Christie Holloway  Whispers Across a Sea

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