Minutes April 16, 2020
An online meeting was held on Thursday, April 16 at 7:05 p.m.
February 13, 2020 Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by President Naomi Hansen.
Minutes: the minutes from the January meeting were reviewed. It was noted that the elementary school principal’s name is spelled Schwarz. Joanne moved to approve the minutes as corrected, Heidi seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Update: The checking account balance is $3,040.85. Jeannette reported that all the scholarships have been paid out. Two thank you letters were receive; one from ELCA Good Gifts for the $300 donation, and one from the Blooming Prairie Backpack Program for the $450 donation. The treasurer’s report was accepted for audit.
Committee Reports:
Program Committee: Our March meeting will be given by Deb Gillard on dementia. It will be held in the Fireside Room at First Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. Jeannette offered to bring snacks; members are encouraged to bring their own beverages.
It was suggested that further publicity might be done for this program to invite the community to participate. Suggestions included a flyer, an event reminder in the Community Calendar in the Times, and asking Becky Noble to announce it on the radio.
Scholarship Committee: Heidi and Mary Worke will look at the scholarship process and information needed. This will be coordinated with getting the photos of students who are awarded AAUW scholarships.
Old Business:
Branch grant: Naomi reported that there are several grants available from AAUW Minnesota for projects to further equity for women and girls. She offered to apply for a grant, but it was noted that the deadline had passed. We will revisit this next year when applications are again taken.
New Business:
100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment: Nancy noted that she had attended an AAUW program in Owatonna about the women in Minnesota who fought for passage of the right of women to vote. This is a possible program for Blooming Prairie, as well as the showing of the movie Iron-Jawed Angels. Further ideas are welcome.
Nominating Committee: The positions open this year are Program Committee and Treasurer. Jeanette agreed to continue as treasurer. Mary and Beth are willing to continue in the programming position if suggestions from members are given to them. More discussion will take place. Jean and Karla offered to serve on the nominating committee if there is a need for one.
Scholarship Committee: Liza and Naomi are no longer on the committee, but Heidi and Joanne will continue this year. Two other members are needed for this group. The awarding of scholarships will take place the second Wednesday in May.
Announcements: None
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
December 12, 2019 minutes
The Blooming Prairie AAUW Christmas party was held at the home of Jean Peterson. Delicious food, refreshing drinks, and laughter were enjoyed by all.
The final meeting of the year was called to order by President Naomi Hansen.
Minutes: There were no copies of the minutes to review. Nancy will send the minutes to everyone prior to the January meeting. She will also send a link so that members may review the minutes on our website.
Treasurer’s Report: All bills are paid. The checking account balance is $5,060.85. The scholarship amount of $2,000 will be paid to the recipients within the next month.
Committee Reports:
Programs – Mary Malherek announced that the January meeting will be held on Thursday, January 9 in the city council chambers at the City Center. Andrew Langholz, new city administrator, and Jacob Schwartz, new elementary school principal, will be speaking. Bring your questions and concerns to discuss.
The February meeting will be our book discussion. The members voted on three choices: Becoming by Michelle Obama, Newtown an American Tragedy, and Love Thy Neighbor. The book Love Thy Neighbor was chosen.
Old Business: None
New Business: Members discussed ideas for charities to receive the money from the white elephant auction.
Announcements: 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. AAUW is matching donations for advocating for women in STEM, Title IX legislation, training for workforce training in salary negotiation, and leadership training.
Check out the MN AAUW website and Facebook page for grant opportunities, webinars, and news about women in business and education.
The Regional Conference will be held in East Moline, Illinois June 18-20, 2020.
The white elephant auction was then held with $825 raised. The group voted to allow $100 for next year’s Santa House, $450 to the elementary school backpack program, $200 to “Support a Refugee Family”, and $100 to “help a woman leader make a difference” The last two items were found in the brochure, “ELCA Good Gifts catalog”.
The meeting was adjourned. Happy Holidays to all!
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Minutes November 14, 2019
The Blooming Prairie AAUW met on Thursday, November 14, 2019 at the City Center building. Fifteen members were in attendance. The program was presented by Nancy Vaillancourt, focusing on the Mormon faith and culture.
The meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m. by President Naomi Hansen.
Minutes: None were available but will be presented at the December meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Jeanette Hauschild reported that there was a balance of $7,622.62 in the checking account. Two expenses will be taken from that amount: $2,000 for scholarships and $2,387.62 as the share of Village Affair to the Women of Today. That will leave $3,235.00 in the checking account. A printed recap of income and expenses for Village Affair was shared.
Committee Reports:
Village Affair: Thanks to all who helped at the Village Affair. Pam noted that there was a 6 1/12% decrease in profit for this year. Expenses were about the same but the income of the raffle, concessions, and lunch were reduced from the previous year.
Old Business:
Social Media: Heidi and Naomi will look into Facebook and other media possibilities to publicize the group.
Scholarship Committee: Naomi will check with Liza to see if she has contact information for the scholarship recipients.
New Business:
December Christmas Party! The party will be held on Thursday, December 12 at 7 p.m. at Jean Peterson’s home. Please bring a White Elephant gift, as well as finger foods, wine, and a friend! We will auction off the White Elephant gifts for local charities.
The program committee is looking for suggestions for our group read in February. Suggestions were requested. New suggestions can be emailed to Mary Malherek.
Santa House: The Women of Today will be hosting their Santa House on Friday, December 6 from 3-6 p.m. at the City Center. If anyone has extra bags, tissue paper, ribbons, please bring them that day. They also could use volunteers to help wrap that day. Jeanette noted that at last year’s White Elephant auction we had set aside $100 to purchase items for the Santa House. Volunteers will purchase items and deliver them to the Santa House.
Announcements: Happy Thanksgiving!
The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes October 10, 2019
The October meeting of the Blooming Prairie AAUW was held on Thursday, October 10 at the Servicemen’s Club. The program put on by Marilyn Meshke and _____________. They shared info
Information about the new Veterans Memorial. Fourteen were in attendance.
President Naomi Hansen called the meeting to order.
Minutes: The minutes were approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report: None was presented.
Committee Reports:
Village Affair: Pam reported that 137 booths have been reserved with an income of $3,288. There were approximately 30% who did not return and 30% which are new. The menu will be sloppy joes instead of pulled pork, chicken hotdish, coleslaw, and macaroni salad. Sign ups were passed around, plus reminders given to bring items for the Minnesota raffle basket. Marilyn was able to get the photographs of the recent scholarship recipients and will include them on the posters.
Program Committee: The November meeting will be held at the City Center. Nancy Vaillancourt will be presenting information on the Mormon faith. Heidi will bring snacks. Bring your own beverage.
Old Business: None
New Business: None
Adjournment was declared.
September 12, 2019 Minutes
Called to Order: The meeting was called to order for President Naomi Hansen. Guests Karla Iacovino and Kathy Samuelson were welcomed.
Minutes: The minutes from the May 9, 2019 meeting were reviewed. The minutes were recorded by Loretta Ingvalson. One addition was made: Mandy Doocy graduated from Augsburg College. The minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report: There is $2,746.88 in the checking account. The report filed is subject to audit. Rent was paid to the school for Village Affair and to tonight’s speaker.
The proposed budget was distributed. Following discussion Heidi moved to adopt the budget as presented, Joanne seconded the motion; motion carried.
Committee Reports:
Village Affair: Pam reported that a deposit of $2,865 is pending and is income for Village Affair. There has been a menu change. Signups will take place at the October meeting. Please bring items along for the Minnesota basket to the October meeting. Wi-Fi will be available for the vendors. Jeanette will need help with the deposit on the Monday after the event. Raffle tickets were distributed.
Program Committee: Thanks to Mary and Pam for the wonderful program: Regina Mustafa of the Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam (website http://www.cidimn.org) spoke on the basics of Islam and the Muslim-American experience.
The new brochure was handed out to the members. Our October meeting will be held at the Servicemen’s Club. We will view and learn more about the Veteran’s Memorial that was installed this year.
No other Committee Reports were given.
Old Business:
Scholarships: Jeanette asked for clarification regarding when the scholarship money should be sent. It was noted that the money is sent after the end of the first semester. Marilyn needs photographs of the scholarship winners.
New Business:
Membership: Karla Iacovino is our newest member! Please add her contact information to your brochure:
Email: karla.iacovino@gmail.com; phone: 404-405-7495
Publicity: Naomi will work on getting more publicity for our group, perhaps getting our meeting date added to the newspaper community calendar. Heidi offered to work on a Facebook page. Nancy will work on updating the website.
Snacks: After discussion we agreed that we do not need snacks every month. It was suggested each member could bring their own drink.
Announcements: None
Adjournment
May 9, 2019 Minutes
Call to Order: President Jean Peterson called the meeting to order at Chapati Restaurant in Northfield.
Secretary’s Report: Minutes of March 14 were approved as submitted. (April meeting was cancelled due to bad weather.)
Treasurer’s Report: Checkbook balance is $2,967.88. $2,000 will be paid out for scholarships, leaving a balance of $967.88. The report is subject to audit.
Committee Reports:
Program: Applause for selection of tonight’s restaurant, Chapati. The program, Tenets of Islam presented by Rochester Diversity Council, which had to be cancelled in April, will be presented in September.
Scholarships: Four recipients of $500 college scholarships were announced: Payton Simon, Alexis Magnuson, Rachel Oswald, and William Cardenas.
Village Affair: We will be holding our 47th annual Village Affair on October 26th this year.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Election of Officers: A motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the slate of officers:
President – Naomi Hansen
Secretary – Nancy Vaillancourt
Dues: are payable tonight if possible.
Announcements:
Pam Folkens announced that Mandy Doocy, a former AAUW Scholarship recipient, will receive her Master of Arts Degree from Augsburg College this month.
Kudos to our Program VPs for a year of interesting programming and for selecting an excellent restaurant for our final meeting of the year.
Adjournment
Minutes from March 14, 2019
The meeting was held at First Lutheran Church in Blooming Prairie. We discussed the book Educated by Tara Westover.
Our meeting was called to order by President Jean Peterson.
Minutes: The minutes were approved as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report: Jeanette reported that the amount in our checking account is $______. The biggest expense remaining for the year will be the scholarship money that will be decided by the scholarship committee.
Program: Next month we will see a movie for our April meeting.
Old Business:
Officers for next year: The offices of president and secretary are up for reelection. Nancy agreed to stay on as secretary. Jean is looking for a person or persons to replace her as president. Please contact her if you are interested.
Scholarship Committee: Heidi Heimgartner and Joanne Sorenson agreed to join Naomi Hansen and Liza DeBoer on the committee.
State Convention: Jean will see if Naomi would like to attend the state convention in Grand Rapids.
New Business:
Announcements: A program will be held at the library on March 20 – When Home Won’t Let You Stay by James A. Bowey. He will talk about refugees who now call Minnesota home.
Meeting was adjourned.
Minutes January Treasu
The Blooming Prairie AAUW met on Thursday, January 10 at the City Center. Marian Mast, along with his assistant Joan Mast, presented a program on rocks with many examples from his collection.
The meeting was called to order by President Jean Peterson.
Thanks to those who helped with the program set up – Marilyn, Karla, and Nancy.
Minutes: There were no minutes for the December meeting. They will be available at the February meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: There is $3,287.88 in the checking account. Jeanette presented an updated report to the group. There was extra money from the White Elephant auction so the extra was given to Heidi to use for the Backpack Program/Save Our Starving Children accounts.
Committee Reports:
Program – Copies of the book Educated were distributed. More will be coming. We will discuss the book on Thursday, February 14 at 7 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church.
Village Affair – A summary from Village Affair was distributed.
There was no Old or New Business.
Announcements: There are movies being shown at the library on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. during January and February.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Minutes December 13, 2018
The December meeting of the Blooming Prairie AAUW was held on Thursday, December 13 at Jean Peterson’s home.
The meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m.
Minutes: The minutes stand approved as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report: There is $5,411 in the checking account. Jeanette and Pam bought gifts for the Santa House.
Committee Reports:
Program: Beth and Mary, program co-chairs, will not be here for the January program. It was decided we would go ahead with the program at the City Center on January 10. Marian Mast will present information on rocks and his extensive collection. Marilyn, Karla, and Nancy will make arrangements for the program.
Our February program will be a discussion of the book Educated. Books will be available at the library and from those willing to share their own copies.
Old Business: Four members helped wrapped packages and made nametags for the Santa House.
The meeting was tabled until after the white elephant auction.
New Business: Joanne moved to give $100 to Santa House, $400 to Feed My Starving Children, and $400 to the Back Pack Program. Liza seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Announcements: Naomi will be teaching Community Education Yoga beginning on January 8 in the BP high school library.
The meeting was adjourned.
American Assoc of Univ Women Blooming Prairie, MN 