September is here! I canāt believe how fast the summer has gone. It has been a different one for me as I am sure it has been for all of you; however it has had some lovely and positive moments. Obviously, as a retired teacher, September means the beginning of school. Wellā¦I will be preparing for virtual school, helping my daughter as I am going to be supervising my first and second grade grandchildren as they navigate their first 2 months of virtual school in my newly put together āclassroomā in my grandchildrenās playroom in my home. Fortunately, these are the grades I taught so hopefully it will be a smooth 8 weeks. I have put away the lighthouses, summer fun Byers Carolers I love so much and replaced them with apples, sunflowers and all my Byers School teachers and children. Yesā¦I am getting ready for the Fall.
āStrong women donāt have attitudes. They have standards and boundaries.ā –Unknown
Ā As I was preparing for this monthās newsletter I was struck as to how busy our members have been. It has been an unprecedented summer as so many of you kept busy helping those in need during this global pandemic. The usual Womanās Club of West Deptford quiet summer has been replaced with our members donating, creating, and doing all they can to help those who need a little extra right now. September is the official beginning of our club year, however so many of you really never stopped. That is what makes us so unique. We continue to help where we are needed. I love these āattitudes.ā?
Thank you all for that.
As noted before, our September 8th meeting will be outside at St. PaulāsĀ Methodist Church, 74 Church Street, West Deptford. The same place, same distance seating and mandatory masks as last month. One difference is that we will be meeting at 6:00 p.m. as our days are shortening with Fall approaching. We will once again move quickly through our agenda so that we can give everyone a chance to speak before darkness comes.
Our newly appointed committee chairs have taken their jobs seriously and they all have plans for this coming year. I am asking all the committee chairs who have anything to report, to give me those normal short reports in writing before the meeting if possible. I will put these summaries at the end of our monthly agenda so that all of you will have some of the information ahead of time. I am only doing this for our September meeting because of time constraints. This way when each committee chair is called to give their report they can reference what was sent out and answer any questions.
The WCWD Board held their meeting at Isabella C.ās home in her lovely back yard. Masks and social distancing were in place and we were able to get everything accomplished before the dark descended upon us.
Our Zoom Account has been set up for all WCWD activities. Donna B. has graciously volunteered to set up all Zoom meetings and will send out the links for each meeting or activity. Our October, November and December meetings as well as board meetings will all be on Zoom as of right now. Once again, the library is not open to the public and does not plan to schedule the meeting room until January. Obviously, this could change at any time, but this is what is being told as of right now. Also with indoor dining still in question and possibly going to open at only 25%, our Annual Christmas Dinner meeting is on hold.
I want to recognize all of you who went over and above to make cards for the teachers for our CIP Committee to support our educators with the unusual start of the new school year. Also, I saw some beautiful cards that were made for our Domestic Violence Committee for the survivors of abuse. The handmade cards made my cards look simple to say the least.
I also want to recognize our Advocates for Children Committee chairs Robin Evans and Lisa Hunter. They have been working on what different projects we can do to help children in our state. One of the WD Juniors reached out to them and asked if they would work together with the Juniors on one of the projects. Andā¦this is what we are all about. I am so excited to see the enthusiasm these ladies have and their willingness to work with our sister club. Kudos, ladies! I canāt wait to hear what you are preparing for us.
I understand we had an amazing collection of backpacks and school supplies for children who need them. Any time children are helped, it makes what we do that much more important. For the ladies who collected the backpacks and supplies, please make sure Chris T. has the total hours and estimated cost for her January report. She only needs totals.
For our Civic Engagement and Outreach Committee, the wonderful stockings that were made for our service men and women will be delivered to Headquarters on October 6th. A big thank you to Donna for organizing and to Denise H. who will be picking them up from me and delivering them as I will be āteaching.ā
A reminder that all of you are invited to attend the Garden District September Zoom meeting on Thursday, September 17 at 6:15. I have 5 members so far signed up to attend. I will be sending our DVP Jill M. our total members who will be attending as well as my report on all the amazing activities we have been doing since June and what is coming for the Fall.
Another reminder to save those plastic grocery bags that tend to pile up at home. As I mentioned in my email to you, Joann Kf. and Debbie H. are making placemats/sit upon type mats for the homeless. They are doing an amazing job on these and need more plastic bagsā¦lots more plastic bags. I saw one of the mats that Debbie H brought to our August meeting. They are fantastic and will be a great help to the homeless. Thank you for your help with these bags.
Donāt forget your Secret Pal at our September meeting. Sometimes it is the little things that make our day just a little bit better.
I hope to see many of you at our September meetingā¦so until then, enjoy the last few days of summer and letās gear up for another great year.
Warmly,
April Ā Ā Ā