June 5, 2021

National League of American Pen Women—Denver Branch Minutes

June 5, 2021

  1. Diane called the meeting to order at 9:36 AM. The meeting took place via Zoom.
  2. Members in attendance: Diane Chambers, Atlanta Sheridan, Ann Klaiman, Linda Volin, Karen Gonzales, Laurel Becker, Eleanor Binnings, Andrea Antico, Kelly Ann Compton, Ray Cober
  3. Inspirational Reading: Andrea read two quotes from D-Day in 1944.
  4. The May minutes were approved.
  5. The Treasurer’s Report was approved. The current balance is $824.32.
  6. Committee Reports:
    1. Website: Virginia says the website is running smoothly. She is putting older photos onto a thumb drive.Atlanta suggested that we need to make sure there is a back-up thumb drive that someone other than Virginia holds onto. She also suggested that we make sure we have at least two back-up people that can get into the website in case something were to happen. Diane says she has the information to get into the website and will pass it on to Kelly Ann.
    2. Historian: Aimee is our current Historian. She is moving to North Dakota, so will give the bag of historical documents to Diane. It was noted that our most recent history is in a digital mode. Our earlier historical documents are with the main Denver Public Library. Hopefully, a field trip to the library will take place in the coming months.
    3. Membership: A woman from Palisades would like to become a member of NLAPW and our Denver Branch. Karen and Adrianna have submitted applications to move from being provisional members to Active members in the National League of American Pen Women.
    4. Tapestry for Peace: Andrea and Diane met with the Denver School of the Arts to award them with their piece of the tapestry. They reported that the students and teachers were very excited to get the tapestry panel and have a great place to hang it so it can be seen from both the first and second floors. Andrea suggested that an article for “The Pen Woman” magazine should be written and submitted.
    5. Programs: Karen has agreed to be the Program Chairperson. Diane and Andrea will work with her. Any member having suggestions for programs are encouraged to submit them to Karen.

      1. Ray will give a presentation on the publishing scene at our August 7th meeting. There will be no July meeting.
      2. We will meet by Zoom in August and will discuss the possibility of having in-person meetings. It was agreed that if we do move to in-person meetings, that Zoom meetings continue to be a part of the meetings for those who for some reason cannot attend in person.
      3. Some of the programs suggested were: Ray offered to do a program on cover design; Kelly Ann suggested that we have speakers who speak to specific genres; Linda requested a program on marketing; another idea was a discussion on writing query letters. Kelly Ann shared that the “A Novel Idea” cozy mystery five book series by Lucy Arlington is about a literary agency and really gives good incite on writing query letters.
      4. Ray spoke a bit on the Pen Woman Press where he is working as a graphic designer. The Pen Woman Press has just finished its first book, a poetry anthology, and is ready for printing.
  7. Old Business: None
  8. New Business: Linda is writing an article for “The Pen Woman” magazine regarding our recent activity of introducing one another. Everyone enjoyed the program and talked about the possibility of doing another similar activity in the future.
  9. Announcements: Karen entered an art piece in a COVID-19 Art contest. The art will be judged by judges on June 9 and the public will vote on the art on June 15.
  10. Diane adjourned the meeting at 10:26 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kelly Ann Compton

Co-Secretary

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