National League of American Pen Women—Denver Branch
December 7, 2023 Minutes
I. Linda called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.
II. Members Present: Karen Gonzales, Andrea Antico. Diane Chambers, Atlanta Sheridan, Rachel Seakamp, Linda Volin, Eleanor Binnings, Karen Gladstone, Alfreda Beartrack, Kelly Ann Compton
III. Guest Present: Jan Stephen
IV. Inspirational Reading: “Librarian’s Night Before Christmas” by David Davis.
V. Minutes: The November Minutes were approved.
VI. Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer’s report was approved.
VII. Committee Reports:
a. Membership: At the fair at Windsor Gardens, five people expressed interest in NLAPW; Aleda will join in the new fiscal year.
b. Zoom: Linda had difficulty connecting to Zoom today. In the Zoom email, the log-in information was underlined for some people, and not for others. Eleanor shared that she had copied and pasted the Zoom information in a new email for today.
c. Website:
i. Bluehost now requires us to provide some security measures if we want to be able to enter and navigate the Bluehost site. The security information has been provided to Diane since her card is on file for payment.
ii. Several issues have been discovered with Bluehost. It’s possible we are being charged for some services that should be free. Virginia is looking into other web hosts to get us a better deal. She will also contact our host to lower our fee.
iii. There are no problems reported for the site.
d. Critique Group: The group is going well. There is room for two more people. The group meets at 4:30 p.m. every other Friday.
e. Tapestry for Peace: Saint John Paul the Great Catholic School has not yet responded to Karen Gonzales’ email regarding taking a panel of the tapestry. Karen Gladstone asked if the Tapestry for Peace does anything for NLAPW and our Denver Branch. Diane said yes, it does and then shared a bit of the tapestry’s history. Linda wondered if the NLAPW national office would be interested in a panel. She will contact Laura Walth in this regard. Linda also suggested contacting all the branch presidents about finding homes for the last three panels. Karen Gladstone suggested asking Lighthouse Writer’s in Denver if they would like a panel as they have just moved into a new building.
f. Auditor (Budget): No report. The position remains open.
g. Historian: No report. The position remains open.
h. NLAPW elections are coming up in March. In February, we need a member to volunteer to poll members for volunteers to run for various offices in our branch.
i. Programs:
i. December: Carol Lopez Lee—Historical Fiction
ii. January: Denver Pen Women panel on getting published. Eleanor, Carol, Kelly Ann, and Diane or Karen Gonzales will be the panel members. Rachel will moderate.
iii. February: Tracy Garner—How to build an audience for our books
iv. March: TBD
v. April: TBD—Trip to Denver Public Library?
vi. Linda has a friend she can ask about sites that offer speakers
VIII. Old Business: Andrea will contact George Washington High School again about the possibility of a writing contest.
IX. New Business: No new business
X. Announcements: The Windsor Gardens event went well.
XI. National Updates: December 15 is the deadline for entering the NLAPW writing contest. The NLAPW biennial will take place in Columbus, Ohio. Information can be found in Pen Woman magazine.
XII. The meeting was adjourned at 10:20.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Ann Compton
Co-secretary