A Busy Calendar – A Busy Mind!

by sharon on 02/23/09 at 10:50 am

Whoever thinks that winter is a time to slow down andhibernate should come to Westminster, Maryland! The past few weeks have blown by almost as powerful as the 40 mph winds outside my window! Since I hold a few chairmanships in our club I get involved in a lot of different things. The past few weeks have been extremely busy – but it keeps me on my toes!

As co-chair of my club’s Conservation Department, I scheduled a meeting at a local coffee shop so we could talk about spring projects. We decided to celebrate Earth Day; one of our members, Maryl Harshey, is working with the county to set up a workshop on making rain barrels; two members, Jo Harp and Maryl will represent the club on the Advisory Committee for Friends of City Parks; and we’re meeting with the Carroll County Library to discuss their new plans for a front entrance. We did all that over coffee and laughs at Rooney’s – our local coffee shop!

The following day was our monthly club meeting where, like many other clubs, we were a sea of red! To honor Heart Month we donned our red and heard from Dr. Dawn Kershner, cardiologist at Union Memorial Hospital. I must admit I never knew that a woman’s symptoms of heart problems could be different than a man’s. Dr. Kershner’s presentation was very informative and gave all of us something to think about. At the meeting I was very flattered and excited to be named as our club’s nomination for the LEADS Program. Since there’s only one candidate from each state I won’t know until the State’s convention in late April if I’m going to the National Convention for LEADS…but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Over the past few months the Home Life Department collected donations from club members for First Night Kits for Kids. These families are victims of domestic violence and often arrive at the Safe House with the clothes on their back. The Family & Children’s Service has operated the Safe House in our county for three years. Sadly, it is filled most every night. We had enough goodies to fill 25 pillow cases with lots of extras.

The following week was our GFWC Maryland Board of Directors Meeting. I attended with several friends and heard all about the great things the Maryland clubs are doing. Our speakers were wonderful — the Executive Director of Friends of the Family shared their goals of building healthy families in Maryland. The Director of Childrens’ Services for the public library gave us lists of “Read Aloud Books” for children of all ages. This list will be so helpful to me when I try to find appropriate books for my two grandchildren. By the way, you can get information at www.readtomeinti.org.

As Editor of our club’s newsletter, I’ve been busy pulling together the March edition and doing a lot of PR for our Dr. Seuss Day celebration. Members of our club, the Kiwanis, Rotary and city officials will be reading and cooking Green Eggs and Ham to over 1500 kindergarten and first grade students. All this happens on Monday, March 2nd. I’m hoping to get a member of the Ravens football team to participate — we’ll see!

I’m still volunteering once/week at the local hospital and find that very rewarding. I’m working in the hospital gift shop — if you’ve never shopped a hospital gift shop you’re missing a real treat! There are beautiful things — scarves, jewelry, home decor — all at a very reasonable price for a good cause.

AND, with the economy the way it is — I’m looking for a part time/consulting job. What a chore and very time consuming. I must admit I’ve met several really great people in the interview process and along the way have learned a lot about different businesses. I think my next blog will address my retirement — getting ready for retirement is more than saving money!!

I’m really a summer person — the warmer the better! So, if it weren’t for my involvement with GFWC — I think I’d be a bear — grouchy or sleeping!! I’m thankful for all this activity and looking forward to the warmer days of spring.