November 2010

NEWSLETTER OF THE DENVER BRANCH
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF AMERICAN PEN WOMEN
NOVEMBER 2010

MEETING MINUTES 11/6/2010:

PRESIDENT DIANE CHAMBERS CALLED THE MEETING TO ORDER at 10:10 a.m. We met at Café de France located at I-25 and Orchard.

IN ATTENDANCE WERE: Andrea Antico, Diane Chambers, Kelly Ann Compton, Florence Elliott, Pat Kennedy, Ann Klaiman, A. Marie Kriss, Sue Luxa, Debbie McCulliss, Paula Pahl, Gwendolyn Scott, Shirley Ann Sheets, Virginia Small, and Sheila Wright.

No INSPIRATIONAL reading was shared as Lorrie Reed suffered a fall and was not able to attend the meeting. The MINUTES from the October, 2010 meeting were approved. It was noted that members without Internet access had not had a chance to read the minutes, as the secretary, Kelly Ann Compton, had not sent them hard copies. Those members without Internet okayed the approval of the minutes. Copies of both the October and November minutes will be sent to Gwen and Florence. Gwen Scott shared the TREASURER’S REPORT stating that our previous balance was 2,191.18. There was no income to report this month, but a $200 expense of payment to Paula Pahl for the projector. Our current balance is $1,991.18.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
• Budget: Little discussion took place as the treasurer’s report had already been given.

• Membership: Kriss reported that we do have three or four prospects for membership. She also shared that there is room for volunteers to this committee, if anyone is interested. One of last March’s critique guests, Cheryl Eckl, had her book published. It is titled A Beautiful Death and is part memoir/part facing death together/ part self-help. A Beautiful Death can be found at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. In fact, publication was coordinated with Barnes & Noble after review by B&N.

• Art: Sheila shared that a photography show will be opening at the Center for Visual Arts on March 3, 2011. She suggested the possibility of NLAPW connecting with this somehow. Perhaps we could hold our monthly meeting there? Sheila will look into this.

• Auditor: Kriss stated that there really was no auditor’s report to share and that the treasurer’s report always agrees with the auditor’s report.

• Directory/Telephone tree: Copies of the phone tree were passed out. The phone tree will only be used in case of emergency where e-mail may not be fast enough. Some people have been unable to access the new Directory. Kelly Ann Compton will bring several copies to the December meeting. [Note: The President, according to our branch’s job descriptions, initiates the phone tree.]

• Historian: Pat Kennedy passed around pamphlets and scrapbooks that contained agendas, meeting minutes, lists of members present, decisions made and treasurer’s reports from the last several decades. These did not contain pictures, as more current scrapbooks do. A volunteer is needed to be the photographer at our various events. Pat also shared that Gwen Scott’s book signing event a few weeks ago was wonderful.

• Hospitality: Our December 4th meeting will be held at Gwen’s house. It will begin at 11:00 instead of our usual 10:00 time. It will include a potluck. Paula Pahl passed around a sign-up sheet for food and will monitor who brings what. Ann Klaiman will organize the book exchange. [See UPCOMING DECEMBER MEETING, below.]

• Tapestry for Peace: Joice Fairchild is our liaison to Tapestry for Peace, Inc., which also includes Kriss and Sandy Chapman. Joice is moving to Florida. The committee continues to seek a permanent home for the tapestry and is in contact with two or three organizations. Kriss gave a postcard of the tapestry to Pat Kennedy for the scrapbook.

• Poetry to Go: On the Denver NLAPW website, there is a “button” to click on for Poetry to Go information.

• Website: Virginia Small has been looking up the history of owls to put on our website. In her research, she has discovered that there are both negative and positive views/uses of owls as symbols. In regard to the website, Virginia is still trying to get the newsletters in chronological order rather than alphabetically. During the website discussion, it was suggested by Kriss that ALL upcoming meetings and events be posted on the website early so browsers of the website can see that we are an active group. Upcoming event announcements can be given to Paula Pahl and she will get them onto the calendar. Ann Klaiman suggested a plug-in for the website that will automatically erase events once they are over. She also suggested that all the 2009 information be archived. Virginia is putting in a photo gallery. Other information on the website: Virginia Small is in charge of the tech stuff; Paula Pahl and Ann Klaiman post and enter the information onto the site. Report errors to Paula and Ann. NEW MEMBERS: SEND/GIVE YOU BIO INFO TO PAULA OR ANN! The National website has not been updated in a very long time so all the Denver information is wrong sending people to the old Denver website. Currently, the national site will say “webpage not available” when Denver is chosen. A former member sent a photo to be posted. It was decided that posting this on the website would set a precedent we don’t want; we want only current members to have information posted.

• Program updates: Speaker suggestions include Helen Thorpe (no contact success yet), Julie Peters, who writes teenage books, Jan Moreno, Denise Vega—all are local authors. We pay $50 to speakers. Another suggestion was Annette Stott, author of a book on Pioneer Cemeteries “sculpture gardens.” We could visit Fairmont or Riverside cemeteries and combine this visit with our speaker. Andrea Antico will work on this for May, 2011 and will invite Annette Stott. Kriss shared about a gourmet luncheon she attended in Riverside Cemetery. Is this something we would want to consider? It was decided that outings do not have to be scheduled for meeting days. They can be a separate entity unto themselves. Andrea Antico will organize donations to needy children. Donations will include school supplies and writing materials. Andrea will let Diane know the details and will also do the delivering. This activity follows our mission statement: Our mission is to support and advance the development and success of writers, artists, and composers within our branch membership as well as within the metropolitan Denver community. We will foster education, professionalism, creativity, and recognition of artistic talent.

We need to be sending submissions to National for the Pen Women magazine. Sue Luxa volunteered to be in charge of this and to be the publicity person for us.

Old Business:
• We are scheduled for January 8, 2011 and onward at the Café de France for our meetings. We can meet elsewhere if needed. Since the March, 2011 meeting will be for invited guests to be critiqued, we will probably need to meet elsewhere for that meeting. (See information further down in the minutes.)
• Gwen Scott has copies of her book for sale. Cost is $32.35.
• Paula Pahl will keep charge of the projector. Sue and Kriss will promote renting it out. It should be noted that spare light bulbs are very expensive.

Announcements:
• Florence Elliott is attending a class about getting on the radio. She has designed “Stress Away Cards” for people who have anxiety attacks or major stress. The Anxiety Association really liked the cards. Her cards will be sold at Calico Bookstore in Broomfield. She will bring the cards to a meeting so we can see them.
• Pat Kennedy will have her second article published in the Prairie Times.

NOVEMBER PROGRAM: A PLAN FOR IN-HOUSE CRITIQUES
MEMBER KELLY ANN COMPTON PRESENTING

Kelly Ann Compton shared that in September, members expressed a desire to have more in-house critiques. Below is a list of ideas generated by the critique committee along with questions to consider:
1) Two slots will be open each month. If two people sign up, the large group will split into two smaller groups for the 30-minute time. If only one person signs up, the whole group will critique.
2) The 30 minutes would be broken into three sections: 10 minutes to read/present; 10-15 minutes for observations/suggestions to be made by the critiquers; 5-10 minutes for the writer/artist to respond. (I am also wondering if any non-writers would want their work critiqued AND how we would go about that. Would it be more observations and questions than critiquing in the writing sense?)
3) People having their work critiqued will distribute their piece one month in advance at the NALPW meeting or via email. (This means, we need to know how the group will be divided each month in advance, too.)
4) Initially, members may only sign up to be critiqued once for the year. If there are open slots, people may sign up for a second session if they wish.
5) One or two meetings during the year will be for invited nonmembers only to be critiqued.
6) How do we divide the large group into two smaller groups? Draw colors or numbers? Would we design set groups or fluid groups?
7) Would we need to lengthen our monthly meetings by half an hour? Would we start earlier or later?
8) When during the meeting would we do the critique groups? One thought—hold the critique groups after the guest presentation. This way, if some people have to leave, they wouldn’t miss the presentation.

All members agreed that we need more member critiques. Member discussion followed regarding the logistics of the room as well as logistics of the critiquing itself.
• We could get critiqued on any kind of thing we are working on
• We need to have a moderator for each critique session
• For someone actively working on something, must it be one month in advance?
• Should we do part of the critiquing on-line?
• Start out slow and simple and see how it evolves.
• Why not start in January. We must know by the December meeting who wants to be critiqued. (IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT AFTER THE MEETING, PAT KENNEDY REQUESTED TO BE CRITIQUED IN JANUARY.)
• We need to develop rules and guidelines for critiques. Does someone have a copy of the guidelines used last March? We can revise and add to them.
• Confidentiality and ethics guidelines need to be added.
• Our guest critique will be March 5th, 2011. It is felt that Café de France will not be a suitable place for this meeting. Kris will contact the Academy Life Long Learning Center and other to work with them on publicity for the guest critiques. Arapahoe Regional Library, Koebel Library, Bear Valley and Belmar Library are possibilities for this meeting. Ann will make some calls to the libraries and some churches. Kelly will ask her church about using it. If we have to rent the space, Shirley Sheets offered her house as a possibility.
• We did decide that we would hold member critiques at 9:15 before our regular10:00 meetings.

The meeting adjourned at 12:15. Respectfully submitted, Kelly Ann Compton, Secretary

UPCOMING DECEMBER MEETING
HOLIDAY POTLUCK AND BOOK EXCHANGE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4TH
11 A.M., Gwen Scott’s House

Our festive holiday potluck will be held at Gwen’s house; driving directions will be e-mailed to you. The event is very casual. Guests welcome. Everyone is asked to bring two things:
• A DISH FOR OUR POTLUCK. Paula Pahl is organizing who-brings-what. To sign up, contact her.
• EVERYONE IS TO BRING A NEW OR GENTLY USED BOOK THAT THEY HAVE LIKED. It is to be wrapped so the title is not visible. The books will be put on a table. People will draw numbers and will pick books in that order. The book exchange will work “white elephant style” where chosen books can be “stolen” from another person. Direct questions about the exchange to Ann Klaiman.
• Guests need not bring a potluck item, but, if you bring a guest, please be sure she has a book for the exchange, or she’ll miss out!