Message from Joan Skubish, President

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:01:00 -0500

Happy Valentine’s Day goes to all our sweet, active and sustaining members and a heartfelt thank you to John Klock who gave us much to think about at our January meeting. John’s presentation on “The Language of Time” was filled with interesting facts and anecdotes. Thanks also to John for donating his honorarium back to College Club.

Although April is a few months away, it is not too early to begin concentrating on our biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual Fashion Show. With the theme “The Great Gatsby Meets the 21^st Century” and our new venue, Twin Brooks Country Club in Warren, this year’s Fashion Show promises to be the best ever! Have your friends, neighbors and relatives save April 22^nd for an afternoon of fun and fashion. If you have not already signed up to help with the Fashion Show, you can contact Chairs Renate Gravers and Marie Leppert. We need your time, talent and support to make this fundraiser a success.

It is also not too early to begin thinking about where you would like to serve in College Club next year. As we wonder what 2012 will bring, think about what you will bring to the Club in the coming year. Please contact me if you are interested in a position on the Board or in chairing a committee. Board members who are interested in remaining in their current position should also contact me this month.

In February, we focus on women’s heart health at our monthly meeting. To complement our theme, let’s give from the heart and bring canned goods to our February 27^th meeting to donate to our local food pantry. Donations to the food pantry decrease sharply after the Holidays while the need stays the same. Thank you in advance for your donations and I look forward to seeing you all on the 27^th!

Message from President Joan Skubish

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:00:00 -0400

Message from President Joan Skubish:

As I sat down to pen this message, I thought about how different a message I would have written just a week ago. I would have talked about the summer's record high heat, the earthquake and vacations, all of which have been eclipsed by the visit of Hurricane Irene. The hurricane and its aftermath served to remind me of the really important things in our lives - family and friends, food and water, shelter and safety. For some of us, the hurricane was a minor inconvenience. The flooding that occurred in Cranford, Bound Brook, Manville and other towns showed us how lucky we were to escape that kind of destruction. We can be thankful we live in communities where people care about one another and have the resources to rebuild. The encounter with Irene brought many positives to my neighborhood – meeting neighbors for the first time, sharing as a group, many hugs and acts of kindness. If you are aware of any member in need of assistance due to the hurricane, please contact me at joanmarie@prodigy.net.

Although we do not meet as an organization during July and August, many of our members have been working through the summer on our 2011-2012 College Club Calendar. Thanks to Chair Mari McDevitt, Production Chair Mary Clare Levins, Marketing Chair Dorothy Lusk and Distribution Chair Connie Salisbury who put in hours of work to produce the calendar. Thanks also to Linda Squires, who spent many hours inputting the data for the calendar and to Renate Gravers, who worked to obtain those final advertisers. Mari has been our Calendar Chair for many years and deserves special thanks for overseeing this important fundraiser. As it takes a village to raise a child, it takes many women to produce our calendar and my thanks to all who helped with advertising, inputting, production, proofing, marketing and distribution.

If you have not picked up your calendars, please contact either Dorothy Lusk or Connie Salisbury to arrange a convenient time for pick up. Calendars are $10.00 and each member is required to purchase or sell four calendars. Your Directory can be picked up at the same time. Speaking of the Directory, many, many thanks to Pat Swick for the hours she spent in putting together this year's Directory and for her assistance to me in several areas over the summer.

When Meril Davies and I set a goal of ten new members for 2010-2011, we realized it was an ambitious one. We actually had eight new members join and are happy to welcome Pat Goldberg, Barbara Hamilton, Sue Spirko, Barbara Gawryluk, Carol Lutz, Mary Kelly, Beth Baliko and Janet Killeen to our College Club family.

Autumn will be filled with several events for College Club. You have received e-mails from Cathy Hirschhorn about our Clothing Drive scheduled for October 22^nd. The Scotch Plains Thrift Shop has been an invaluable resource with their donations of clothing. I encourage you when cleaning out your closets to support the Thrift Shop with better quality clothing, saving the rest for the Clothing Drive. We raise funds by the pound so check with Cathy for items that are acceptable and include those heavy outdated winter coats!

We are again participating in the Lord & Taylor Fundraiser to be held October 26^th. Carolyn Dittus and Ginger Rachko are co-chairing this fundraiser and will be selling tickets at our meeting in September.

The night of October 26^th is College Night at SPFHS. Co-Chairs Cathy Hirschhorn and Jean Naugle have been working on organizing this annual event. If you would like to volunteer to help with College Night, sign up at the September meeting.

Although it's early, mark your calendars to reserve April 22^nd for our Fashion Show at Twin Brooks Country Club in Warren. My heartfelt thanks go to Renate Gravers and Marie Leppert for agreeing to again co-chair our major fundraiser.

The first meeting of the 2011-2012 year will be on Monday, September 26^th. Plan to be at the Chelsea in Fanwood at 7:30 that evening to enjoy refreshments and talk with friends. Our program will start at 7:45 with friend of College Club Skip Ungar entertaining us on the piano. Bring a friend, relative or neighbor as a guest and introduce them to our Club while we enjoy songs from Broadway. Try to be at this meeting and attend as many meetings as possible during the year. Get involved, participate in our fundraising efforts and sign up for a committee, if you have not already done so. I look forward to seeing you all September 26^th!

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Message from Joan Skubish, President

Message from President Joan Skubish