FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Dear Members and Friends,

The CFWC Area C Conference held on October 25th at The Grand in Long Beach was the last of the four CFWC Area Conferences held this year. Sandy Tessier, CFWC Area Vice President, dressed in royal queen’s costume, opened the festive Area Meeting. There were 154 attendees from throughout Area C and a few from other Areas as well. Area C District Presidents attending: Barbara Briley-Beard, Los Cerritos District; Angie Waller, Marina District; Colleen Janssen, Orange District; and Debbie Pietraszko, Sierra-Cahuenga District. There was a good representation of CFWC State Officers with President Sonya Matthies, 1st Vice President/President Elect Wendy Curran, 2nd Vice President Cindy Sanders, and Corresponding Secretary Marcia Willett and Sonja Hults, CFWC Social Media, Facebook, and Dropbox.

Guest Speakers:

June Close Conoley, President of CSU Long Beach, spoke on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. At CSU Long Beach they realize that students enter with different needs and histories and work to meet their needs.

Colleen Janssen, the GFWC 2024 Jane Cunningham Croly Award for Excellence in Journalism recipient, shared her award-winning submission of “Here Comes the Bride” Unchained at last” about child brides.

Dawn Mendelson, of Art in the Community, shared her love of art and working in building community, strong wellness practices, and creating stability through art. The Skid Row Arts Alliance is a group of artist-led organizations made up of residents and workers in Skid Row who create art and build community there. The mission of the Arts Alliance is to represent, amplify, and celebrate the voices of the Skid Row community.

A Halloween Costume Contest was great fun with one winner dress as a “bowl of spaghetti” and members that were identical twins dressed as “darling little babies with bonnets and bibs”!

Table decorations were donated purses filled with items for women living in Skid Row that Dawn Mendelson would deliver.

All four CFWC Conferences were successful, and appreciation goes to the Area Vice Presidents. I am so very proud of to serve as your President and look forward to learning of your continued efforts to make a difference in your communities and beyond.

Yours in Federation and Love,

Sonya

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT and OUTREACH - ANNE COCHRAN, Chair

Next week is Halloween and trick or treaters will be stopping at homes including veterans. With the government shut down let’s help those veteran families. Here’s an update.



16,000 separating service members are unable to receive VA briefings that assist with transition to civilian life. 900,000 VA education beneficiaries are unable to receive assistance. We can help veterans by going to your nearest VFW or American Legion, etc. and donating anything to help them out. Even Halloween candy to help disperse to children. Cooler weather is on the way and sweaters and jackets are always appreciated. 

NOMINATING COMMITTEE - LINDA KOONTZ, Chair

Important information regarding endorsements for a State Office. 

February 10th will be the final deadline for the Nominating Committee to receive and review all paperwork before our February Board meeting where endorsed candidates will be interviewed. 

Since there is no representation on the committee for Area D, please do not send your paperwork to any of those members…only Area A, Area B and

Area C.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to call me 909-720-8550.

ART & CULTURE - KELLY DAVIS, Chair

If you are in Los Angeles for New Years, you’ve got to go to the Rose Parade, officially named the Tournament of Roses.  It is the best parade you will ever see, and is run like a well-oiled machine; No lag time, NO waiting around, 

And topnotch marching bands. Originally founded to entice people to move to the west coast, I say it still serves its purpose. 

Project Title: GFWC South Bay Junior Woman’s Club/ Marina District: 

The Rose Parade 

The City of Pasadena holds a Rose Parade each year on New Year’s Day. The City of Torrance creates a float each year to enter in this parade as do several of the local businesses. Volunteers work many long hours creating beautiful floral floats. The floats are referred to as self-built as they design, construct, and decorate their floats, solely on volunteer hours. This year we had 6 members volunteer their time to help cover every inch of the float with beautiful flowers and other natural materials such as leaves, seeds or bark. The floats are judged by three civic and floral industry leaders to award prizes in 24 categories. This year was the City of Torrance’s 69th year participating with “What a Beautiful Day” float that won the “Princess Award” for the most outstanding floral presentation. Our members worked on the Northrup Grumman “Go Army, Go Bowling” float. This float did not win any awards, however was a beautiful sight to see. Our members were proud to be part of this exciting event and it was a great way for the community to know that we are active in our community, and that we will volunteer in any capacity that we can. 

Chairman: Shannon Peitzman 

ENVIRONMENT - NANCY B. JONES, Chair

This poem combines the ideas about ENVIRONMENT from the October 17, 2025, Environment Workshop on Zoom with Farmer Jones.

EARTH WHISPERS

The EARTH whispers softly

 through NATURE’S green song,

A reminder that we've been

connected all along.

Through VISION and care, we start to see clear 

Our INTERDEPENDENCE grows stronger each year.

RECYCLE the waste, give new life its chance.

While OXYGEN forms where TREES gently dance.

In NATIONAL PARKS,

Wild beauty takes flight,

From dawn's golden glow to the calm of the night.

It's a great poem, to see the entire poem, Click Here

EDUCATION & LIBRARIES - KAY MASONBRINK, Chair

It was “Happy Dance Time” for me the other day when I opened up the morning newspaper to read the page one headline: “School Test Scores Are Up”. According to the California Department of Education, our K-12 students continued to make progress in their English, math, and science scores. What was especially heartening was that they surpassed the pre-pandemic levels from 2018-19. Note that we are not referring to “huge” gains, as the state-wide increases from a year ago averaged in the 1.8% to 2% range; however, it is a positive sign to see these recent results, especially after the disastrous impact of COVID-19 that has lingered. I went online and checked the results of my local school district and a couple of the schools we work with, and I was impressed by their gains. Has the worm turned? 

No single effort can be identified as the cause of this success, but I think our California Federation of Women’s Clubs can claim a little bit of that victory. Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together,” and I firmly believe that all the great work our clubs accomplish through Education and Libraries projects throughout our state helped students make these improvements. So, continue doing all these generous and creative projects that help students hone their skills, and you, too, will be doing a “Happy Dance Time”.

DOMESTIC & SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS & PREVENTION -

CATHIE PETITHOMME, Chair

The new application for the GFWC Success for Survivors Scholarship application is now available at gfwc.org. Please download and share with your members.

https://www.gfwc.org/scholarship/

LEADERSHIP - VICKI HOLDEN, Chair

LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR

Now that we’ve all been welcomed back from our summer activities, have started on our projects, attended WSR and attended the October Area Conferences - has your District begun the search for a candidate for the CFWC LEADS Class of 2026? The deadline for submission of the application packet to the CFWC Leadership Chair is approaching faster than we think - January 15, 2026!

We are looking for a candidate from each district. The purpose of the LEADS program is to help our future leaders who are in the early stages of their Leadership Journey. By participating in LEADS, our candidates are receiving information that will help them on that journey by providing not only qualified speakers on various facets of leadership and our Federation, but they have an opportunity to interact with other members and create a support group among those attending. History shows us that previous LEADS classes members have worked together for the benefit and support of all long after they were introduced at these meetings.

At the close of our 2026 LEADS, a candidate from the group will be selected by a panel of judges to represent CFWC at the GFWC LEADS Meeting the day before the opening of the 2026 GFWC International Convention in Arizona

How to participate? Click Here

Just a thought ......

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic;

it takes sweat, determination and hard work."

---Collen Powell