Estes Park Woman’s Club
December 7, 2017
Dear ladies,
Here we are almost to the end of the year – 2017 seemed to have flown by. We’re looking forward to our annual Christmas Luncheon in the MacGregor Room at The Stanley Hotel on Wednesday, the 13th, with a performance by the MountainAires singing group. I wonder what new tunes and arrangements they have planned for us. Registration is at 11:30 am and lunch will be served after we recite the Pledge and Collect.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the Holiday House Bake Sale. Jim and I were away visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday, but I was sent pictures of our display tables laden with baked goods, and everything looked so delicious. No wonder this event was such a success. Kudos to all the bakers and Hulda!
Our Bright Christmas committee of Pam Appel, Carol Smid, and Lynn Larkin were busy buying gifts for the assigned families today, and will be wrapping them next week. You all were extremely generous with your monetary donations, so hopefully they should have had a great time. We were able to furnish wonderful gifts to four families again this year. I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it at our Luncheon.
When you’re marking your new year calendar, be sure to make a note about our Bingo Night at the American Legion Hall on February 23rd. Nan Abbiatti is working hard on the organizing and has asked the membership to put together some baskets to be raffled during the evening. The idea is that instead of begging merchants to contribute, we thought groups of us could get together and gather some interesting or delicious items from our homes to tempt people to buy raffle tickets. It’s a fun night – tell everyone – bring friends.
I know Connie Phipps has bags of pecans at her home. If you ordered some but haven’t yet picked them up, please do so now. If you wish you’d ordered some bags, but didn’t, or if you want more bags, call her because I think she has some extra. The price is $13 per bag.
Thank you to Debbie McMillion, Pat Reed, Connie Dedon, Catherine Moon and Judi Cunningham for working at the October Scholastic Elementary School Book Fair. What fun to see our club members in action.
Also, thank you to the ladies who recently gave money to purchase twenty-two pairs of waterproof mittens for the Kindergarten and First grade students. The teachers were thrilled and the students’ hands will be warm and dry. It’s great to respond so quickly to student needs.
Our January lunch will be held at Claire’s on the Park on Wednesday, January 10th. We’ll have the special treat of meeting last year’s two scholarship students, Ivy Todd and Aspen Turner, during the meeting. It will be interesting and fun to hear about their first experiences at college.
I want to wish each and every one of you wonderful ladies a very merry and bright Christmas. And safe travels if you’re leaving town for the holidays. Some of our family will be celebrating up here with us and I’m hoping for good snow to build snowmen/women – a fun family activity.
Fondly, Pat
November 3, 2017
It’s already November and I’m hyperventilating with thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas. So much to plan, so little time. I’ve always thought that it would be much better if November was 40 days long, but what do you bet I’d procrastinate just as much as I do in the 30 days!
Our next luncheon will be held at The Dunraven Inn on Wednesday, the 8th. The menu sounds wonderful! Please get together with friends and neighbors to set up some carpooling – that will really help with the parking. I know you’ll all be interested in what Darla Sidles tells us about RMNP concerning new plans and problems. Registration is at 11:30 am and our meeting will start at 12:00 Noon.
Our Fund Development Committee has been busy meeting and coming up with ideas for new fundraising possibilities. The Chair, Judy Schaffer, will give us a very short presentation and we’d be pleased to listen to any new ideas you have. Talk to Judy or me about these.
Thursday, November 9th, is National Philanthropy Day and the Estes Park Non-Profit Resource Center is hosting a celebration of 100 years of Estes Park giving in the YMCA Assembly Hall from 4:00-7:00 pm. This is a lovely event and I hope many of you made reservations to join in the party. After all, we’ve been involved since the very beginning. Susan Robertson and Diane Hackett Carlton will be hosting a display and we’ll all be treated to free wine and good food as well. No need to cook dinner that evening! There will be a program covering the 100 years of giving and our Club will definitely be highlighted. If you didn’t make a reservation, you can contact them and be put on the waiting list (epnonprofit.org).
The Holiday House Bake Sale is scheduled for Saturday, November 25th at the Conference Center and Hulda has been busy organizing our booth. She needs more commitments for baked goods to sell and will be talking to us about it next week during lunch.
Connie Phipps has ordered the pecans for all who signed up and in case some of you weren’t at our last lunch, she’s ordered extra bags. Let her know if you’d like to be added to the list.
Don’t forget about our Little Lending Library. We’re always in need of children’s books, but fortunately for Becky, she reports that usage has slacked off since most of the town visitors left for the winter.
Jim and I are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving down in Houston with family. We’ll be gone from the 17th to the 28th, but I’ll have my ipad and cell phone with me, so we can keep in touch. I might not get back to you as quickly as when I’m home, but I’ll do my best.
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Fondly, Pat
August 4, 2017
Dear Members,
How was your summer? Mine flew by like a jet plane! And I’ve found out I’m not the only person feeling this way, because I’m hearing the same sentiment from almost everyone (except our grandchildren).
The Woman’s Club started off our new season with a bang! We were honored to be asked to be part of the town’s Centennial Celebration. The committee used the town’s zip code to designate the day for the ceremony, 8-05-17. I thought that was quite a clever idea. As you may remember, our club donated the money to sponsor the welcoming sign on the improved trail of the Knoll-Willows Open Space. The entrance is off Wonderview, almost directly across from the Stanley Hotel. I hope you’ll have a chance to go over and see the handsome sign and also maybe take a walk on the improved trail. I’ve attached the remarks I made during the presentation and you’ll find a photograph in our Yearbook.
Our Garage Sale on September 2nd was a great success, and I was so happy that all our “worker bees” were out in force! It was terrific to see everyone and catch up on all the news. I have to give a special “THANK YOU” to Joy Holcomb and Catherine Moon for all their organizational skills and hard work that day. And I’d like to remind those of you who were unable to participate that we would be delighted to accept donations to add to the final amount raised. This is usually our largest fund raiser of the year.
You’ll be receiving your new 2017-2018 Yearbook at our first luncheon on September 13th. Shirley Neely-Turpin provided the photographs while Connie Phipps organized it and oversaw the printing. A special “THANK YOU” to both of them for giving up some of their summer leisure time to work on this.
Our Second Vice-Presidents, Karen Nicholson, Laura Waller, and Lori Gaglio, were also working during the summer, planning our luncheons and programs. They have put together a very interesting mix of presenters and meals for us. Although you have already received the invitation to our first lunch from Chris Childers, I thought I’d remind you that we’ve raised the luncheon price to $20 per person. I hope this price will now stay constant for quite a while.
Our Bright Christmas Fund Committee, Pam Appel, Carol Smid, and Lynn Larkin will be giving a presentation during lunch. We were able to provide a happy Christmas for four families last year and I hope we’ll be able to do the same this year. It’s such a wonderful program and makes us feel good when participating.
Our luncheon on September 13th will be held at the YMCA, in the Walnut Room . This is a different room from the one we’ve used in the past. When facing the building, it is to the left of the Pine Room. The program speaker is Derek Fortini, Director of the Estes Park Museum, who is working with Jim Pickering and Mic Klinger on a new book, Then and Now; Centennial Edition.
See you on the 13th!
Fondly, Pat
attachment:
Pat Pickering: President of the Estes Park Woman’s Club
Introduction by Estes Park Mayor
Thank you Mayor Jirsa.
I am very proud to be representing the Estes Park Woman’s Club during the Town’s 100th anniversary celebration. We were established in October of 1912 and are the longest surviving service club in the Estes Valley. The original aim of our Club was to encourage the development of the town. As I was leafing through our history I found the records of our annual meeting from the summer of 1916. There were many suggestions concerning the aims of the Club for 1917. The one that caught my eye was that we needed to become a town, not remain a hamlet. We needed to incorporate. And so the Woman’s Club joined with other groups to make certain that this happened.
And now here we are celebrating that incorporation 100 years later. We are very pleased to continue our support of the Town with the sponsorship donation of the welcoming sign at the Knoll-Willows Centennial Open Space Project.
We look forward to continuing the support of our Town for many years to come.
Thank you.
——————————————————————————————April 4, 2017
Dear Members,
I’m sitting at my computer today because of the spring snow – otherwise I’m supposed to be out at a meeting. I have to tell you that I’m thoroughly enjoying my day – it’s sort of like playing hooky! And there’s so much to tell you, that I’m glad to have the free time. But I have a feeling that I’m going to give up my “one-page” rule, so you’ll need to promise to continue reading through to the second page.
We have lots of news from the Fund Raising and Development Committee. Judy Schaffer, Chair of the committee, will be telling you more during our lunch.
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- The Community Garden has decided to dedicate our yearly donation to the costs of lumber and the building of new plots. They have quite a waiting list and so negotiated with the town and Rec. Dept. for more land to add to their already thriving garden.
- We have donated money to the town’s 100th anniversary Centennial Legacy Project, which will be a renovation/redesign of the Knolls-Willow area. We are underwriting a large informative sign at the entrance. The dedication will be Aug. 8th and they’re hoping to have many W.C. members attending. You’ll be hearing from me as the date gets closer.
- We have donated money to the construction of the E.P. Museum’s planned Archival Building and will also have a paver laid on the path with the W.C. logo and our founding year etched into it. The preservation of our archives is extremely important to us because our papers have already been moved from the Library to the Museum. We’ve got to do as much as we can to help them get this building constructed.
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- Our Garage Sale is planned for Saturday, Sept. 2nd at the Community Church of the Rockies – SAVE THE DATE. The room will be available on Friday for you to drop off the items you want to sell. We need two ladies to volunteer to be co-chairs of this event. It’s our biggest money-maker and we’ll be depending on its success to help us fund some of next year’s projects. This is not an onerous job – it involves some preplanning and two days’ work – and then a day of sleep! The items will arrive already priced, Delphine should have the instructions and suggestions that were sent out last year, and you’ll have plenty of helpers. Also, Mary Kay and Delphine will be available for questions and advice.
- We’ll be selling bags of fresh-picked pecans during the fall. The price remains at $13 per bag.
- We need co-chairs to lead our Bright Christmas money collection and then do the shopping. I’m very proud to say that we were able to fund gifts for four families last year. Diane and Libby can give you many suggestions.
- Hulda Bachman-Neeb has volunteered to chair the Holiday House Bake Sale in Nov. She will be circulating sign-up sheets in the fall for those who want to provide baked goods.
- We would very much like to hold a Bingo Night at the American Legion this winter, but we need one or two of you to be the chair persons and a small committee of helpers. The evening is lots of fun and quite amusing for those of us who only play once a year!
- The Scholarship Fund is still selling Duck Race tickets for $20 each, $19 of which goes back to the Fund. Lucky Duck will be greeting you at the registration desk when you arrive at The Twin Owls Restaurant on the 12th. Buy a ticket and have a free photo taken with the duck.
- You can buy some Rocky Cards at the registration desk as well. Ask Patti or Kathy about them.Your Board has been concerned about our piano that sits in one of the meeting rooms in the Municipal Building. Because our Club doesn’t use it during meetings anymore, and it’s only occasionally used for practices by the MountainAires and others, we voted to try and sell it. We have had it appraised and been told that it’s in good condition. If you are interested in learning more, get in touch with me or Connie Phipps.I’d like to give a “shout out” and thanks to all the ladies who volunteered to participate in the Community Café. It was hard work but lots of fun and we served dinner without any of us dropping a plate – pretty good for amateurs! And several husbands joined us as well – they were a great help.Our intrepid Treasurers, Patti and Kathy, will begin collecting our $35.00 dues during our next lunch. Please bring cash or a check and if you want to pay for lunch and dues with one check, that’s perfectly fine.Virginia Weliky’s family is coordinating a casual gathering for a “Memorial Celebration of Mom’s Life” at The Stanley Hotel on May 20th, 2:30 – 4:30 pm. Each of her children plan to speak for a very short time and they have told us that anyone else who would like to say a few words or share some memories would be welcome to do so. The family is putting together a slide show and Shirley thinks she has a number of photos from our lunches, meetings, etc. that we can contribute. If you would like to attend or participate, please get in touch with Connie Phipps.
- FEBURARY 2017 NEWSLETTER
- Dear Members,
Most people who know me know that history is one of my favorite topics. Therefore, I enjoyed learning about the early days of the Town of Estes Park. Also, I am extremely proud to be a member of the Woman’s Club. Having been formed in October, 1912, it is an integral part of Estes Park’s history. The original aim of the club was to encourage the development of the town. Thus, they began to raise money for roads, trails and improvements. Their first major project was the creation of the Deer Mountain Trail, uniting what is now part of the National Park with the town. Soon the Club was raising money for the establishment of a Public Library. Later there would be work on the birth of Rocky Mountain National Park. At the dedication, the Woman’s Club members were hostesses. Doesn’t this all sound familiar?
As this year’s President, I would like the Woman’s Club to continue in the footsteps of the ambitious women who were our founders. We will do our utmost to support the Estes Valley Public Library, Rocky Mountain National Park, improvements to the Town of Estes Park and the Estes Park schools. I would like all the members to help with this by working and contributing in our fundraising efforts, volunteering at the schools and the Library. I have no “special projects” for the year, but am open to all ideas from our membership.
Most sincerely, Pat Pickering, President
Estes Park Woman’s Club
February 28, 2017
Dear Members,
I truly can’t believe that it will be March tomorrow. I know that February is a short month, but this is ridiculous. Where did all the days go? During our March 8th luncheon we’ll be initiating our 12th new member this year, Karen McClure. Also, the Nominating Committee will present the 2017-2018 slate of officers. Then a vote will be taken during the April 12th meeting and the newly elected officers will be sworn in during our final lunch meeting in May. During our upcoming meeting we will have a silent auction of most of the Woman’s Club silver- plated flatware. So if you want or need some of these historic pieces, come prepared with money or a checkbook. I believe there’s an entire set of dessert forks. Come early and bid! We also own some engraved sterling pieces which we plan to donate to the Museum to be used in exhibits.
Our Scholarship Fund Committee will continue to sell Duck Race tickets through April. If you don’t care to buy the race tickets, the committee will be happy to have you make a direct contribution to the Fund. Hasn’t it been interesting meeting some of our previous scholarship recipients this year and enlightening to hear what they’ve achieved?
By now you should have received Chris Childers’ note concerning our next meeting and lunch in the YMCA Pine Room. Registration begins at 11:30 am and a buffet lunch will be served at Noon. Floyd Wright, representing the Estes Park Community Garden will be our speaker. I’ve heard him before and he’s extremely interesting. Also, we have delayed the ceremony honoring our Past Presidents until our April meeting at The Twin Owls Restaurant – it sure will be terrific to have them all gathered together again. And because Chris will be out of the country the week before that lunch, she plans to send out the reservation forms at least a week early, on March 27th. When you receive that form for April, please reply ASAP so that she’ll have a tentative tally before she leaves.
You might enjoy attending the Community Church of the Rockies Melodrama,” Estes Park: A Dedicated Town or Who’s in Charge Here?” written by Rich Mitchell. The melodrama is loosely based on early Estes Park history and the Woman’s Club history book And Then the Women Took Over was a source for much of it. The melodramas are always laugh-out-loud enjoyable and the puns are never ending. Grab some friends to go with you – that always makes it even more enjoyable – and get ready to throw popcorn at the performers when you think the puns have become unbearable. You can purchase $12.00 tickets at the Church or Macdonalds Book Store, as well as at the door. The play will run for two weekends, March 10 – 11 and March 17, 18, and a matinee on Sunday the 19th.
We plan on holding a garage sale again during Labor Day Weekend, on Saturday, September 2nd. Please put that date on your calendars and begin setting items aside to save for the sale. We are going to need loads of volunteers for this event – please consider joining us. If we want to continue our philanthropic endeavors, we need to host popular and profitable events and this sale is highly successful.
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at our March 8th meeting.
Fondly, Pat
Estes Park Woman’s Club —January 4, 2017
Dear Members,
I want to wish each and every one of you a very happy and healthy New Year. I am really enjoying being your President and am looking forward to seeing you at our remaining monthly luncheon meetings. We had a lovely Christmas buffet lunch at the beautiful Stanley Hotel and a delightful presentation of Christmas songs from the MountainAires. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 11th at Taharaa Mountain Lodge. I would like to urge you to car pool if possible because there is limited parking behind the lodge. And Dr. Dumont is sure to give us a timely talk on our health. I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the delicious holiday food and need to be encouraged to return to normal eating habits now.
Because of the untimely death of Judy Fontius, who was our Corresponding Secretary and also Reservation Co-Chair, we’ll be making a few changes on our Board. Hulda Bachman-Neeb has graciously volunteered to return to her former position as secretary. If you know of anyone who is ill or hospitalized, please contact Hulda and she will send a card from us. For the time being, Chris Childers will take sole responsibility for our lunch reservations. Judy was to send out this month’s form, but Chris immediately called from her vacation in California to say that she would take care of everything. What a gal!
From now until the beginning of May, the Scholarship Committee will be selling Duck Race tickets to help fund the awards given to graduating senior girls. Since Delphine is out of town, Shirley Neeley-Turpin will be sitting near the registration table at the lunches, ready to sell tickets to you. Remember that each ticket costs $20.00, $19.00 of which goes into our fund – that’s a pretty good return! This year it’s been fun meeting several of our past recipients, all darling girls working hard on their schooling.
The Woman’s Club has been asked to participate in the Community Café dinner on March 17th at the Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church, near the Good Samaritan complex. During our January lunch meeting, I’ll be circulating a sign-up form with the jobs listed and the number of people needed – greeter, bussers, servers, food preparers, etc. If this is something you’d like to do, please sign up. It’s being held on St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be wearing green!
Hope you all are surviving the big snow – it’s beautiful but dangerous for drivers. Even the Medical Center has called to tell me that I need to reschedule my appointment – that’s never happened before!
Happy, Happy New Year!
Fondly, Pat
NEWSLETTER: 1st quarter
I would like to thank all of you for having the confidence in me to elect me to the presidency of our Woman’s Club. I’m looking forward to serving you this coming year. If you ever have questions or problems, don’t hesitate to call, or text, or email me and we’ll do our best together to solve the issues.
I hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful summer. I, for one, am glad that the hot days of July appear to be behind us and the nights are cooling down. A number of our committees worked diligently throughout the summer months, getting ready for our new season.
Connie Phipps and Shirley Neely-Turpin have put together our 2016-2017 year book, which will distributed during our first meeting – look for some surprises!
Delphine Casey and her committee have been organizing our Garage Sale at the Community Church of the Rockies on September 3rd. You may take items to be sold to the Church on Friday, September 2nd. Please be sure they have a price marked on them.
Save the second Wednesday of every month from September through April for our general membership lunches and meetings. Our Second Vice-Presidents (Judi Cunningham, Catherine Moon, Karen Nicholson) have been busy planning a very exciting schedule for the year. Our first meeting will be held at The Cheley Camp on September 14th. You’ll hear more about the program later, but I wanted to tell you to prepare for a casual day, and plan on wearing comfortable clothes and shoes. Cheley will be providing our “camp lunch” in the boys dining hall. Please plan to car pool if possible, as parking is limited.
Our Bright Christmas Chairs (Diane Palmer & Libby Bryan) asked me to send you the following reminder:
Christmas already? Last year your generous donations of over $1,100 made Christmas much brighter for 3 Estes Park families. Because we know everyone has different schedules in the fall, we will begin Bright Christmas collections at our September meeting and continue through our November meeting. Then we’ll shop! Please make your checks payable to Estes Park Woman’s Club and notate Bright Christmas in the memo area of your check. We look forward to a generous fall collection and then shopping and wrapping.
Pam Appel has been busy redesigning our website. It’s going to be easier to use, but is not yet ready for public viewing. More on this soon.
I want to remind you all about the Bag Sale at the Community Thrift Shop (on West Elkhorn) being held to benefit the Woman’s Club on this coming Saturday, August 13th. Take friends, spread the word and SHOP!
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our first meeting in September
Fondly,
Patricia Pickering