Meeting if you would like to attend. You do not have to speak, however you will get a chance to hear what other clubs are doing as all club presidents give a report. So far Denise H. and myself are attending.

Committee reports are due by January 15th. Please get your report to me so that I can copy it and send it off to Headquarters. You can drop it off, mail it or email it to me. Thank you for all the effort you put into these reports. This gives the NJSFWC an idea of all the great things that our club accomplishes.

I will be sending in our application for the Carol J. Sas award at the same time as our Club Reports. I am so proud of what all of our ladies do, and I want to brag.

Our January General Membership meeting will be on January 10, 2023. This meeting will be on Zoom. Look for the link which will be sent to all members. I hope you can join us. Get your favorite snack and beverage and join us for another great meeting as we start the New Year.

Again…please read your Tidbits; this is your information center for all that is going on in our club.

My wish for all of you is that 2023 brings you only good health, happiness, and prosperity. It is going to be another incredible year for the Woman’s Club of West Deptford.

Yours in Federation Friendship,

April   Â