Who are the Calistoga Soroptimists, you ask?

We are a local group of dynamic women endeavoring to improve the lives of women and girls through our outreach, funding and community events.

READ ON.... YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!

OUR FIRST FUNDRAISING EVENT OF 2023!

Join the fun!

A League of Their Own—Team up with us!

MONDAY, FEB 13, 2023

Private showing at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena. As a warm-up to Valentine's Day, we are hosting a limited-seat showing of A League of Their Own. Just in time for spring training, our baseball-themed evening will also include a silent auction, as well as Fund-A-Need, to support all of our programs!

Thank you to the generous support of our wine sponsors:

Lawer Vineyards, Romeo Vineyards & Work Vineyard

Chateau Montalena, Myriad Cellars, Bevan Cellars & Sunshine Foods

See more details below.

In addition we'd like to thank:

Laurel Rios, Rusell Bevan, Jessie Katz & Linda Appleby

Trailer below

Buy Tickets

Fun Fact

by Audra Pittman

The world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, was published in Japan around A.D. 1000 by female author Murasaki Shikibu. It is still revered today for its masterful observations about court life and has been translated into dozens of languages.

Our plans for 2023

A message from our President

The new year has rung in and 2023 is well underway.

Soroptimist International Calistoga has 67 years of experience supporting women and girls in our community. We know that education is the key to unlocking economic empowerment for our local women and girls. When women and girls are educated, they have opportunities, choices and the power to make healthy decisions for themselves and their families.

This year, we continue our work in meeting our goals, but we cannot do it alone. As a club we work hard fundraising at fundraising to award scholarships to women and girls to further their career goals.

We are always appreciative of our Calistoga community who has continued to support our efforts. We thank all our donors who generously donate money, goods, and services to our fundraisers.

When you change one woman’s life, it sets off a ripple effect that transforms the lives of countless others. That’s our goal for the women and girls of Calistoga.

Consider making a gift to invest in the education and empowerment for women and girls in our community.

CORE VALUES

We believe women and girls are entitled to............

Gender Equality - living free from discrimination.

Empowerment - be free to act in their own best interest.

Education - lead full and productive lives through access to education.

Diversity & Fellowship - work together, coming from varied backgrounds and perspective, to improve the lives of women and girls.

We work to provide a sustainable impact on the lives of women

and girls.

About us

Spotlight

Trudy Bouligny, Secretary

Soroptimist International of Calistoga

Each issue we Spotlight one of our amazing veteran members.

We are an impressive bunch of women.

SIC Secretary Trudy Bouligny was born and raised in the Cotswolds in the UK. In 1972 she left a teaching position in London for an American (well Californian) adventure and never looked back. Her background in teaching became the ticket to parent education projects in Stockton,CA followed by mentoring/tutoring and after-school projects in St. Helena and Calistoga. She joined SIC in 1996 when members supported her tutoring projects at Calistoga Elementary. She has been with her husband, Earl for 50 years and they have two Napa Valley raised children and four grandchildren. Since retiring in 2010 she has been the volunteer coordinator of SIC's unique Read Aloud Partners Project known as RAPP. She works tirelessly to bring the pleasure of reading to Calistoga children and seeks donations to buy the books. For fun she heads to the Cameo Cinema for movies, spends time with grandchildren and loves to cook.

Visit our Website

2023 Education Programs

RAPP 2022-2023

Trudy Bouligny

Building home libraries for children- RAPP Read Aloud Partners Program.

Before Winter Break all students at Calistoga Elementary School and Hearts and Hands Preschool received book gifts from their classroom Read Aloud Partners thanks to Soroptimist International of Calistoga.

RAPPers read weekly to encourage pleasure reading and three times a year we give students engaging books to take home. Education is a core mission of our Club and this is a much appreciated way to support the local schools. Take a look at happy faces. Consider a donation to our RAPP Book Fund.

Donate

Palisades Pals

Mary Ellen Hester

Soroptimist Pals and Palisades High School (PHS) students shared a holiday gathering (book give-away and holiday gifts).

At the 2020 holiday gathering (book give-away) Soroptimist put out the books with the exception of one because it was too big and thick. However, Angelina noticed it and asked if she could have the Sherlock Holmes book in the box.

So, you just never know! Angelina works at Cooperfields as well as attending college.

Live Your Dream LYD

Nushi Safinya

The Soroptimist ‘Live Your Dream’ Awards program is a unique education award for women who provide the primary financial support for their families. Enabling women to focus on their dreams, the Live Your Dream Award helps offset the cost of tuition, books,

transportation, and reliable childcare.

On Martin Luther King holiday, Monday night, Araceli Cortez, J’nai Gaither and Cynthia Rodriguez Salomon, our LYD awardees from 2019, 2020, 2021 gathered for dinner at Nushi Safinya’s home in St Helena.

Araceli graduated from PUC this past summer and was hired full time as a social worker at Duffy’s in Calistoga. Her daughter Juliana is a junior at Emory University planning to join the foreign service. J’nai has been writing for the Wine Spectator and will be a judge at the San Francisco Chronicle's Wine Competition this week.

Cynthia shared this exciting news with us: "Since receiving the Live Your Dream Award I have been able to continue taking my prerequisites for the nursing program. After 7 years of working as a medical assistant I have decided to stop working and go to school full time to become either a NICU or Labor & Delivery nurse."

These women and their families need

our assistance to continue dreaming big. Small dreams have no magic! We need to continue sharing these dreams.

Donate

SIC

Awards & Scholarships

The Soroptimist Violet Richardson

Award recognizes girls and young women, ages 14 - 18, engaged in volunteer action within their communities and schools.

Violet Richardson was the president of the first Soroptimist Club in Oakland, California in 1921. Violet believed in personal responsibility and lived her life by her motto: “It’s what you do that counts.”

An active member of her community,Violet Richardson was committed to creating opportunities for girls and young women.

Application deadline: December 15, 2023

Violet Richardson Award

S-Club

High School Service Club

With the support from CJUSD Superintendent & SIC Member:

Audra Pittman, Ph.D.

S-Club is a high school service club sponsored by Soroptimist International of Calistoga.

The Club is run by SI Calistoga members, supported by a school liaison, and students are guided in their service and fundraising projects during the school year. Soroptimist clubs focus on helping women and girls improve their lives through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. S-Club girls volunteer for numerous projects and programs in our community. We also connect our members to local leaders who serve as mentors and guides. S-Club meets every other Thursday in the Large Gym.

Contact Monica Garibay at [email protected] or by calling 707-312-6999 for more information.

CJSHS SClub School Liaison:

Monica Garibay

SClub Facilitators include:

Nushi Safinya, Susan Leick, Jeanne Baswell and Monica Garibay.

Dream it Be It

Nushi Safinya, Monica Garibay, Susan Leick, Jeanne Baswell

Dream It, Be It is an award-winning program that reaches girls in secondary school. Di,Bi is designed specifically for girls in secondary school, Dream It, Be It provides participants with career support and guidance. Through education and access to role models, the program aims to empower girls to pursue career goals and reach their full potential.

What we've been up to last year...

2022 Accomplishments

Some reasons we may sound familiar:

We won Best in Show and Best Float in the Lighted Tractor Parade
We sponsored the Mayoral Forum in October 2022
We delivered 100 Thanksgiving meals to Seniors
We present $30,000 in Awards, Scholarships & Donations annually
We help with the Santa Letters sent to the North Pole

You may know one of us, we're pretty cool!

The Lighted Tractor Parade

Shelley Martin

Voted Best in Show & Best Float

2021 and 2022

Video above from 2022 Parade

Photo below 2021 Parade

2021 Calistoga Soroptimist Float

The Calistoga Soroptimists partnered with the Oak & Vine 4-H Club in Napa

for a big win - Best Float & Best in Show!

Fun facts:

The first Calistoga Lighted Tractor Parade (26 yrs.ago)

had 12 tractors and drove down Lincoln Ave. in a severe rain storm.

The first Tractor Parade trophy is currently displayed in the window

of the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce.

Santa Letters

Soroptimists help to answer Santa Letters sent to the North Pole from elementary students.

Calistoga Soroptimists enjoyed lots of goodies

In Service to our community

Mayoral Forum

October 2022

at the

Boys & Girls Club, Calistoga

Thanksgiving for seniors

Upcoming Dates

FEB 13, 2023 SIC Fundraiser: A League of Their Own

Join our fundraiser 6:00 - 10:00 P.M. Monday, Feb 13, 2023.

Raffle ticket winner will be announced on Feb13, 9:00 PM.

May 10 SIC Awards and Scholarships Night.

Thank you

to our

Generous Sponsors

Work Vineyard | Shop Boutique Wine Collection | Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Visit Us - Lawer Estates

OPEN NOW for NAPA RIVER TERRACE TASTING Welcome to Lawer Estates. We look forward to talking with you about our wines. Being winery, and vineyard owners, we are in complete control of our wines from growing to bottling. We are picky about our fruit, dropping half the crop to ensure premium quality.

Romeo Vineyards

Tasting Room

The Jasmine and Rose adorned arches lead you through the oasis of flowers and plants to the restored 1800's Carriage House - Romeo's tasting room. Our beautiful gardens are shaded by century old Giant Redwoods and Cedars making it the perfect spot to enjoy a glass, or open a bottle and share with friends and family.

Soroptimist International

An Organization for Women | Soroptimist International of the Americas, Inc. |

Soroptimist International of the Americas, Inc. is a nonprofit organization for women that promotes gender equality through women's education and mentorship. Learn more about our women's clubs that work to economically empower women and girls.