NEWSLETTER OF THE DENVER BRANCH
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF AMERICAN PEN WOMEN
MARCH 2011
Vice-President Ann Klaiman called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. We met at the home of Shirley Sheets. President Diane Chambers was absent due to recent surgery. She is doing well.
DENVER NLAPW MEETING MINUTES 3/5/2011
Members in attendance were: Sandy Chapman, Kelly Ann Compton, Patricia Cox, Florence Elliott, Pat Kennedy, Ann Klaiman, A. Marie Kriss, Sue Luxa, Nancy M. Peterson, Lorrie Reed, Gwen Scott, Shirley Ann Sheets and Virginia Small. Jo Ann Dohe attended as a guest. Our guests for the special critique session were: Linda Messer, Erika Christiansen, Jane Binns, Karen Fox, Anita Jepson-Gilbert, Rita Brady Kiefer and Sean Curley.
Lorrie opened the meeting with an inspirational reading of an Irish Friendship Wish. The February 2011 minutes were approved as written. Gwen Scott reported that no expenses occurred this last month; our balance remains the same. Money was collected from members to defer the costs of the lunch to take place after the meeting.
Committee Reports:
In regard to our community service projects:
• Place Bridge Academy: Gwen and Andrea now have clearance from DPS to volunteer at Place. (Place Bridge Academy is a magnet school for immigrants.) We, the Denver NLAPW, will consider donating money to Place for dictionaries.
• Conifair, the arts and crafts festival in Conifer, will take place August 5th and 6th. More information will be forthcoming, probably next month.
• Florence continues to lead a poetry group at Kendrick Lakes Elementary School.
• Bessie’s Hope: For those members participating in Bessie’s Hope, there will be an orientation meeting. Kriss will email the signed-up volunteers with further information.
Old Business: News from National says that things are “looking up” in regard to finances, the website, etc.
New Business:
• Virginia reported that the glitches on the Denver NLAPW site are fixed.
Announcements:
• Gwen’s book, Blacks Through the Ayes of Our American Presidents: A Political Timeline, is in progress for its second printing!
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
Following the meeting and special critique session, a delicious lunch was served. A big thank you goes to our guests for their presentations, to Kriss for preparing our lunch, and to Shirley for her fine hospitality.
Respectfully submitted by Kelly Ann Compton, Secretary
UPCOMING MEETING
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2011
PRE-MEETING CRITIQUE SESSION
PROGRAM: MEMBER GWEN SCOTT ON
BLACKS THROUGH THE AYES OF OUR AMERICAN PRESIDENTS
The April 2nd meeting will begin at 9:15 a.m. with member critiques (Kelly Ann Compton, Ann Klaiman). We will meet at Gwen Scott’s home; this is a CHANGE of location. The business meeting will commence at 10 a.m. Gwen’s presentation, exploring African-American history through the positive and negative influences of each US President, follows at 11 a.m.
Gwen has earned several honors, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award in 1997. In 2008, in celebration of the 150th birthday of the City and County of Denver, Gwen was among 150 of its citizens to be honored as “unsung heroes”– ordinary people who have done extraordinary things to help make the city a better one for this and future generations.