“There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do a thing. I act.”
—Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
This is my last turn to write a President’s Message, and I do so with mixed feelings. It has been my very great pleasure to serve as our Club’s President for the last three years. I won’t lie – there has been as awful lot of work involved, and we as a Club have navigated through some pretty challenging times. The folks who are on the Newcomers Board of Directors and the rest of our membership combine to make up an awesome group of women! We have our own ideas, opinions, and experiences to draw on, but for the most part we work together extremely well. We think about and discuss serious things, but we also laugh and have a great time together. We are all essentially volunteers whether it be by serving on the Board or by working to keep our social connections solid and moving forward or by providing monetary support to our community non-profits.
Thank you to all of you who have supported me. Your kind words, friendship and comments have made the job of being President a whole lot easier to handle. The talents and commitments of all the Directors have contributed to the Club being in a wonderful place as it moves into the next year. We may not have solved all the problems of the world, but we have welcomed so many new faces, added new activities, spent our money wisely and judiciously, tightened up a couple of internal controls, performed with a higher level of transparency, and worked to consider different points of view when going about the business of the Club. As we all say, “It takes a village “and ours is a very special village.
After you read the above, I hope you recognize what a blessing this Club and Board of Directors has been (and continues to be) to me. If you are remotely interested in knowing more about the Board and what it does, please reach out to us. Volunteering is a great way to make new connections within the Club and to be more active in the business of running the Club.
At our June luncheon, we will have an official “changing of the guard “ceremony where our 2023-2024 Board of Directors will be introduced, and we will say thank you to those who have served on this year’s Board of Directors. There will be a brief “State of the Club” message. There will not be a special speaker at this luncheon so there will be extra time to socialize amongst ourselves. We will have our “Book Share’ table set up for those who are looking to give books away. Newcomers can browse the table and take whatever book(s) interest them. There will NOT be a charge for this. Any books left on the table will be given to our local Libraries. (Hopefully, there won’t be any left to carry out.)
Also at our luncheon, Connie Maynord is going to talk with us for a few minutes about a special project she is working on. I’m excited for you to hear about it and won’t steal her thunder by spilling any details. As you know, anything that Connie does is smashing/brilliant (I watch too much British TV!)
Please renew your membership as soon as possible. We’d like to have the largest turnout of members listed in the DIRECTORY which will be designed and produced during the summer. If you are a returning member and want your picture updated, please contact Connie Maynord for guidance.
Please note that there will NOT be any luncheons scheduled for July and August. The members of individual activities will determine if and how often they will meet during the summer months.
If you haven’t had an opportunity to share a suggestion for a Sumner County non-profit for us to support in the coming year, you can do that at the June Luncheon.
I can’t begin to close this message without a shout out for the program at the May Luncheon. Watching the young people “serve” as Junior ROTC cadets was so emotional – and educational too. Hearing the story of MSgt. Harville’s life, from childhood to now, was so heart warming and amazing. Thank you, Bobette, Joan and Jim Blanich, for making this happen!
” The end has come, as come, it must
To all things; in these sweet June days
The teacher and the scholar trust
Their parting feet to separate ways.”
— John Greenleaf Whittier)
I wish you good health, peace, and happiness,
Carol
