NLAPW-Denver Branch 6/2/2012 Minutes
I. President Diane Chambers, called the meeting to order at 10:15.
II. Members in attendance were: Andrea Antico, Diane Chambers, Kelly Ann Compton, Florence Elliott, Joice Fairchild, Patricia Kennedy, Sue Luxa, Lorrie Reed, and Virginia Small.
III. Our soon-to-be member, Sue Scudder, was the guest in attendance.
IV. Lorrie read an inspirational reading having to do with peace of the heart.
V. The April 2012 minutes were approved as written. (Due to a field trip, no business meeting was held in May. However, four members participated in a field trip to Frederic Printing in Aurora. A write-up plus pictures are posted on the website under Newsletters.)
VI. Treasurer Kelly Ann Compton reported payments to Diane Chambers in April (reimbursement for paying our speaker) and Virginia Small in May (work on website). Our current balance is $1,695.79. Membership dues will be deposited on June 4th. To any members who have not paid their dues yet, remember that there will be a $15 surcharge added to any dues paid after July 1.
VII. Committee Reports: Today, we reviewed committee chairs.
• Art – Virginia
• Web site – Virginia
• Auditor – Kriss
• Budget – Kriss
• Directory – Volunteer needed
• Historian – Volunteer needed
• Hospitality – We are okay right now, but a volunteer would be appreciated.
• Membership – Volunteer needed, though Kriss is currently holding this post.
• Program – Andrea Antico and Sue Luxa
• Tapestry for Peace Liaison – Joice
• Member Critiques – Kelly Ann
• ( Committee chairs not reviewed today, but in place: Inspirational – Lorrie; Poetry to Go Liaison – Ann; Publicity – Sue Luxa)
If you are doing something in the community, please report it to Ann or Virginia so it can be posted on the website.
MEMBERS: Remember that before every meeting we have two slots open for critiquing your work. Please contact Kelly Ann if you would like to schedule a critique spot for yourself. Right now, Sue L. has taken one of the September slots.
Joice reported that she shared the Tapestry for Peace DVD at the NLAPW Biennial in April. She met a woman who became very excited about the possibilities for the tapestry. The woman has connections with two museums in Buffalo, NY near the Peace Bridge and has begun talks with them about giving the tapestry a permanent home. This could take up to a year. The woman has requested a copy of the DVD to share with the museums. Joice will give her a revised and finished copy; she has added some content to the DVD after interviewing people at the Biennial.
VIII. Outreach Projects:
• Diane shared that she had sent paperwork to National on the outreach to Place Bridge Academy and didn’t hear back about it for a very long time. She finally received a phone call about it and ended up composing a write-up that will appear in the Summer 2012 Pen Woman Magazine and on the National website. The write-up talks about all of our outreach projects.
• Place Bridge Academy–Andrea reported that they are finished until next fall due to summer break. Due to school testing and a later start this past school year, Andrea and Gwen weren’t as involved with Place as they were last year. They are planning to return when school starts up again.
• Bessie’s Hope– Kelly Ann talked about the work she and Ann Klaiman have been doing at St. Andrews Village this year. With just the two of them, they weren’t able to do as much individual writing as they would have liked and ended up playing word games and writing group stories with the assisted living residents. It is now summer, and Kelly Ann will begin working with the activities person in in helping residents write their life stories. Sue Scudder and Joice Fairchild have volunteered to join in on this outreach project.
• Arts Fair activities: No outings are yet scheduled for this summer, but Sue L. will send information to Kelly Ann about an arts fair that takes place in Woodland near Colorado Springs every weekend during the summer. It was agreed that we would like to participate in the Woodland fair in August.
IX. Old business:
• Diane and Joice told about the tradition of wearing hats to the June planning meeting each year. Joice will write up the story so it can be posted on the Denver Pen Women web-site.
X. New Business:
• We discussed where to hold our future meetings. Pat K. is going to call Bear Valley Library to see how much it would cost if we chose to meet there for some of our meetings. Our September 8th meeting will be held at Pat Kennedy’s house.
XI. Announcements:
• Andrea announced that Schlessman Library is holding a Colorado Opera preview today, June 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
•Virginia informed us about Lakewood Arts Week which will be held June 6-16. The Arts Week will take place in Florence and Virginia’s neighborhood which has officially become an Art District. There will be a lot of free activities during Arts Week in various locations throughout the neighborhood.
•Congratulations go out to Virginia for selling a piece of artwork of a dragon.
•The LEGO exhibit has just opened at the Colorado History museum.
•Diane will become a grandma for the first time in the next few weeks, Congratulations, Diane!
XII. The meeting was adjourned at 11:20.
Following our meeting, we held a brainstorming planning session to develop next year’s program schedule. FYI: Our first meeting of the 2012-2013 year will be on September 8th at Pat Kennedy’s house. Please note that this is the second Saturday of September and not the first which is Labor Day Weekend. Critiques will begin at 9:15 and the business meeting will follow at 10:00. Kelly Ann Compton will be the presenter for the program following the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Ann Compton, Secretary