President's Luncheon

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026

Time: 11:30 am

Location: Capital Grille Dunwoody

Reservations Required

RSVP by February 17, 2026

It has been a long standing tradition to treat the previous year's President to lunch after the February General Meeting. We have a reservation at the Capital Grille and they have agreed to let us order from the menu and receive separate checks. If you are planning to attend, and haven't already signed up, please email or call: 

Diane Norris

dianenorris@bellsouth.net

678-772-0109

^Membership

Maria Barnhart mariavbarnhart@gmail.com

The Member Spotlight highlights Joan Grossman Spalding's Celebration of 50 Years of Service in the Dunwoody Woman's Club. Be sure to click the link under Highlights entitled Spotlight Member of the Month in the top left corner of the newsletter to enjoy reading about her 50 years of service in the DWC.

2026 Membership Dues

Membership dues are past due as of February 1, however, you can still pay your dues. Our dues are important to fund our operations budget. 

Active Members, $85.00, Associate Members $100.00, Sustaining Members $110.00.

If you want to change your membership status please send an email to Maria requesting the change in status and pay the appropriate amount.

There are three convenient ways to pay your dues. 

• You can pay online on the DWC website: DWC Online Dues Payment.
• Make a check out to DWC (noting 2026 dues in the memo line) and mail to Maria Barnhart, 5005 Wickford Way, Dunwoody, GA 30338 or bring to a meeting.
• DWC is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization and your dues qualify as a charitable contribution as permitted by law. 

Remember that membership is every member’s responsibility. The best endorsement of DWC is an invitation from you. We have learned that ladies appreciate being asked to attend a meeting or program. We have had guests at recent meetings. Keep up the good work with membership!  

Dunwoody Woman's Club Evening Division

Rosemary Watts, wrosemary@hotmail.com

The Evening Division had a record number of attendees at our January meeting with 34 people learning line dancing steps and its health benefits with our instructor, Katherine Bell.

Congratulations to our new Evening Division Chairman, Mary Jane Hollander, who was voted in as the Evening Division's Chairman at our January meeting.

February 26 at 5:45 pm, the DWC Evening Division will meet in the Dunwoody United Methodist Church Epworth Room. We'll fulfill our Education and Libraries CSP by bringing supplies needed by the Dunwoody High School students for upcoming projects. The sign up genius for that meeting below includes the list of needed DHS supplies.

We will have a Zoom call with the Taiwan International Women's Club at 6:15 pm EST.  You can join remotely here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81265111053?pwd=m2BOkSZuMY24emPdKXNk9jRT0KMx6J.1 

DWC Evening Group: DWC Evening Feb 26th Meeting.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS

Arts and Culture

Carol Ciepluch  carolynjane3@gmail.com

At our January General Meeting, Justin Ball, Producing Artistic Director of Stage Door Theatre gave an interesting update of the theatre's current and future programs.

Share Some Love! 

Valentine Card Making Project  

Monday, February 9th, 10 am-12 noon at the Annex: Join Arts & Culture and Civic Engagement & Outreach to make heartfelt valentine cards for local Memory Care and Assisted Living residents and Dunwoody Firefighters and Police Officers. We'll provide the art supplies, envelopes and a few festive refreshments. If you have any valentine stickers or glue sticks, we'd love for you to bring them.

Contact Carol Ciepluch, carolynjane3 @gmail.com or

Donna Knowlton, dfknowlton@comcast.net to let us know you're coming.  

February Community Arts Events: 

• Stage Door Theatre's - Bad Dates: charming, slyly sweet one-woman play about a journey of self-discovery - February 7-22 @ 7:30 pm  
•  Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center: Love in the Key of Swing with Karla Harris and the Joe Gransden Big Band - Sandy Springs Studio Theater, Saturday, February 14 @ 8 pm

Save the Date, Mahjong March Madness!

Monday, March 9th - 1 pm at the home of Shelia Jiwani, 1163 Atcheon Lane, Dunwoody. You won't want to miss this Arts & Culture opportunity to learn about the history and culture of Mahjong, a 19th century Chinese game that's become a global sensation. New member Shelia Jiwani, a Mahjong expert with a magnificent Mahjong table, has graciously offered to share her knowledge of the game. Who knows, it may inspire you to take lessons - there's lots to learn and we know just the teacher! Join us for dessert and beverages after. Details to follow.  

Civic Engagement and Outreach

Donna Knowlton dfknowlton@comcast.net

February Events

• Valentine Workshop – Monday, February 9, 10:00 am, Annex – Civic Engagement will team up with Arts for a workshop to create valentines. See Arts & Culture for details.
• Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month – We’ll be placing fact sheets and “Take the Pledge” sheets in the Dunwoody Library and the Sandy Springs Library.
• National Burn Awareness Week – February 1– 7. The theme for 2026: “Work Safety Starts Here.” In the United States, one person sustains a burn every sixty seconds. In fact, every year, about 486,000 people receive medical treatment for burns. Though most burns occur at home, 10% happen in the workplace. The total annual cost of burn injury treatment in the US is estimated at $75 billion.

Coming in March:

• Our General Meeting Speaker will be Valerie Biggerstaff, historian/writer of the Past Tense history column for The Dunwoody Crier.
• Easter Basket Workshop for The Children’s Restoration Network 

Education and Libraries

Linda Mote llmote@mindspring.com

Diane Norris dianenorris@bellsouth.net

Library Lovers’ Day  

Is celebrated on February 14th each year to honor libraries, librarians, book lovers, and lovers of libraries. On Library Lovers’ Day, we celebrate the enduring relationship between our community and the libraries. This also provides an opportunity to celebrate those who love and support libraries and to remind decision makers how loved and cherished libraries are by the entire community. Not everyone receives flowers on Valentine's Day but everyone is welcome at their library.

Suggestions:

• Take flowers and candy to a local library.
• Check out a book from your library.

Environment

Kathy Hanna kak1941@aol.com

Nancy Baldwin nbaldwin@bellsouth.net

Debra Love debra1926@comcast.net

Several members enjoyed a trip to the Roswell Recycling Center and a tour and presentation by the Environmental Education Director for the City of Roswell. Many thanks to the brave ladies who attended despite the cold temperatures!

February 26, carpool from St. Luke’s at 10:00 am for our 11:00 am lecture and tour of PAWS,

the first no kill shelter in GA, whom we have supported for over 40 years. Lunch to follow.

February Community Events:

• Brook Run Farmer's Market: every Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm during the winter.
• Brook Run Demo Gardens Programs are discontinued during the winter.
• Dunwoody Nature Center : Feb 7th, 11 am-noon: Backyard Birds "From Fluff to Flight"(free)
• Feb 14 Basic Gardening with Cyndi Mcgill

Tips:

• Continue to fill your bird feeders and bird baths as our birds can use the help in the winter months.
• Great time to look for and order seeds and plants: please think natives when you shop.



Health and Wellness

Diane Norris dianenorris@bellsouth.net

Heart Health Awareness

February is heart heath awareness month. Go Red for Women is celebrated on Friday, February 6.  Show your support by wearing red on the 6^th and all month to raise awareness of heart disease. It is the DWC tradition to wear RED at our February General Meeting. 

February 12, 10:30 a.m., Fitness Together, 5482 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Suite 29A (in back of J Christopher’s). We will have a tour, demonstration, and easy workout with Garrison and Malek. There will be a drawing for a “New Year Lifestyle Transformation Jumpstart” that includes 3 private training sessions, 3D scan, fitness assessment, nutritional consultation and stretch session. It may be possible that everyone who attends will get the Lifestyle Jumpstart. Afterward, we will go to lunch at Vintage Pizza and talk about plans for 2026. If you can’t make the event at Fitness Together, please join us for lunch to plan the H&W projects for the year.

Backpack Buddies, We will continue volunteering at the Backpack Buddies Distribution Center on the third Friday of each month from 11 am to 1 pm. Many thanks to Jo Ann Kostkan, Kay Moe, Linda Kenney and Pattie Simone for joining me at Backpack Buddies in January. We are scheduled to volunteer on February 20, March 20, and April 17. Please sign up at the General Meeting if you can volunteer any of these days.

Anchor Place, Health and Wellness will be supporting Anchor Place this year. It is a respite day program that welcomes older adults living with mild to moderate memory issues and other cognitive challenges. They meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays and their clients enjoy a day of music, crafts, games, yoga, and lunch. Your H&W Chairman will be spending the third Tuesday of each month with clients.  

COLLECTIONS

Please bring items to General meetings.

EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES

Retirement Homes:

• Collecting magazines

ENVIRONMENT

Animal Shelters:

• Blankets any size, dog and cat toys, animal treats, animal food, newspapers, paper towels, food and monetary donations.
• Fur Kids on Holcomb Bridge Rd will also take household and clothing donations to support our shelters.

Go Sneakers:

• Used “sneaks” to be recycled into nearly new or ground up for roads and playgrounds.

STANDING COMMITTEES

Leadership

Deborah Gault dcgault@comcast.net

UPDATE: SALVATION ARMY RED KETTLE CAMPAIGN

Total Red Kettle donations for the Atlanta International Corps were reported by Capt. Jose Valentin. Our volunteer efforts resulted in a total of $2,641.75. This is an increase of 79% over last year’s total of $1475! Congratulations Team! 

This was accomplished over more than 18 session hours with 21 ringers! Thank you to all the members and friends below, and to the officers for their support. 



Maria Barnhart, Judy Bertrand, Deborah Gault, Mary Jane Hollander, Linda Kenney, Barb Kepner, Pam King, Donna Knowlton, Jo Ann Kostkan, Debra Love, Kristin Lutch,

Linda Mote, Angela Niemann, Karen Turner, and friends of DWC: Gail Meadows and

John Slayton.

Legislation

Dottie D'Angelo dottieatlanta@gmail.com

Throughout the 119th Congress (2025-2016) GFWC continues to work on critical legislative issues in collaboration with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the National Children's Alliance, March of Dimes, Safe States Alliance, Shot@Life, and the Alzheimer's Association.

Stage Door Theatre

Sharon Clark sharon-clark@comcast.net

Bad Dates

February 7th - 22nd

This thoroughly charming and slyly sweet one-woman play is an idiosyncratic journey of self-discovery involving the Romanian mob, a Buddhist rainstorm, a teenage daughter, shoes and a few very bad dates.

Tallulah Falls School

Linda Mote llmote@mindspring.com

Extra Mile Fund

"At TFS, no student navigates their journey alone. Faculty, staff, and counselors provide consistent guidance that supports academic strategies, emotional well-being, relationship skills, and postsecondary planning so students feel confident, capable, and prepared”, fromTFS press.

DWC supports the activities of these students by funding the Extra Mile fund, which supports school programs. We give monies to the student activity fund which provides a student dance. And, we have five students that we send cards and/or gift cards to during the year.

Women in History

Suzanne Bentz

 Afong Moy, the USA’s

First Female Chinese Immigrant

Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre raised its curtain in the fall of 2024 on the cast of “The Chinese Lady.” The critically acclaimed historical drama, staged elsewhere around the country, resurrects the true story of Afong Moy, “the first known female Chinese immigrant to the United States.”

Afong was brought to our country as a teenager in 1834 by two merchant traders … perhaps as a marketing gig to draw attention to Chinese goods. The current emperor of China had recently opened the country’s interior to outsiders. A closed border policy had been in effect since the mid-1700s.

Afong was put on exhibit and toured our country as an example of the riches China had to offer. For the price of fifty cents, visitors saw Afong seated on a throne, garbed in native costume, and surrounded by examples of Chinese furnishings and handicrafts. People were astounded by Afong’s tiny feet, only four inches long, the result of foot binding. 

Afong’s fortunes floundered after time and she spent months in a poorhouse until “a company of persons redeemed her” and secured her future once again as a living exhibit. It is thought Afong married, but then she disappears. Some think she left to tour Europe.

The Chinese New Year in 2026 runs from February 17 until March 3. It is the Year of the Horse, a symbol of "energy, freedom, and forward motion". The horse "is also synonymous with strength, grace, and determination", attributes that sustained Afong as she struggled to maintain her sense of self. In turn, "The Chinese Lady" is a "tribute to a woman who spent her life trying to bridge the gap between East and West and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for understanding across cultural divides."

Newsletter

Kay Moe kgp12@att.net

Susan Crawford susanpc1@bellsouth.net

54 Years of Service in our Community 1971-2025