We were sitting in the United Methodist Women’s meeting and one of the new grandmothers shared that she had a new baby in her family. One by one the entire group of women felt compelled to share their own child birth stories. As they related them, no matter how physically painful the experience might have been, they all had a smile on their face. I decided that I would like to create a forum where women can have the time to share these memories with each other. I can put my new skills to work by sharing what I have learned at my writer’s workshops with Dr. Michael Guen to teach my church friends the art of listening and writing down their memories.   Let’s write these memories down to hand as a legacy to our children! I see this as a stepping stone to open up all kinds of memories that you may want to pursue.

The workshops can be open to both men and women, but we will meet separately. The workshops will be two hours long, meeting each week in June. The first meeting will be for both men and women on Monday June 3 at 10am. From there, we will decide what date works best for everyone. We will meet at the United Methodist Church, 9451 Brooks Rd South, Windsor.

Invite a friend or two. This is a tremendous opportunity for fellowship and community-building! Please call Lisa Hillman, 838-6541, to let her know that you plan to attend.

United Methodist Women’s News - February, 2013 Branch

The January 5 meeting was well attended. We had the pleasure of deciding how to spend the proceeds from our Fall Festival.  

It was decided to donate to the following organizations:

     ·       $500 to Social Advocates for Youth

     ·       $500 to Windsor Middle School Band
     ·       $500 to Sloan House (the Sonoma County battered women’s shelter)
     ·       $300 to Spirit Live Choir
     ·       $300 to Boys & Girls Club
     ·       $300 to Global Mission Projects
     ·       $300 to Windsor Service Alliance
     ·       $100 to Mary Elizabeth Inn
     ·       $100 to Gum Moon Home for Women
     ·       $100 to UMW district

We also decided to try something new with our meeting times. All meetings will be on Saturday, alternating months between meeting at the church and meeting for a meal at a restaurant as follows:

     ·       February 2 – noon - Mary’s Pizza

     ·       March 2 – church - we will try to arrange a program

     ·       April 6 – noon – Mary’s Pizza
     ·       May 4 – church

Thank You for a Successful United Methodist Women Fall Festival!  December Branch - 2012

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Fall Festival a huge success! And a huge thank you to God for providing such a beautiful sunshiny day! Thanks go out to:

·      Those who created the beautiful baskets for the Aleut Auction! A lot of heart-felt joy went into each and every one of them. The donations were extraordinary, and the folks who purchased tickets had the excitement of winning something really special.

·      The wonderful bakers in our midst who enjoy sharing their talents. The bake table had an abundance of delicious goodies. 

·      The women who silently sit at home and secretly knit, sew, string beads, or fold to create all sorts of beautiful craft items. There was a very nice assortment of craft items for sale!

·      The men who came in on Friday morning and again on Saturday afternoon to help us set up and replace all the chairs and tables, and doing the dishes! We definitely could not do this event without your help!

·      Those who worked so diligently on the quilt that we were able to raffle off. It turned out to be quite beautiful and the winner, Sue Giovannoni, was delighted.

·      Pastor Laurie for organizing and connecting with the folks from Mission Handcrafts so we could purchase some items directly from the countries of their origin. That money went directly back to support United Methodist ministries empowering women and children in a number of developing countries. There were some beautiful items for sale.

·      The kitchen crew, for preparing and serving a delicious lunch. A lot of work was done beforehand to have this event go off without a hitch! Cleanup seemed to go like the breeze!

We opened our doors to outside vendors and they added another layer to what was available for sale. It was a huge success and a lot of early Christmas shopping was done! Profits were about $1,800, including $300 in sales for Mission Handcrafts items that support ministries in Bolivia and many other developing nations.

Come to the December 8 UMW meeting and help us make a decision on where to spend the fruits of our labor! We will have a potluck brunch at 10am at the church. Looking forward to seeing YOU there!