Semaphore - C.F.U.W Scarboroughcfuwscarborough.org/pdf/News_Aug2014.pdfreading list for this coming...

Semaphore

Newsletter of CFUW-Scarborough—August 2014

Important Dates

CFUW-Scarborough

General Meeting Monday, September 15

Knox United Church 7:00 pm

Bring & Buy Book Sale! ———–———

OC Standing Committees

September 27, 2014

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto

Further information will be

available at the General Meeting

_________

2015 Dates to be announced

CFUW AGM 2015

Quebec City

June 18-21

L' Hotel Chateau Laurier Quebec

For the latest information on

these meetings, please visit the

Ontario Council website at:

www.cfuwontcouncil.ca

______________

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!

Co-Presidents’ Message As incoming Co-Presidents of CFUW Scarborough, we would like to express our thanks to all members for the opportunity to lead the club for the next two years. We have had many excellent Presidents in the past, and we look forward to continuing the tradition of strong and inspiring leadership, most recently shown by Past President Lynne Anderson. Her enthusiasm and good humour, as well as her warm and welcoming per-sonality, infused our club with new energy that resulted in a boost in new member recruit-ment. Continuing in this direction, we encourage members to spread the word about CFUW Scarborough to women interested in our club and our objectives - family, friends, neighbours, all are welcome! Encourage them to join us for a “test drive” by coming out as a guest to one of our general meetings. And if they ask, “What do we do?”...

Raise money for student scholarships and bursaries aimed at women and

girls at both university and community college

Serve our community by supporting local organizations such as

Julliette’s Place

Advocate for changes to legislation affecting women and human rights at all

levels of government with special consultative status at the UN via our affilia-tion with IFUW

Continue to learn about our community through inspiring speakers at our

monthly meetings

And, we enjoy the company of other like-minded women in smaller interest

groups for reading, hiking, theatre, bridge and dining, to name but a few. At the National AGM in Waterloo entitled “Our Emerging Mosaic”, we were fur-ther inspired to promote CFUW locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. There we met so many amazing women – including presidents from clubs small and large – that it was hard NOT to be inspired. The President of IFUW, Catherine Bell from South Africa, set an energetic example of what the power of women can achieve when united by a common cause. It was also comforting to learn that many others around the country are similarly struggling to rejuvenate their clubs and increase new membership. There is hope, if we embrace new social media technologies to communicate with and recruit a younger demographic. Stay tuned as we try our hands at keeping connected with Twitter and the “Twitterverse”! We hope that your summer has been one of rest, relaxation and rejuvenation, and look forward to seeing you all at our first General Meeting on September 15, 2014 where we can renew our friendships and inspire each other for another exciting year with CFUW Scarborough. Diana O’Connor and Lenora Fleming Co-Presidents CFUW Scarborough 2014-15

CFUW - SCARBOROUGH Newsletter

.

Theatre Group

Our goal is to see about five plays during the Club year, starting in Octo-ber. We try to select interesting fare at theatres in the Toronto area and gener-ally speaking, make bookings about three weeks in advance of each pro-duction. Group booking rates require between 10 and 20 people, depending on the theatre.

There will be a sign-up sheet at the September meeting for those inter-ested in joining the group and for the first play which will be in October. Thursday evening is the evening of choice. Once you have committed to attending a production, you will be re-sponsible for the cost of the ticket. If you are unable to go, please try to pass the ticket along to a friend.

Ann Rutherford 416-261-6753

If you enjoy fresh air and good company, we hope you will join us for our walks. We usually meet the 4th Sunday of the month and like to explore natural areas in different re-gions of Toronto. Our first hike will be on September 28th, and we plan to explore the Rosetta McClain Gardens and Scarborough Heights area. We will meet at 2:00 pm in the parking lot by Birchmount Pool (Birchmount/Kingston Rd). Please let me know if you plan to attend so we can look out for you or let you know of any changes. Marilyn Lind 416-282-0946

Interest Groups

Hiking Group

Our group meets the 2nd Mon-day of the month from 1 to 3:15pm (bring your own “brown bag” lunch). We take turns pre-senting a book of our choice and/or hosting the discussion. Our first book in September is “The Inven-tion of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd.

At the moment we are at ca-pacity, but would gladly share our reading list for this coming year with anyone who is interested.

Monday Afternoon Books

Evening Book Group

I can be reached at: [email protected]

“You can borrow a book, but you get to keep the ideas”

- Anon

Maureen Corby 416-431-7814

"No two persons ever read the same book"

- Edmund Wilson

Members of the Evening Book Group will easily relate to the above quote from Edmund Wil-son. No matter the book under discussion, it is rare that we have unanimous consent as to whether a book merits 1 star or 5 stars.

We meet the 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 pm at members' homes. After a lively discussion about the month's book, we enjoy refreshments and each other's company. January is "Favourites" month when everyone reviews one or two of the books they have

most enjoyed over the past year. In May we have a Pot Luck Supper after which we choose the books for the following year.

This season we will be reading:

Elephant Whisperer - Laurence Anthony

Paris, A Love Story - Katy Martin

The Gold Finch - Donna Tartt

Nothing Daunted - Dorothy Wickenden

The Inconvenient Indian - Thomas King

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

We look forward to another great year of spirited discussions.

Beverly Baird 416-261--0316

Making a Difference (MAD)

Out To Lunch Bunch

Last year, Gail and I were very in-volved in the Toronto Caucus group to further early childhood learning. Due to our busy personal lives, however, advo-cacy issues did not get the attention so often presented to our members in the past. We did complete both written and email petitions. For hand written petitions, a minimum of 25 member signatures are required before our local MPP can pre-sent it in parliament, so keep this in mind when we invite you to sign. If there is a topic or cause that you would like our club to be involved with, email Gail or myself as we would wel-come your input. We try to meet once a month, in the afternoon, and finish no later than 3:30pm. Catherine Molyneux 416-443-9558

The Out-to-Lunch Bunch visits a variety of restaurants in the Scarbor-ough area on the last Tuesday of each month. Sign up at General Meetings or by contacting me by phone.

Grace Lord 416-438-6129


More Interest Groups

Gourmet Lunch Group

The Gourmet Lunch Group meets the first Friday of the month at a member’s home for a fancy lunch.

There are nine members, and we always enjoy lively conversation as well as Anne’s wonderful jokes.

Carole Torrance 416-438-8652

Afternoon Bridge

Couples Bridge

Couples Bridge

meets the first Friday

evening of the month

for dessert and coffee

and sixteen hands of

bridge. Substitutes

would be most wel-

come.

Kathie Krashinsky

416-282-6075

REVOLVING BOOKS 2014-2015

Here is your opportunity to read a paperback book each month, pass it along and keep one at the end of the year! Sign up will be at the September meeting with the first book available at the October meeting. Books are then circulated at the general meetings in November, January, February and March. A fee is charged to cover the cost of the books. This is the interest group that does not meet; however, we need a minimum of 5 members to sign up if it is to work effi-ciently. I have discovered several very interesting books that impress me and I am eager to share them with you. They in-clude:

MOLOKA’I – Alan Brennert

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, tells the story of Rachel, who at 7 years old is diagnosed with leprosy. Forcibly removed from her family, she is sent to Kalaupapa, the isolated leper colony on the island of Moloka'i. This is a story about life, not death; hope, not despair.

ANNABEL – Kathleen Winter

This is a story of the importance of self-determination. It is told through the main character, an intersex child born in a remote coastal Labrador village in 1968.

WHAT THE PSYCHIC TOLD THE PILGRIM – Jane Christmas

In this wickedly funny account, Jane Christmas describes her pilgrimage along Spain's infamous Camino de Santiago de Compostela in celebration of her fiftieth birthday. Somehow she finds herself leading fourteen squabbling middle-aged women—until she inadvertently loses them and sets out on her own. That is when her real adventure begins, as she battles loneliness, hunger, and exhaustion.

STUDIO SAINT-EX – Ania Szado

This novel is set in WWII Manhattan’s glittering French expat community, complete with scenes from the emerging fashion industry and a tempestuous love triangle that pits a 22-year-old designer against her lover’s fiery estranged wife.

MARY COIN – Marisa Silver

This is a story of two women, one a famous photographer and one a forgotten migrant half-Cherokee, and of the remarkable legacy of their singular encounter.

Ruth Wolff 416-284-3702

The Afternoon Bridge Group meets in members’ homes the third Thursday of the month (October to May) at 12:30pm. We enjoy friendly, interesting conversation during our bag lunch, with tea and coffee pro-vided by the hostess. Substitutes are needed for our bridge group. Please sign up and join us once in a while. You will be warmly welcomed.

Anne Ellis Taylor 416-261-5190

Healthy Gourmet

Unfortunately, because we have 11

members, and more than that is difficult

to host at the average dining room table,

we are unable to add more members to

our group, unless someone drops out.

We meet the second Thursday of the

month at 7pm for a healthy meal and a

not quite so healthy dessert (a girl's got to

have some fun!). We take turns cooking

and hosting throughout the year.

Margaret High 416-283-8682


Membership 2014-15

AWARDS

Thank you to all who renewed their membership by the September 30 deadline last year. We were successful in enrolling 67 members, an increase over the previous year and were able to distribute the club directory by the Octo-ber meeting for the first time. Bonnie McBride and Sheila Lathe were instrumental in keeping us informed of meet-ings and CFUW news and I am pleased to work with both of them again this year.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in our activities please forward their contact information to me as soon as possible so that I can send them a registration package in time for the first meeting in September. Let’s aim for an increase to 70 members or better!

This newsletter is the precursor to your receiving your renewal forms along with the donation forms for our schol-arships at UTSC. These will be sent out via email towards the end of August so watch for them. I hope you will deal with the request as soon as you receive it so that we can generate our directory once again by the October meeting. Our regular mail members, of course, will receive their hard copies along with the newsletter.

DON’T FORGET: SEPTEMBER 30 is the magic date for renewing your membership.

Please return the forms with your cheques to me via regular mail

OR

bring them to our September meeting.

Looking forward to hearing from you all

Gail Doehler

Membership Chair

CFUW Scarborough

As of the end of March, the book value of our award fund at UTSC was $141,583.00. This money provides 3 awards – one to an incoming student and two in-course awards. At this time, I do not have the names of the recipi-ents for the coming year but I hope to be able to give you that information in September. Our goal is to build the fund up to $150,000.00, an amount that would allow us to regularly give 3 awards of about $2000.00. Last year the amount was even higher but the amount of the awards varies depending on the performance of the funds each year. I would encourage those who are able to use the form enclosed with your membership renewal to make a do-nation to the award fund. Cheques should be made payable to UTSC with CFUW Scarborough – OSOTF in the memo.

Fundraising from the fashion show allows us to give 2 awards of $1000.00 to students at Centennial College. At the June executive meeting we voted to allow the college to give both awards at the same time but to continue mak-ing one award a scholarship and one a bursary. The agreement has been renewed for the 2014 – 2015 school year. Money raised from the fashion show also provided $1000.00 to the Scarborough Women’s Centre.

Marilyn Lind 416-282-0946


National AGM-Waterloo June 20-22

ONTARIO COUNCIL AGM, MAY 2014

An inspirational view from the sidelines:

After negotiating the morning traffic and finally realizing that this conference was in Waterloo and not Kitchener, I even-tually found the Waterloo Inn and was just in time for the first theme session, which was about the Waterloo Region as a tech centre and was quite mind boggling. The speaker was an employee of Communitech, a regional organization devoted to encouraging entrepreneurial innovation, networking among tech companies and addressing the problem of women be-ing underrepresented in this sector. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education seems to be essential in this sector and while many women are successful the old problem of integrating work and home life for both men and women remains a problem, as does finding and keeping talented employees. The case studies our speaker described left me wide-eyed at the scope of programs in cyberspace that can help entrepreneurs develop their ideas. I now realize how out-of-touch I am with the pace and possibilities of the modern business world.

The second session I attended was given by an Innu/English woman working in the field of Aboriginal education and community development in the Waterloo Region. She acknowledged the disparity between the popular portrayal of Abo-riginal women and the historical truth. Mention was made, of course, of the dreadful statistics for murdered and missing women but she tried to dispel these images with information about a series of very successful Aboriginal women in fields from music, to law, to environmental studies. Questions from the floor led to an interesting discussion about the nature of the Aboriginal experience and its attendant problems once the white man—in the form of the federal government—interfered. I learned a lot about their struggle and came away with a better appreciation of the problems they face.

After a delicious lunch and a speaker who gave us an overview of the diverse history of the Waterloo Region, it was on to the CFUW workshops where many ideas were forthcoming on a whole range of topics. The workshop “Working with Local Media” offered many suggestions for getting our message out to the public via the press, radio, and television, in-cluding the usefulness of press releases and media advisories. Of course, social media was also mentioned as a neces-sary tool for communicating with the younger generation. Twitter and Facebook were deemed essential in this regard and I hope the list of resources will help us make use of these new ways of keeping in touch.

I attended another workshop, focusing on club revitalization. We had five groups, each to discuss a particular problem. All of the case studies presented were common to most clubs such as recruitment of non-degree and younger members, retention, publicity, and image. Many ideas were forthcoming and a composite of the discussion of both sessions will be compiled and sent out to all the participants. I hope we will be able to make use of some of the suggestions that came to light in order to keep our club vibrant and growing.

All in all, it was a very interesting day and well worth the time to hear about the efforts of the organization as a whole to try to adapt to a changing world. With a centennial celebration in the offing in 2019, I hope these meetings will inspire and

encourage our members to remain dedicated to our mission. Gail Doehler

CFUW Barrie and District hosted this meeting with the theme, “The Times They are a-Changin’”. Dr. Charles Gardner,

Medical Officer of Health, Simcoe-Muskoka was the keynote morning speaker. His talk was entitled: The Impact of the

Built Environment on the Health of the Population and Other Public Health Initiatives for Change Affecting Our Lives Now

and In the Future. He offered that “communities can be shaped by choice, or they can be shaped by chance. We can

keep on accepting the kind of communities we get, or we can start creating the kind of communities we want.” He enthu-

siastically advocated for increased cooperation between all levels of government and community organizations to design

and create healthier communities. More integrated biking and walking paths are just one of his many suggestions to

achieve this goal. Other afternoon speakers included Dr. Brad Dibble, Barrie cardiologist and Climate Leader (The Cli-

mate Reality Project and Canada’s Role in Solving the Climate Crisis); Theresa Boyle, health reporter with the Toronto

Star (Senior Care: The Upcoming Demographic Bulge and its impact on Health Care); and Jean-Paul Gladu, President

and CEO of The Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (The Changing Role of Aboriginal People in the Canadian

Economy).

CFUW Scarborough was recognized with an Honourable Mention Certificate for our continued support of Julliette’s

Place Women’s Shelter. CFUW Ottawa will host the next Ontario Council AGM on May 22-23, 2015.

Thank you for sending me to the 2014 AGM. It was an interesting experience meeting members of other Ontario clubs

and sharing ideas and inspiration for the changing times CFUW will be confronting in the future.

Diana O’Connor


Book Review

THE INVISIBLE GIRLS

A MEMOIR

SARAH THEBARGE

Throughout my reading of this memoir I was ambivalent about submitting a review of it to the SEMAPHORE. The author dealt unsparingly and relentlessly with the Living Hell of a double mastectomy and the consequent physical and emotional suffering. Add to this the decamping of the man she hoped to marry. She became spiritu-ally adrift, questioning a God who was lacking in compassion. She lost her former self. The reader is with her all the way. It was all so much more than one wanted to know. She is saved from her despair by taking on the re-sponsibility for a Somali immigrant family. The reader gets relief, too, from the angst that had defined the memoir up to this point—a reward for persisting in the reading. The book now merited recommendation.

SARAH’S STORY ...She had grown up in a fundamentalist household, her father being a Baptist minister. Parent-ing in the household was “tough love”. Sarah found her parents’ expectation of perfection severe which led her to see God for years as punishing and implacable. For a career, she chose to qualify as a physician’s assistant (PA) rather than as a physician so she could have the time to indulge her love of writing. This explains her decision to take a degree in medical science at Yale School of Medicine followed by the study of Journalism at Columbia. She had taken her pre-med in California, paying her own way by working four jobs. After her cancer ordeal which took place while she was at Columbia, she moved to the west coast to recover and escape reminders.

In Oregon, where she found employment as a PA, she became acquainted with a Somali refugee family—a mother and 5 daughters ranging in age from two to nine—on a commuter train in Portland. Concern for this family and the close relationship she enjoyed with them became her salvation. She decided she would write a book about her cancer experience and her friendship with this family, the proceeds from the sale of which would go to the creation of a fund that would finance college educations for the girls at a later date.

THE SARAH-SOMALI STORY ...The father of this family, a wife beater, had abandoned them in Portland. Sarah befriended them, providing food, clothing, household supplies and furnishings. She found ways to entertain them, teaching them social skills, conflict resolution without violence, how to navigate the welfare bureaucracy, what they should know about American Culture. All this she took on while working full time at a clinic in Portland. After 6 months, the family, unbeknownst to Sarah, moved to Seattle. She managed to track them down, and in her last meeting with them one of the older girls told her that when she was grown up, she wanted to be just like Sarah. Sarah had become a role model.

What Sarah learned from this family was that their poor language skills that prevented them from communicat-ing complicated concepts did not signify that their thought processes were as simple as their speech. The fact that they could not articulate emotions in English did not mean that they did not feel them. In a way, she identified with them, seeing herself as a kind of refugee, having fled to the west coast to escape the constant reminders in the east of her life-threatening cancer ordeal.

Sarah’s Issue With God…Her relationship with Him changed. She had clung to her faith during the 5 surgeries and 7 months of chemotherapy and radiation but did not feel really connected. Then she had an epiphany while partici-pating in a surgery. Never again did she ask “Where is God when I am hurting?” (p.233-235)...

Muriel Cluett

August 2014


TREASURER'S NOTES

The support provided by the members, both monetary and in kind, of Club sponsored events is reflected in the fi-nancial statements, but the really significant contribution of time and effort is not, for the simple reason that that contri-bution is beyond measure. Even if we were to adopt a time sheet procedure and strike an hourly rate, we still wouldn't come close to arriving at a reasonable measure, as the amazing enthusiasm and willingness of our members sur-passes any mathematical sort of evaluation.

Looking forward, membership renewal reminders will be arriving in your mailbox (actual or virtual) soon -- please remember when writing your cheque that you make it payable to CFUW Scarborough. The Club's name has been in this format for some years now and use of the old format generates having to bother the cheque writer for an amend-ment to the cheque.

And, again, let me remind you of the magazine program which has generated in the order of $1,000 a year since we have been using it. It is a painless fundraiser, as members are not asked to canvass their friends and neighbours, but only to purchase magazines that they would be buying in any case. For many publications, there is a saving to the subscriber as well as the contribution to the Club's coffers.

A copy of the Club's financial statements for the year just ended is attached below. If you have

any questions or comments, please let me know.

Bev Rhodes


Editor’s Note: Newsletter edited by

Corona Liscio

Content accurate as of

August 15, 2014

We’re on the Web:

http://cfuwscarborough.org

CLUB FUNDRAISER

Support your Club!

Renew your Magazine Subscriptions through us!

Our Club earns money for each new subscription or renewal.

[Packages available at September meeting

- to be returned in October]

Extremely successful fundraiser to date!

FASHION SHOW

We are looking into a different line of fashions for 2015. More to follow in the Fall.

Lenora Fleming 416-690-5311

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015

Knit-A-Square Project

TORONTO 2015 PAN AM/PARAPAN GAMES

Interested in volunteering? To apply, visit

TORONTO2015.org/volunteer

In 2008, what started off as a family project grew into a worldwide community with an estimated 12,000 people in 54 countries. The MacDonald family noticed many abandoned and vulnerable children living in great poverty. Many of these children lost their parents to AIDS and were orphaned with an estimated 1.9 million living in South Africa.

While most other charities provided food and shelter, the Knit-A-Square project focused on providing warmth and comfort. Knitters and crocheters worldwide were asked to donate 8” knitted or crocheted squares to South Africa. There, the squares were joined by volunteers, made into blankets and distributed to the AIDS-orphaned children.

In 2009, CFUW Scarborough joined the Knit-A-Square community. To date, we have donated 951 squares, 2 hats and 1 blanket. Squares are collected at each meeting and they are bundled and sent to South Africa about three times a year.

Thank you to all the knitters and crocheters who continue to donate their time to this project! We welcome anyone inter-ested in joining and contributing!


“Never underestimate the power of a small group of thoughtful, committed people to change the world. In fact it is the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

Thanks to our executive members, interest group conveners and faithful contributors to

this issue. Please send any submissions for the January newsletter by email to

[email protected] by December 15, 2014.

Corona Liscio

International Women’s Day is March 8th each year. Looking ahead, we hope our club can join in the celebra-tion. A sit down dinner for 100 people at Ellas Banquet Hall (35 Danforth Road) is a possible idea. Please submit any suggestions that you are interested in pursuing. Thank you!


Dear CFUW Members,

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) have approached CFUW looking for volunteers for the Festival which takes place in Toronto, September 4-14, 2014.

If your Club or individual members are interested, please feel free to take advantage of this opportunity.

To learn more about volunteering with TIFF, click here.

Thank you,

The CFUW National Office

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001RJvcnk1bjhfFMAPYDdCPa7rCg5LJuiWKkimKRsFG84yS6p4-rst3THhbFA_ZxwqpQqGK3y9gg51dKEC4_oEzbmSTaaBwHCAZspXJ79xaUSiz1bk-mWbNzkmThczSN_1eBeL00MBLmeHvev0ZjPFCQBODmStUDZBPt9uZfwyMjQnsmJgul4usEw==&c=1P_M0vB0PGapUPnsNSrkFsXQP0Lns4P6ZzQwOeeBA

Semaphore - C.F.U.W Scarboroughcfuwscarborough.org/pdf/News_Aug2014.pdfreading list for this coming...

Documents

Transcript of Semaphore - C.F.U.W Scarboroughcfuwscarborough.org/pdf/News_Aug2014.pdfreading list for this coming...