Minutes of the Denver Branch of the National League of Pen Women
January 9, 2021
Members Present: Atlanta Sheridan, Ray Cober, Karen Gonzales, Kay Taylor, Kelly Ann Compton, Ann Klaiman, Andrea Antico, Aimee Guerts, Diane Chambers, Adrianna Voss, A. Marie Kriss, Linda Volin
Diane opened the meeting on Zoom at 9:36 am.
Inspirational Reading: Kelly Ann read a short inspirational story entitled, “Elephant Rope,” adapted by Dan Weston. The theme was that believing you can be successful is the most important element to achieving that success.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes were approved by the membership.
Introduction of Guests: Karen introduced her guest, Monica Kessler.
Committee Reports:
Treasurer’s Report: Kelly Ann noted that the balance in the account is now $871.08 after having paid $160 to National for the addition of two new members to our branch.
Website: Diane reported that Virginia submitted a lengthy list of changes that have been made to the website. Diane encouraged members to look at the website and give Virginia feedback on the improvements.
Budget Report: No significant changes were reported. Kay noted that our income and expenses are in line with budget projections.
Membership: Diane welcomed Linda Volin as a new member. Diane posted a notice of today’s meeting on the Colorado Writers’Cafe this month. She noted that our branch is still seeking a membership chairperson.
Historian: Aimee received historical files of our group from Diane. She has learned to use the snipping tool on Zoom to take pictures of members during our zoom meetings. Aimee is learning to use a digital scrapbooking program and she will have a plan for filing many of our historical files next month. Diane suggested that Aimee take a look at a 1997 edition of the National Pen Women magazine which has interesting articles about the history of the organization.
Outreach: Diane is hopeful that DSA can receive the Tapestry panel sometime in the spring if DSA reopens. Ann gave Salida high school their panel. Diane explained that members can check our website to learn the history of the Peace Tapestry project. She said that four panels will be left when DSA is awarded their panel. Kriss congratulated the group on having found a home for the panels.
Programs: On February 6th Randi Abel, an editor, will make a presentation to our branch on finding and working with an editor. Diane asked for members to volunteer to plan programs for the next few months. Aimee volunteered to organize a Write-Out program with prompts for members to write and share their writings with the group. Diane and Andrea will plan a program for April.
Old Business: Diane announced that thus far approximately 20 Pen Women branches have voted on whether or not to admit men to the organization. None of those branches voted to admit men. Because many members of our branch were not present at the January meeting, Atlanta will e-mail all active members and ask them to vote by February 5th on whether or not to admit men to Pen Women. She will report the results of that vote at the February 6th meeting.
New Business: None
Announcements: Diane noted that NLAPW has a FACEBOOK page on which members can display and promote their books and artwork. Diane also wanted to celebrate the publication of Andrea’s new book. Andrea reported that Carol Ehrlich wrote a review of her book for the Pen Women magazine.
Diane adjourned the meeting at 10:23 am.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kay Taylor
January report for Denver Pen Women website
The site was shut down for maintenance until it was completely rebuilt.
- Old redundant pages were made private or deleted
- The menu was redone
- 2017 newsletters were archived
- The home page was changed from About us to an introductory welcome page
- Re made member Spotlight page
- Added new members to members’ page
- Removed people who are no longer members
- put icon image in browser
- Changed the structure of the “our projects” pages
- Changed the colors in the site to reflect the colors in the columbine flower in the logo
- Added images on the welcome page to reflect who we are
- note: these will later be interactive
- Added what is known as “typing text” on front page
- Changed the notice on the welcome page
- To protect images and site a “no right click” and “no copy” feature was added.
- Removed anything no longer valid such as PDF for tapestry contest
I would like someone to send me the following information so I can keep the site current:
- The names of new members
- please ask the new members to send me a photo, a short bio, and a link to their website if they have one
- The names of people who are no longer members
- Details on date, time, location of any upcoming meetings
- Who is the facilitator? What is the topic? What materials to bring
Respectfully submitted, Virginia L. Small
Web developer