2013 Membership Drive

Message from the President

As we gear up for our fabulous Fashion Show - remember that dues are due by September 1st!  Please get your dues in, your membership updated (don't forget we will have a yellow pages section in the directory this year, so if you want your business included, update that info in your profile), and SPECIFY WHAT COMMITTEE(S) you are interested in by completing the Interest and Skills Inventory.  We will assign the membership to committees starting September 2.  If you haven't indicated a preference, then you will be assigned based on committee need, so please let us know if there is something that you prefer.  Every attempt will be made to match preferences to committees in the assignment process.

We had a lovely general meeting at the home of Lilly Pacioni with a quorum present.  We approved the list of charities that will benefit from the last year of hard work.  AND - we have identified and voted to select charities that will receive funds from this coming year. Identifying charities up front permits us to better partner with them throughout the year and also to better publicize who we are benefiting at our fundraising events during the year.  Our Fashion Show is our first such event, so lets get started with a bang!  We can seat 120 ladies, so bring friends, family, potential new members - the more the merrier!  We will have a special single item to auction as well. It's going to be lovely!

Until then, I wish you all peace, love and the chance to enjoy the glorious summer weather!

Chris Bonney
President

Your dues are "Past Due" on September 2!

As the acting Treasurer, I would like to strongly encourage ALL members who have not yet paid their LOWC dues to do so before September 1st, 2013.  I know some of you are accustomed to paying your dues at the Fashion Show/Luncheon, but there are valid reasons why making your payment on time is beneficial to the club.

• Directory: Lake Oswego Women’s Club tries very hard to have our annual Directory’s completed, printed, and bound, to hand out at the October General Meeting. In order to do so, the directory chair (Jeri Parrott) needs sufficient “lead time” to input all of the information in our various systems, as well as lead time to allow for printing and binding. If you wait until the Fashion Show to pay your dues, you are placing a burden on Jeri to scramble with last minute updates.
• Committee Assignments: Emails are flying between board members as we all work together to assign members to committees.  If you haven't paid your dues, we can't be sure you are returning for 2013-2014. Committee chairs are seeking sufficient staffing for the coming year and they are eager to connect with their teams for the upcoming year. Renewing ON TIME will help Chris and me get this work done in a timely manner.  ALL ACTIVE AND PROVISIONAL MEMBERS: please complete the Skills and Interests Inventory to indicate your committee preferences. 
• Financial Integrity: It’s important that my treasurer membership totals in Quickbooks are the same as what appears in Wild Apricot. One of YOUR commitments as a member is to keep your online records up to date. In addition, your dues are used for our club’s operational expenses.
• Determining Quorum: Our Secretary (Johanna McCormick) DEPENDS on the new and updated information from Wild Apricot to determine quorum in our meetings.
• Courtesy: Remember, we are all volunteers. Volunteers should not be required to make "collection calls" to delinquent members who have not paid dues on time. Paying dues at the Fashion Show means you are paying your dues 26 days LATE.

Bottom line: There is much behind the scenes work going on. Please don’t put an unnecessary burden on your Board Members and your Directory Chair by waiting until the last minute to renew and make your committee preferences known. Go online now to www.lowomensclub.org to pay your dues, or write your check and mail it to LOWC, PO Box 1434, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

Robin Tremayne
Acting Treasurer

September General Meeting
September 26

Date: Thursday, September 26
Time: 11:30am-2:00pm
Location: Oswego Lake Country Club

Traditions are what make us feel good and feel connected. Our September General Meeting will include a luncheon and fashion show at the Oswego Lake Country Club on September 26th. Read about the details for registration from The Fashion Show Committee (article below).

Our October meeting will see a return to the Clackamas Children’s Center. In November, we plan to hold our annual potluck brunch/meeting, but we are still looking for a venue, so please contact me if you are interested in hosting the club for this fun event. And finally, December gets off to a great start with our LOWC Holiday Party on the evening of December 7th at The Lake Oswego Heritage House. As tradition, the December Holiday Party is held in lieu of a general meeting.

See you at the Fashion Show!

Julie Lester 
Meetings Chair

Fashion Show - Strike a Pose

Our 13th Annual LOWC Fashion Show/Luncheon committee is in full swing organizing and planning a wonderful event for our club and local community.  We want to remind you that this is also a fundraising event to earn money for our amazing charities so we are asking for your help with donations this year to fill our gift baskets.  We need products, gift certificates or even personal donations that we can organize into our raffle baskets.  Please have all donations to Scottie Johnson no later than Sept 16th and you can reach Scottie via email at lynn3831@comcast.net or by phone at 503-656-3117. Don't forget to complete a donation form for any items donated.

The event will be held at the Lake Oswego Country Club on Thursday September 26th from 11:00am-2:00pm.  Tickets will be $35.00 when purchased in advance and $40 at the door.  Invitations have been mailed, so check your mailbox and reserve your spot right away!  This is an event for your friends and neighbors as well so be sure to invite anyone you may think would want to attend since the more the merrier!  We will also have the option to purchase tickets on-line this year at our website so you can pay with a credit card!

We will have a special Live Auction item this year for a 7-night stay in a beautiful oceanfront home on the Oregon coast with a $1500 value so bring your checkbooks and get ready to bid out loud this year!

Thanks for your help and see you all soon!

Rhonda Webber
LOWC Fashion Show/Luncheon Lead

Philanthropic Funds Distribution
2012-2013

Lake Oswego Women's Club is pleased to announce the recipients of our fund-raising efforts for the 2012-2013 year. As a result of our Lake Run we are able to support several outstanding charities and provide scholarships to deserving high school students in Lake Oswego and West Linn.

Grants Distribution
The following charities have been awarded grants from our philanthropic funds.

Children's Center
Mission - Children’s Center’s mission is to support and medically assess children who are suspected victims of abuse or neglect.

Clackamas Women's Services
Mission - Clackamas Women’s Services fosters self-empowerment of women and children so they can establish lives free from domestic and sexual violence.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) - Clackamas County
Mission - The mission of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is to support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy so that every abused or neglected child can be safe, establish permanence and have the opportunity to thrive.

Coffee Creek Family Preservation Project
A partnership between Portland Community College, the Oregon Department of Corrections, and children and families. CCCF Family Preservation Project provides the following services to families:

• Incarcerated Mothers: Adult Education, Parent Education, Interactive Literacy Activities, Comprehensive Transition Support/Planning, Parent-Teacher Conferences by Phone, Increased Opportunities to connect with children by phone/through mail, Family Conferencing, and Alumni Association.
• Children: High-quality pre-school placements, Comprehensive summer enrichment activities, Educational support, Referrals for mental health and academic support services, Extra-curricular enrichment activities, and Bi-monthly contact visits with their mother in a therapeutic environment.
• Caregivers: Bi-monthly breakfast/support group, Family conferencing, Home visits, Referrals for services, and Alumni association. 

Lake Oswego Transitional Shelters Ministry
Through the Lake Oswego Transitional Shelter Ministry (LOTSM), we provide shelter, friendship, and support to families transitioning from homelessness toward self-sufficiency.

Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Scholarship Program
The Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation Department offers a limited number of partial scholarships for City and School District residents needing financial assistance. The scholarship program is dependent upon donations from groups and individuals and a limited amount of funding is available.

Lake Oswego Reads
Mission - To provide an enjoyable common reading experience for the entire city of Lake Oswego and promote the public library as an educational and cultural hub for the community. This program is designed to bring the community together by inviting participants to read a novel and enjoy a series of events which expand on the cultural, social and political themes that tie that novel together.

Scholarships

To recognize and encourage the spirit of community service, the Lake Oswego Women’s Club (“LOWC”) sponsors several Scholarship Awards for Outstanding Community Service. Each award includes a one-time monetary payment, of a minimum of $1,000 made directly to the recipient’s college or university.

Lake Oswego Women's Club is proud to recognize the following LOWC scholarship recipients for their hard work and community service:

Clara Altemus - West Linn High
Kyra Bailey - Lake Oswego High
Brendan Heller - Lake Oswego High
Alexa Koll - West Linn High
Kelly O'Neill - Lakeridge High

On behalf of all members of Lake Oswego Women's Club and our sponsors. Thank you!

Philanthropic Funds Distribution
2013-2014

Lake Oswego Women's Club recently voted to modify our grants cycle. We have agreed to identify three major grant recipients in advance for the 2013-2014 fundraising year.  We are pleased to announce the Children's Center, Clackamas Women's Services, and CASA will receive a portion of our funds to be raised during the 2013-2014 fund-raising year. This will allow members to better focus on our mission of serving worthwhile local charities. In addition, sponsors will know, in advance, that their support is assisting these outstanding organizations. LOWC will also select a few additional charities for grants in the spring, but we are delighted to know that these three wonderful charities will benefit from our hard work.

Sustainer Fiesta Moved to October 5

The fiesta event for Sustainers has been rescheduled to Saturday, October 5th.  Please make the changes to your calendar.  An evite will be forthcoming, so that you may RSVP.  Spouses are invited.

DeLoris Scherschligt
Membership Chair

Technology Report

In the previous blog, I shared a bit of history regarding LOWC's technological progress during the past five years. Today, I'd like to share some information on our current status in the technology arena. The following is a laundry list of ways we are using technology to help LOWC achieve our goals.

Google Apps - Google Apps is a service from Google providing customized versions of several Google products under a custom domain name. In our case, this "domain name" is "lowomensclub.org". Google Apps features several Web applications, including Gmail, Google Groups, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs. This service allows us to have special email addresses, like "LakeRun@lowomensclub.org." In addition, Google Docs allows us to save and share documents (this is a HUGE feature for us).
Businesses pay Google for use of this service, but since we are a non-profit, I completed the application process last year to allow us to use this service for free. (In the next blog, I will share more details about Google Apps.)

Wild Apricot - Wild Apricot is our Membership Management Service. It includes the following services:

• Membership Database. The database provides custom membership levels, groups and fields. We can automate applications, payments and renewals. Wild Apricot provide secure remote access to members and our board. 
• Online Member Directory.  The online member directory is secure and allows members to look up contact information for other members and to update their own profiles at any time.
• Events. Meetings and other events are listed on our website. We can promote events with our online events calendar. We can also process registrations and receive payments online.
• Web. Wild Apricot allows us to build a website for our organization and easily make updates without the need of a professional web designer. We can designate which pages are for members only and which pages are seen by the general public.
• Email. Wild Apricot allows us to send email newsletters and email blasts to our members and supporters.

PayPal - Last Spring, Robin and I set up PayPal to allow for online membership renewal, event payments, and donations. Creation of a PayPal account is not required. If you choose to pay your member renewal online, it's like any other online purchase - just supply your credit card information on the secure PayPal page and your membership dues are automatically deposited in LOWC's account. You (or your friends) may also use PayPal to purchase tickets to the upcoming Fashion Show.

Facebook - Of course we have a Facebook page. In fact, we have two! Please "Like" us!

Our LOWC Page:
https://www.facebook.com/LOWomensClub
Lake Run Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/LOWC.LakeRun

Blogger - A blog is a "web log."  Blogger is the service we use to create our online newsletter. Using Blogger for our newsletter means the newsletter is easy to read on any device - smartphone, computer, or tablet. In addition, using Blogger for our newsletter means that all of our newsletters are archived and you can search by keyword by using the search-bar on the right side of the blog page.

Volunteer Spot - This service is used to allow members to select their shift for the Lake Run. In addition, it makes the job of coordinating and managing the volunteers MUCH easier for the Lake Run committee,

In the next blog, I'm going to share more information about Google Apps.

Lori Malone
Technology Chair

Volunteer Opportunity

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) is having their golf tournament fundraiser.  It will be held at the Oswego Lake Country Club, on Monday, September 9th.  If you can volunteer some time from 11:30am - 1:00pm, please contact me at membership@lowomensclub.org.  Child Advocates (CASA's) provide trained community volunteers to advocate for children in cases where they have been placed in foster care.  This is another great way for us support them, by giving them some of our time.  They are also in need of golfers.  The tournament is a 4-person scramble. For additional information on the tournament, please visit their website:  http://www.casa-cc.org

Welcome to the Newest Provisionals!

A big thank you to Denise Smith for opening up her home to host our second friendraiser on Sunday, August 25th.  An additional thank you to all the members that showed up with brunch dishes, and shared their insight on our organization.  The morning was a success! There were lots of interested women in attendance.  As our membership drive starts to come to an end, remember that if you know anyone interested in our club, applications are now on line for their convenience.

I'd like to extend a huge welcome to all of our provisionals (the list is growing): Pauline Decker, Minita Feldsien, Kelly Heard, Karen Norgaard, Margaux Rathbun, Sheri Rathbun, Meghan Siegner, Denise Slattery, Tina Tena, and Toniya Villalobos. We are still seeking new members. If you (or someone you know) would like to join. Please ask them to complete a membership application online.

DeLoris Scherschligt
Membership Chair

LOWC Holiday Party

Mark your calendars now for the LOWC Holiday Party.  We'll be having a potluck on December 7th at the Lake Oswego Heritage House from 6:30 - 9:30pm.  The cost is $10/person with guests and/or significant others encouraged!!  Bring your favorite dish, dessert and/or a bottle of wine.  The dress will be holiday casual.  Please send checks (made out to LOWC) to Lisa Rainer at 13479 Fielding Rd, Lake Oswego OR 97034


We'll see you at the party!
Lisa Rainer
Holiday Party Coordinator

Children's Center Healing Garden Gala

Date: Sept 19, 2013
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location: Children's Center
Tickets: $100 per seat/$1000 per table

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Children's Center website.

If you are interested in volunteering during the gala, contact Lori Malone at admin@lowomensclub.org.