This conference was one of the very best I’ve ever attended.  The entertainment was superb…the meals were scrumptious and presented beautifully, the workshops were very worthwhile, with lots of new ideas brought forward.

Sunday’s inspirational speaker, Sister Susan Keller, had us all laughing and crying with her humor and touching stories of surviving Cancer four times.  She says the big C isn’t Cancer, it’s Christ in her life!  I found it interesting to hear how the Sisters of today are all ministers in some way…working hard to help people in need.  Sr. Susan is a humorist who performs for groups like ours, and yet also ministers to women in shelters and does other work.  One of her writings can be found in the book Chicken Soup for the Survivor’s Soul.

Sandra Pecha and Sr. Susan Keller

Our membership workshop on Saturday afternoon turned out to be a great brainstorming session.  Some good ideas I heard to build new membership were make a club brochure and make bookmarks with your club information that you place at the library.  My club has a book sale every summer, and we’re going to put those bookmarks in the books we sell.  We really stressed the need for every club to have an informative brochure.  The Board in Illinois has designed a template for Illinois clubs that we’ve placed on our website for our state to download.  Hopefully, it will spark the brochure creativity in our clubs!  We need to stress that every time we interact with the public, we need to tell them who we are.

I hope you are taking the opportunity to attend your district, state, and region conferences and conventions.  First of all they are really fun, you make new friends from all over your area, and you learn an awful lot that can apply in your job, your life, and your club.  We are a very professional group of women that are really good for each other!  As a matter of fact, we’re really good for our communities and our country.

Int. President Dr. Rose Ditto

Int. Pres. Elect Carlene Garner

Great Lakes Pres. Sandra Pecha

2010 Great Lakes Pres. Debbie Bach

Back to School

It is “that” time of year again!! School is getting back into session and everyone is falling into a routine again. Here are some reminders for ensuring safety of schoolchildren everywhere this year:

1.Make sure coats, lunch boxes and backpacks are labeled. But, DON’T put your child’s first and last name on the outside of clothing and bags!!! That gives predators too much information!
2.Remind your child of safety precautions and procedures prior to school starts! Example: Never leave school with anyone that you don’t know or that your parent didn’t authorize directly.
3.This is the perfect time to establish or reinforce family emergency procedures.
4.And this one is for everyone whether they have students or not…..DRIVE CAREFULLLY!!! The start of school means more traffic, children at bus stops and school buses on the road!

Additionally, let me suggest that your club make an Education activity a priority these first few months. Take up supplies for needy students or offer to sponsor a local classroom….I promise you that the students AND the teachers will greatly appreciate it!

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Not in his goals, but in his transitions is man great.” In my life I have learned quite a bit about transitions. I have transitioned from being a friend, a girlfriend, a fiancé, to being a wife and from being a babysitter, mother-to-be, and then a mother. I have also learned how to evolve from college graduate, stay-at-home mom, sandwich artist, clerk, and newspaper editor. With the writing of this the inaugural edition of Callie’s Chaos, I am starting a new transition, to publisher of The New Stamford American.

Out of five generations of the Richards family, I am now the fourth generation to hold this title. If you lived in the Rule/Rochester area in the 1950s and 1960s, you might remember a friendly newspaper man that always had ink around his nails from spending so much time at a linotype machine and printing press. His name was Alton Richards, he was my grandpa, and he was the owner and publisher of the Rule Review. He came by the profession naturally, his parents, H.R. and Dora Richards as well as his grandfather, W.H. Richards, all helped to bring the Anton News to life. So it appears that the one thing I did inherit from the Richards side of my family was that my blood is full of printer’s ink and tends to run more black than red.

I have picked the name Callie’s Chaos, because that describes my life perfectly most of the time. I once described the word CHAOS as Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Often my life is an ongoing battle to defeat the ever present dust bunny, monster pile of laundry, and the waste land that is known as the playroom. A wise man once said,” You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.” It has been through my various transitions that I have learned that chaos can sometimes be the mother of invention and the thing that helps you to laugh when everything is going wrong and your child has just said the craziest thing you have ever heard.

I hope you will enjoy the journey that we are about embark on together as much as I and my wonderful team have enjoyed putting it together. The New Stamford American wants to be part of the life of Stamford, sharing good things with you, being a part of your lives. And we want you to be a part of American, sharing your good things with us. We are glad to be here. We hope you are glad to have us. We are located on the north side of the square, so come see us.

There were so many good ideas I can’t list them all right now, but here are a few memorable moments for me…

1. Marlene, the convention manager, repremended us for “un-lady-like” behavior in the dinner line! She reminded us that everything we do and say is a reflection on this organization.

2. The women in Wisconsin have done marvelous work for pediatric emergency treatment.

3. When I hear about Girls Town in Missouri I want to cry because of the way these children have been treated. But, I am thankful that Girls Town and GFWC is there to help.

4. We need to develop a lot of mentoring programs.

5. I have to buy Victoria Rowell’s book — there is so much substance to this successful actress, dancer and author.

6. Start a list of “inspirations” .

When we said good bye several of the LEADS 2009 class pledged to keep in touch. I’m sure we will — it’s like we were all ready good friends from the past.

In future posts I’ll give more details, but all of this is just rattling around in my brain right now and I need time to digest it all.

Honestly, I am not sure I can kill all the lawn dandelions in time for the tour. Our second harsh winter in row has decimated our climbing red roses, sigh.   I will be hard pressed to change all the burnt out light bulbs.  Why do light bulbs burn out in series?

I hope to have a This Place Matters poster placed prominently in the clubhouse windows by the middle of this May.  GFWC is participating in this program with the National Trust for Historic Preservation [NTHP]. The April/May 2009 issue of Clubwoman magazine features this great idea on the front cover.  I have special plans for the picture we will be posting soon with humans in front of the clubhouse. I encourage all GFWC clubs with historic [50 years plus old] clubhouses to print a sign, pose your members and post the photo to the NTHP site.  Let’s celebrate women’s history. This Place Matters <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
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First thing that I want you to do is close your eyes. I want you to imagine if music was blaring next to your ears, people laughing, cars on the street, music from the speaker in a store. A flashlight is shining right in your eyes, a lemon drop is on your tongue, someone is constantly touching you poking their finger up and down your arms, and the worst smell you can imagine is running up your nose. Doesn’t feel very comfortable right? Well….this is just one example of what it is like to be autistic. Now imagine that the noise is always too soft, no food has any taste, or it never seems to be bright enough for you. Imagine that you can get bit by millions of fire ants and not know it. This is another example of what it is like to be autistic….

 So how can one illness have two totally different types of characteristics. There is a saying that says “There is no “typical” autistic child. No portrait to paint. No two are alike. Like snowflakes, they resemble, yet remain unique. Therein lies the challenge for parents, patients, and physicians.”

Do you know anybody with autism? Chances are you do. It is estimated that 1 in every 150 individuals suffer from some form of autism making it more prevalent than pediatric cancer, diabetics, and AIDS combined. What is autism? Autism is a neurological disorder that impairs an individual’s ability to communicate and relate to others. It can also affect the individual’s ability to perceive the world around them, especially in regard to their senses.

All my life I had viewed autism as Dustin Hoffman’s character on Rain Man. I had vaguely heard the word every now and then on the news, but never had I thought it would affect me. My son, Logan, was a very difficult pregnancy. He was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and had to be rushed to the Neonatal ICU upon birth. He  made a fast recovery though and continued to develop and grow in the usual fashion of babies. He was such a good baby, he hardly ever cried. Later I would learn that almost every autism parent said the same about their autistic kid. After a very normal development, at 18 months he began to slip. We noticed things about how sensitive he was to noise, things like the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and even opening a trash bag drove him to screaming fits. We thought this was part of terrible ones. When he turned 2-years-old, I took him in for a baby well check-up and was astonished when the doctor questioned me very thoroughly about Logan’s behaviors….“Did he always talk that way? Did he always turn in circles? Did he always touch everything in the room?” The doctor was very concerned and after a series of developmental tests, meeting with a licensed professional counselor, and a psychologist, I was told that my son either had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or that he was autistic. Upon meeting Logan, the psychologist confirmed his diagnosis: PDD-NOS which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified. In the real world, we call this Autism.

We had a very hard time accepting this until one day at the park Logan was playing and we had loaded up in our car not thinking anything was wrong. About 10 miles down the road I happen to glance down at Logan’s Hand that was swollen with fire ant bites. When I questioned him he just looked at me and said Bad Ants.

I was shocked. As a parent, how would I deal with a child that didn’t play by the same rules as a “normal” child? I quickly learned that even though Logan is a “quirky kid”, he is still my sweet Logan and a blessing. As my step son Anthony would say, “Logan is crazy, but it is an awfully good crazy.” Sometimes his perspective of the world makes the world more unique and enjoyable. Logan is now six, and while he has challenges that surpass what a “normal” kid would deal with, he is thriving and with speech therapy and occupational therapy has learned very well to fit into the world around him. Every day we discover new things that affect Logan while some problems go away.   In fact most people would not guess that he is autistic, unless he is having a quirky day.

Autism was first identified in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the same time, a German scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that is now known as Asperger Syndrome. These are two of the five developmental disorders that fall under the autism spectrum disorders. The others are Rett Syndrome, PDD NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. All of these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social abilities, and also by repetitive behaviors.

Autism spectrum disorders can usually be reliably diagnosed by age 3, although new research is pushing back the age of diagnosis to as early as 6 months. Parents are usually the first to notice unusual behaviors in their child or their child’s failure to reach appropriate developmental milestones. Some parents describe a child that seemed different from birth, while others describe a child who was developing normally and then lost skills. Pediatricians may initially dismiss signs of autism, thinking a child will “catch up,” and may advise parents to “wait and see.”

Facts About Autism

• Autism is a developmental disability, which usually begins before 3 years of age and is a life-long disability.
• The incidence of autism is approximately 1 out of every 150 births.
• People with autism have a normal life span.
• Autism is 4-5 times more prevalent in males than in females.
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.

Presently, there is no cure for autism. However, there are various treatment options to help the child cope with the symptoms.

Presently, there is no known single cause for autism. However, autism is not caused environmentally by a child’s upbringing.

Research indicates that people with autism learn best through a structured environment.

Autism occurs in all countries and within all socioeconomic classes.

Research indicates that the earlier the intervention, the better for people with autism.

Siblings of autistic children are 3 times more likely to be autistic.

Autism currently affects over 400,000 people in the U.S.

Now you might want to know about vaccinations and autism….Some people believe that the MMR vaccine you get at 18 months causes autism, because lots of kids start to decline at this age. In our case there is strong evidence to support that genetics was at play.

April is National Autism Awareness Month. I encourage you to learn all you can about this disorder. While there is no cure for autism, education is the first step in combating the problem. Autism is not the tragedy, Ignorance is the tragedy. For more information about autism, check out www.autismspeaks.org. 

Explain the need
This portion of your funding request, isn’t the time to talk about your project, but where you state as clearly as possible the need in your community. Don’t write about your desire to build a playground. Instead talk about the need for safe places to play in your community. Talk about how childhood obesity is an important issue that your community wants to take a stand against.

It helps to back up your statement of need with research performed by outside credible sources. This is where you look to the scientific community for statistics on childhood obesity. Or, if you have a playground that has fallen into disrepair, take photos. The key is to state your need succinctly, but be able to provide stories, photos, and statistics to back up your statement.

Describe your project
This is the time to talk about your project in detail. Clearly state how this project will meet the need you see in your community. This project will need to include information on your project’s goals, objectives, and performance. You can do this simply by answering the following questions: What do you hope to achieve with this project, (goal statement)? How do you plan to achieve those goals, (objective statement)? How will you measure the success of your project, (performance statement)?

Plan your budget
Give a detailed description of how you plan to spend the money you are requesting. Be sure to list the total cost of the project, even if the grant amount you’re requesting is less than the total project cost. Be specific about what the funds you are requesting will pay for.

Raising private support for your project, by getting community members involved is a good way to show grantees that your club and your community are serious about your project. Include the money that your club raised privately as a part of the budget information.

Describe your organization
This section should be a brief history of your club. Does your club have a great track record of completing projects in your community? If so, this is the time to share those details.

Write the executive summary
When you present your grant request, the executive summary will be on top, but it is often easiest to write your executive summary once you have written the rest of the request. Your executive summary should be a very succinct summary of the need you see in your community, your project, the funds you are requesting as well as how you will use them. This is the time to be brief as you will elaborate on your points in the body of your proposal. Keep this summary to one page.

Before you begin writing
Think about the total cost of your project. In my example of a playground, the cost extends beyond playground equipment to shipping charges, wood chips for the area surrounding the equipment, and installation.

How will you publicize the grant support that you receive? While many family foundations wish to remain anonymous, corporate foundations want to make sure that you’ve considered how you will publicize both your project and the grant funding you have received.

If you are requesting funds for a project in your community and have further questions, please feel free to ask in the comment section below! Are you a seasoned grant applicant? If so, please share your tips with the rest of us!

Family, business, and Woman’s Club must-do activities have all converged early in this month of March.  Whew! life is grand.

It all began on March1st, in California. We flew down to Oakland and picked up our 26 year old son Ryan, who has been living in Asia for the past three years. We visited with my youngest brother who had housed my son for two days while Ryan adjusted to the 16 hour time difference. Then we moved on to my spouse Phil’s parents home 50 miles away. We indulged in my mother-in-law’s delicious French cooking for two days, and then proceeded groaning down the road to the annual National Society of Consulting Soil Scientist’s meeting in Sacramento.

The four day meeting was held on the Delta King, a renovated paddle wheel boat.  But Sacramento is my hometown, so we bunked at my middle brother’s home two miles from the meeting site. My 94 year old father resides a mile from my middle brother, so I was able skip out of the meeting a couple of times to spend some wonderful quality time with him talking about politics, the financial crisis and history. He is so sharp still.

I served as registrar for the NSCSS meeting this year. It was a much smaller meeting than normal as so many of our fellow small business members are suffering financially from the economic crisis. We missed them but the meeting had great content and was well worth attending.

My eldest brother showed up from Oregon on our final full day in Sacramento. It was pure circumstance that got us all together for a much needed family meeting to discuss a few issues concerning our aging father.

We returned home to a Spokane once again caught up in the grips of winter with 3 and 5 degree days, snow, ice, and hail and lightening storms. Our families business waits for no woman. Filling out and filing C-Corporation IRS Tax forms and a complex new-for-this-year Errors and Omissions insurance form due both [due by the 15^th of March] were the first items on my to-do-list. Groan.

In the midst of filling out those darn forms, and settling Ryan into his USA life, I got two calls from my GFWC club’s rental chair, Gail. First call, the thermostat in the basement Rose Room had ceased to work. The Church that rents that room wanted it replaced because the temperature outside was hovering at just above zero. So I researched programmable thermostats [always take the opportunity to go-green] and ran out to purchase a new 7day/4 period item. A church member kindly volunteered to install it for no cost which allowed me more leeway on the price and quality.

Second call, the solitary men’s toilet in the clubhouse was running hard and no amount of handle jiggling would stop it. I really hate plumbing, but I do understand the basics so no research needed just another shopping trip for parts. Fortunately, Ryan was willing to take on the job of replacing the innards, supply line and shut off valve.

So, March 11 was family volunteer night, with Ryan fixing the men’s toilet, Phil programming the main clubhouse thermostat to fit the clubhouse rental week and blowing down the steam furnace, and me programming the new Rose room thermostat and doing some office duty updating the Club computer’s security.

The monthly club business meeting was on March 14.  Peace.

I had worked retail years ago when in college and I thought “GREAT, this might be fun”. The new job started pretty fun at first except for those first few days when my back was killing me and my feet were on fire….Then everything went down the hill. They started LAY OFFS! We started with 25 people in my department and now we are down to 11.

It is not good to have a job that puts so much pressure on you. I go in everyday and I think well, this might be my last day and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was…. I have to prepare myself for it mentally.

Anyways, I should be greatful as I HAVE A JOB….

I am so pleased that our local club of Juniors has a high level of motivation and self-direction.  I am consistently inspired by the women in my life, including the clubwomen I am fortunate to know.  Thank you, ladies, for continually striving to help others and make positive change in the world.  Our annual blood drive brought in over 55 pints and our local Sallie Southhall Cotten Scholarship nominee won at the District Level.  We had a beautiful Membership Drive social that brought in potential members and we are very excited to attend our District Arts Festival this weekend.  Many of our Juniors and our local community’s students have art pieces in the competitions.

The continuing hard work of others reminds me that I must also remain constant in my quest for purposeful accomplishment.  I appreciate all that you do.  Now, let’s feed those dogs and cross our fingers there’s no more throw up from the kids!

Clubwomen Amy Heath, Beth Bowman, Christie Sheppard, and Meredith Swanson prepare for our annual blood drive