Monterey Peninsula
Messenger
|
|
|
|
Monterey Peninsula Branch |
|
|
Calendar of Coming Events
Saturday, January 22, 2:00 PM - January Branch Zoom Meeting. AAUW Fund scholarship recipient Sabrina Baffert speaks about her experience as a research scientist in molecular biology with an industrial Biotech Firm and her studies at UC Berkeley, pursuing her MPH in Epidemiology.
Saturday, February 26, 12 noon - Annual Inter Branch Council (IBC) Zoom Meeting for the Monterey Peninsula and Santa Cruz branch members, hosted this year by the Santa Cruz Branch. Speaker is Dr. Dara Norman, astrophysicist and leader in DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion).
Saturday, March 12, 2:00 PM - March Branch Meeting. Story of an Immigrant. Hear Anna's story of moving to America. Details TBA.
Saturday, April 30, 2:00 PM - April Branch Meeting, on Pesticides in Monterey County. Details TBA.
Saturday, May 14, 2:00 PM - May Branch Meeting. Details TBA.
Sunday, June 5, 5:00 - 7:00 PM - June Branch Meeting. Art and Local Scholarship. Bringing together AAUW members, featuring those who are artists, to share an evening of wine and appetizers. Details TBA.
|
|
JANUARY BRANCH ZOOM MEETING
Date: Saturday, January 22
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Speaker: Sabrina Baffert, AAUW Fund Grantee
Sabrina Baffert is the recipient of a Career Development Grant from AAUW, sponsored by donations from a number of California AAUW branches. This grant allows her to pursue the MPH at UC Berkeley, focusing on bio-statistics. These skills will allow her to analyze the distribution of global health inequities in epidemics, which she hopes to be able to address in her future career.
Her current career is quite interesting too. As project manager at a start-up biotechnology company in San Diego, she is deeply involved in the development and improvement of high-efficiency RNA polymerases for applications in RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines, like the one against Covid 19. Her work in molecular biology may be instrumental for our next Covid booster shots. This is very exciting and we are eager to hear more about it from Sabrina. She has also worked on mapping genetic diversity of infectious pathogens, bringing her to Jamaica and Peru where she aimed to better understand cultural approaches to health.
Sabrina is especially delighted to speak to our Monterey branch since her mother grew up in King City and there are farm worker experiences in Salinas in her family. This has lead to the idea of adding a local voice to our January meeting, potentially on the efforts of the Monterey County Health Department to vaccinate farm workers. We will keep you posted on whether this works out.
You will feel inspired and gain a deeper understanding of the importance of AAUW Fund's role in advancing educational opportunities for women to advance equity. This is a fundraiser, so be prepared to support AAUW Fund. We will let you know how to best make a contribution. Below is the zoom link for this meeting. Please join us.
To Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 856 3500 2900
Passcode: 767421
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,85635002900# US (San Jose)
Gabriele Simbriger-Williams, AAUW Fund Director
|
|
Morning Books
(via Zoom)
======
Mon., Jan. 17, 10 AM
Members will share book possibilities and choose 10 books to read in 2022.
Mon., Feb. 21, 10 AM
TBA (from books chosen in January) It is not yet decided if this meeting will be a zoom meeting or it may be held at Sally Griffin Senior Center.
Contact Kathy Poulson if you want more information.
Kathy Poulson
Coordinator
|
|
Joy of Reading Books
(via Zoom)
======
Tues., Jan. 11, 2 PM
Viewing and discussion of documentary film based on the life of Hedy Lamar, "Bombshell: Hedy Lamar". The film is 1.5 hours long, followed by discussion. It will be presented by Zoom, and in-person at the home of Nancy Soulé for fully vaccinated members.
Tues., Feb. 8, 2 PM
Know My Name
by Chanel Miller
Leader: Diana Paul
Nancy Soulé
Coordinator
|
|
Evening Books
(in homes)
======
Tues., Jan. 18, 7 PM
Perestroika in Paris
by Jane Smiley
Leader: Miriam Lilley
Host: Donna Foote
Tues, Feb. 15, 7 PM
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
Leader: Mary Conway
Host: Pat Fletcher
Miriam Lilley
Coordinator
|
|
Membership
On December 4, our branch held a welcome brunch for eight new members and two prospective members at Joanne Webster's lovely home. After we all introduced ourselves and briefly conveyed our personal histories, Joanne challenged all of us with a fun quiz, shortly followed by an introduction to AAUW's mission and the efforts it sponsors to fulfill that worthy mission on the national, state and local levels. Based on the feedback we have received, the gathering was a resounding success, with the result that the two prospective members joined on the spot! Sincere thanks from Ardith and Debbie to our new members for your warm response and to Joanne and Fatima for organizing this event.
In early December, a list of all the additions and corrections of which we have become aware since the publication of the (bright pink!) 2021-2022 Monterey Peninsula Branch Directory was sent to members. It included all new corrections as well as the list published in November; the key tells which ones are new since November. (There should be 3 pages.) We also posted an updated complete directory for our branch at our local website ( http://mpb-ca.aauw.net).
Debbie Hobbs and Ardith Peck, Membership Vice-Presidents
|
|
To protect the information of our members, membership directory information about new members and changes for current members will not be shown in the newsletter. Instead, we will list their names, for you to go to the password-protected online directory (see the third column below) to see what is new, allowing you to make changes in your printed directory. - Editor |
|
Directory Updates
Donna Gauvreau
new cell phone and email
Whitney Gravel
add to directory
Kathryn Greenwald
cellphone area code is 928
Susan Henderson
new address
Janelle LaFond
apartment M, not 2
Marylu Mesa
add to directory
Laurel Minik
add to directory
Sharyn Siebert
change email address
If there are errors or changes in your directory listing, please tell us so corrections can be made. - Editor
|
|
New Members
Peg Carlson-Bowen
Diana Morshead
Judy Nejasmich
|
|
Online Directory
The password to our password-protected online directory on our website in the Member Center is on the second page of your pink membership directory. (If you cannot find it, call Debbie Hobbs, 408-234-2436.) This is where all of our members' contact information is readily accessible.
|
|
New Member Bios
Peg Carlson-Bowen
Peg is a born-and-raised Silicon Valley baby. She attended UCSB and earned a BA in French Language, then earned a second BA at the University of Poitiers in France, where she acquired her 'starter' husband, Antoine. Returning home, she convinced a hiring manager that her ability as a translator was just what he needed to aid communication between business people and the IT staff. She spent the rest of her career in IT, working at Unisys, Activision, Apple and Cisco, retiring in 2009. Her second marriage added to the international nature of her family by marrying a Brit and adopting from Russia. She has been an active member of AAUW San Jose, but also enjoys programs in other branches and is occasionally on the Monterey Peninsula.
Diana Morshead
Diana started her career as an academic librarian working at the University of Michigan graduate library and, later at the Stanford medical library. Eventually she transitioned into user experience and spent the last 20 years of her career as an experience designer at Cisco and later, at Intuit. When they first moved to California, she and her husband fell in love with the central coast and have been plotting a move to this area ever since. She is passionate about preserving and protecting our spectacular coastline and the wildlife in the region. She volunteers at the SPCA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. She enjoys reading, hiking with her Australian shepherd puppy, drawing, and is a mediocre but passionate weightlifter.
Judy Nejasmich
Judy attended USF, graduating with a BS in Accounting. She worked for several years on the audit staff of a national CPA firm, then went into private industry. She loves to travel - that would probably be a passion. She also loves to garden, swim, walk and read. She has a labradoodle puppy who is keeping her very busy trying to train. She has two children, but, sadly, no grandchildren.
|
|
UPDATES
Carr Lake Park Project of Big Sur Land Trust, Subject of Our Oct. Meeting
California State Parks has awarded Big Sur Land Trust nearly $8.5M from Prop. 68 funding, supporting the final design and construction of the neighborhood park element at the Carr Lake project in Salinas, including a nature playground, basketball court, skate spot, natural amphitheater, three small group picnic areas, two large 50+ group picnic areas with BBQs, trails, pathways, two restrooms, two parking lots with lighting, and landscaping throughout the park. This is the beginning of a 73-acre green space in the heart of the city, helping address the community’s need for parklands, while providing environmental benefits including ecological restoration and water quality improvements using nature-based solutions. California Wildlife Conservation Board recently approved a $776,000 grant to support preparation of the final design for the restoration/open space project on the remaining 67 acres at the site.
A Thank You and an Update on the 2018 Paradise Fire
Those of us who received so much help from AAUW members in California and elsewhere want to give an update and renew our thanks. One small plea posted on the AAUW California website and a few emails asking for help brought tens of thousands of dollars in gift cards, offers of housing, furniture, and, in the case of a member who couldn’t get her garage door open and had no replacement insurance—a car. The Paradise board, all of whom (except yours truly) lost everything, gathered frequently to sort mail and distribute the contributions to 35 of our 40 members. After their needs were fulfilled, we gave cards and checks to our Tech Trek families, most of whom also lost everything and often had fewer resources. We offered gas money to the son of Suzy and Paul Ernst, the couple who were trapped by the fire and spent many months in the U.C. Davis Burn Center. There were so many ways everyone’s contributions helped.
From all of us, thank you!
Carol Holzgrafe and every AAUW Paradise member
|
|
Some of the girls who attended Tech Trek last summer spoke at our September meeting. |
|
At the December Holiday Party, 50-year membership pins were given to Susan Murphy, Karen Snow and Sandy Grimmer. Melva Simmons was not present. |
|
We had good attendance and a good time at the Holiday Party. Shown are Alana Myles, Lucy Campen and Jeanne Gavrin. |
|
Board Meetings
(via Zoom)
Jan. 6 at 3:30 PM
Feb. 3 at 3:30 PM
|
|
Websites
AAUW-MPB
==========
AAUW-CA
|
|
Mar./Apr. Messenger
Please email articles for the March/April newsletter to
Caryl Rojas by Feb. 15.
|
|
AAUW DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS
If you paid the full $98 AAUW yearly dues, $59 of that is tax deductible. In addition, any donations to our charitable funds will be tax deductible for a tax year if paid by December 31st of that year and if you itemize deductions. Note that a donation to any of these three areas can also be made in honor or in memory of a friend or family member.
More information and a donation form (optional) may be found at this link to our website. If making a donation directly from an IRA as a qualified charitable donation (QCD), consult your tax advisor or www.irs.gov for further information.
|
|
Tech Trek
Make check payable to "AAUW-CA SPF"
with Tech Trek in the memo line.
Send to Pat Fletcher
6 Overlook Place Monterey, CA 93940-4106
|
|
AAUW Fund
Make check payable to "AAUW"
with AAUW Fund in the memo line.
Send your check to Gabriele Simbriger-Williams
880 Newton Street Monterey, CA 93940-1210
or donate at aauw.org, including your member ID for credit to our branch.
|
|
Local Scholarships
Make check payable to "AAUW-MPB Local Scholarships".
Send your check to
Jeanne Krener
25180 Pine Hills Drive Carmel, CA 93923-8965
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
