After three successive terms as co-Presidents, given these unprecedented times, we wanted to remember the many good things that happened during these years. Instead of dwindling interest, our members were active and engaged in so many of our diverse programs and participation grew. A combination of Zoom and in-person meetings allowed for more members to share in activities than ever before. Thank you all for being such a great group – your support became our inspiration to keep us going. We had a great board each year and our program gurus offered up excellent activities for us to share each and every year. Trips to the Oakland Museum and Hidden Villa, talks on how to apply Zoom makeup and the emotional life of animals all peaked interest and conversation. Our Valentine’s Day exchange has become a new classic that we hope will continue.
We wish the very best to our capable successors Allyn and Kelly, as we continue to serve in the background advising, helping, promoting…

Linda and Ronna

Thursday, March 3, 2022 Via Zoom

We will have a presentation from Susan McConnell, Professor of Biology at Stanford, trying to understand how neural circuits get built during fetal development. She is an accomplished scientist and beloved teacher. In addition to her research, she is a talented conservation photographer. Her belief is that wildlife photography has an important purpose: powerful images help connect people with our natural heritage and stimulate a commitment to conservation. Susan’s award-winning images have appeared in the Smithsonian magazine, Natural History, National Geographic, Stanford Magazine, Nature’s Best Photography, Africa Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, Expressions, Currents, and the American Kennel Club Gazette, to name a few. We are lucky to have her present some of this work to us!

All members will be sent a Zoom link prior to the program.

In addition to the program, we will be voting on the 2022-2023 Slate of Elected Officers. The slate was proposed by our nominating committee and unanimously approved at the board meeting in January.

Presidents: Kelly Steele and Allyn Taylor
VP Sections: Katie Vigeant
VP Programs: Open
VP Membership: Letitia Lai
VP Communications: Estee Greif
Treasurer: Shari Ornstein
Secretary: Karen Hohner
Preview Editor: Marina Lewis

What a wonderful start to our year at the Hoover House Autumn Brunch with more than 80 of our members in attendance. The weather was beautiful and we had a lovely event on the lawn with plenty of room to socially distance, enjoy good food, remind ourselves of the great activities provided by our sections, and finally get to say hello in person!

Many thanks to Kathryn Kim, Shannon Rose McEntee, and Bev Sarver, our terrific Program Committee, for helping to coordinate with our hostess, Dr. Mary Hynes, and the staff at the Hoover House. Many thanks to Dr. Hynes for opening up her beautiful home to us. And, also thanks to everyone who helped make it happen: Joan Hancock and Teresa Judd of Hospitality, Katie Vigeant of Sections, and Audrey Gold, Letitia Lai, and Abi Fafchamps.

We look forward to a year of great programs and activities. Watch the Preview for more details.

Linda and Ronna

We are entering the 126th year of the Stanford University Women’s Club with a bit more uncertainty than last year. Students will be back on campus (fully vaccinated and routinely tested) and many activities are getting back to normal, but there are still limitations due to COVID and the situation remains fluid. You should have received an electronic invitation to this year’s Hoover House Brunch hosted by Dr. Hynes. Details are forthcoming on the event so watch your inboxes for any updates on the specifics.

As you all know, we had a wonderful last year in spite of COVID. Our sections remained strong through the use of Zoom and our ability to adapt to the unprecedented times. However, we are all anxious to get back to some things in person. Going forward, we will try to combine the best of all worlds so we have many options for people to participate in and feel a part of the group. Some sections will meet in person, if possible, others will offer their programs on Zoom, or we will experiment with a hybrid approach. In addition, our Program Committee is working hard on a variety of interesting programs while being mindful of the COVID limitations. As always, we encourage our members to invite prospective members who are eligible to join SUWC.

No matter what, either virtual or in person, we are certain to have another exciting year! Please let us know if we can answer any of your questions regarding our programs and do let us know if you have some events or programs you wish we might possibly schedule. We are always interested in your input.

Linda and Ronna

Elected Positions

Co-presidents – Linda Kraemer and Ronna Widrow

Past presidents – Amy Krehbiel and Lou Ann Glader

VP Sections – Katie Vigeant

VP Programs – Kathryn Kim, Bev Sarver, and Shannon Rose McEntee

VP Membership – Letitia Lai

VP Communications – Theresa Chung

Treasurer – Abi Fafchamps

Recording Secretary – Cheryl Houston

Corresponding Secretary – Ellen McLennan

Preview Editor – Marina Lewis

Appointed Positions

Refreshments: TBD

Hospitality: Joan Hancock, Teresa Judd

Decorations: Gerda Wilson

Mailings: Ann Vosti

Parliamentarian: Allyn Taylor

Historian: Estee Greif

New Members: Kelly Zhang Steele 

The August Preview, electronic version only, will be emailed to members towards the end of August. The first issue for the new academic year 2021-2022 will be mailed in mid-September.

June 2021

When we started our year we were hopeful that we would be going back to normal activities in the Fall of 2020. Alas, that was not to be the case.

The welcome tea at the President’s House became a wonderful Zoom event with breakout rooms which gave a chance for members to chat in smaller groups. Our Program Committee continued on with some other terrific programs on Zoom, including a fitness program, a make-up demonstration, a Valentine exchange, and a St. Patrick’s Day party.

Our sections continued to develop on Zoom and most continued on throughout the year. It was great to be able to have members who live out of the area join us. We added a new Bollybhangra section and the other sections kept things lively and going strong. All of our section leaders became very proficient on Zoom and added new capabilities, such as doing cooking demos in the Cuisine Club. Author’s Coffee opened up to the whole membership so we were all able to hear the speakers. There were many comments on how well we were able to keep things going in an exciting way and how much people looked forward to the Zoom sections. Additionally, membership in our book clubs grew, both our afternoon and evening sessions.

We are not sure exactly what the next year will bring. The board will be working on how to keep things going as we are able to get back to meeting in person and perhaps still offer some things on Zoom – so stay tuned!

With many thanks to everyone,

Ronna and Linda

St. Patrick’s Day on March 17^th, members joined together on Zoom for a fun St. Patrick’s Day Gathering.  Everyone came dressed in green and prepared to celebrate with everything from Irish whiskey to green tea. 

Many members contributed to a wonderful hour of Irish culture. We shared limericks, poetry, art, music, humor, history and personal memories of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.  We concluded with a toast and a fun limerick from Kathryn Spitzer Kim: 

The 2021-2022 slate proposed by the nominating committee was announced and will be voted on at the Open Board Meeting on April 8^th.  Hope to see everyone there!

Bev, Kathryn, and Vicki

Programs Committee

On November 12, sixty-five members joined our virtual Annual SUWC Welcome Reception: Tea, Cookies and Conversation.  We launched the party with a welcome remark from our presidents Linda Kraemer and Ronna Widrow.  Daxue Xu led a discussion of the teas that she and Meng Sui had selected for our party bags.  We then separated into breakout rooms to sip our tea and munch on our treats while discussing our club activities and catching up with friends.  Everyone had such a good time during the two breakout sessions that we decided to have a third chat before saying goodbye for the day.  Stay tuned for another club-wide Zoom party in March!

Happy New Year!

Bev, Kathryn, and Vicki

Programs Committee

As we have started our new academic year we have again asked our members to renew their membership to SUWC. Enclosed with last month’s Preview we sent to you a membership renewal form.  If you’ve not already done so, please do remember to remit your form. You know your options are to send a check or pay via Zelle (a payment service offered through most banks). Being a member is particularly important these days because we offer so many  interesting programs, and many of them are via Zoom online. If you have a friend who is eligible to be a member of our group and who is interested in one or the other section activity, then please invite her to one of the section meetings and then ask her to become a member. As you know our sections are open only to members. We welcome your introductions.  Dues this year are being used to offset the cost of Zoom subscription for our sections and programs. If you need help getting on Zoom or using it, please reach out to Linda Kraemer.