Women with Vision

Vol.40, Issue 12 June 2024

Celebrating Our 77th year!

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Presenting the AAUW Fallbrook 2024-25 Executive Board

Karen Trapane, finance officer; Nancy Heins-Glaser, photographer and historian; Margot Dokken, recording secretary; Maritza Gonzalez, membership co-chair; Karen Langer Baker, president; Patty Carlson, president-elect, first vice-president and programs co-chair; Helena Hanna, corresponding secretary; Rachel Rose, second Vice-president and membership co-chair; and Elizabeth Leader, parliamentarian.

Patty Carlson and Helena Hanna admiring the silent auction items.

Karen Estes, Kathy Bierbrauer, and Maria Viernes looking chic.

Patty Carlson, the fashion show announcer.

Sharon Robinson, owner of Sharon's on Main and Mimi's Boutique.

Kathy Bierbrauer, ready for summer.

Helena Hanna, having fun on the runway.

Larry Baker, showing off his new duds.

Members Lesley Ibaven, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Leader,

and Kathy Bierbrauer.

New member Debby Kirkwood, guest Linda Stewart,

with Carolyn Thom, and Margot Dokken.

David Hill and Chet Bierbrauer, who came for the fashion show.

June General Meeting

Saturday, June 8th

Fallbrook Public Utilities (FPUD) 990 E. Mission, Fallbrook

Installation of Officers, Scholarship Recipients

Doors open 10:00 am, meeting starts at 10:30 am.

This meeting will be the official installation of the officers of AAUW Fallbrook for the 2024-25 year period. It will also be our opportunity to recognize the young women who will be receiving college scholarships from AAUW, as well as those who are receiving scholarships to go to Tech Trek. The girls and their families will be attending so please help welcome them all. We appreciate and will also acknowledge the donors who helped make those scholarships possible. This will be the last meeting of the 23-24 year.

JULY – NO GENERAL MEETING

AUGUST – NO GENERAL MEETING

We will have our first meeting of the year September 14, combining our membership meeting with our Tech Trek follow-up meeting, because hearing from our Tech Trekkers is always so inspirational and is a great way to start the year. Stay tuned for full details on that.

Think about any potential new members who meet the membership requirements. Note that the national membership bylaws change failed by approximately 1.3%, much to my disappointment.

Special thanks to Diane Summers for co-chairing Programs this past year. She will be leaving this board position for now. I could not have done this without her.

Have a wonderful Summer. 

Submitted by Patty Carlson, Programs co-chairperson

AAUW Board Meeting Minutes

May 1, 2024

The May meeting of the Board was held Wednesday, May 1, at 10:30 at the home of Patty Carlson.

Present (6+1 guest): President Karen Langer Baker, Pres-elect/co-VP Programs Patty Carlson, 2^nd co-VP Membership Rachel Rose, Parliamentarian Elizabeth Leader, Recording Secretary Margot Dokken, Corresponding Secretary Susan Duling; and guest, newsletter editor Ann McCarthy.

Treasurer’s Report – Finance officer Karen Trapane joined via Zoom to explain her report. The checking account has $10,896.22, some income still to be deposited. The savings account has $29,100.29. Legacy endowment is $41,818.21, an increase due to market growth this year. Our scholarship account holds $15,794.27. Our SPF (Special Projects Fund with AAUW-CA) had $2,800 as of the last report; the April quarterly report has not arrived.

           Budget – A meeting to hammer out a budget for 2024-25 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 12, at 4:30 pm at Patty’s house.

           Report on Legacy – The following paragraph was added by current Parliamentarian and former President Elizabeth Leader: On September 22, 2010, the Fallbrook Branch signed an agreement with Legacy to create a “Permanent Scholarship Fund.” This document was signed by the co-presidents and treasurer. The source of the $25,000 funding for this “Endowed” fund was the branch’s Non-Endowed Legacy Fund, which was created with a $65,000 bequest several years earlier. As confirmed by AAUW National’s attorney, this endowed fund is permanent and non-revocable. If our branch is dissolved, the funds stay with Legacy (entering into this agreement was a violation of the affiliate agreement that we signed when our branch was formed). Further, the agreement states that when the three signatories die, Legacy becomes the advisor to the fund and legally we will have no say in how the funds are utilized.

We receive the proceeds from Legacy’s investment but do not own the funds and cannot move them to another management company or otherwise claim them even if our branch dissolves or if Legacy goes out of business. The initial money was bequeathed by a member, and the Legacy account offered donations tax-deduction status.

           Fundraising – This function should be separated from the Finance Officer.

           Tech trek funds – $4,000

Programs – Saturday, May 11 annual meeting, fashion show and silent auction

Future programs:

September 14 general meeting at FPUD, with Tech Trek attendees reporting on their experiences.

October try to hold the meeting at D’Vine Path.

Membership – The Board discussed a suggestion to rebrand ourselves as the “Fallbrook-Temecula Branch,” but the idea was rejected as it would require a new charter, new bylaws, permission from the national organization, and would expand our San Diego County branch into Riverside County.

Corresponding Secretary – Helena Hanna will assume this position.

           Iris Bourque’s email should have a dot: iris.bourque@gmail.com

           Marilee Ragland’s new email address: marileerpixie@gmail.com

Mentorship Program – Marli Shoop will continue, Carolyn Thom is her active backup. School starts in August, and the mentorship program needs to be active at the beginning of the school year.

Ann McCarthy explained the mentees’ dwindling interest in a speech contest.

Newsletter – Ann McCarthy, editor, showed how Constant Contact lets her add more pictures, other graphics, and links to articles and lists, emails and maps, and instant donations, while saving her time and effort.

The “Lite” version is $108/year ($12/mo. + 25% discount for AAUW if prepaying for 1 year) for 1 user. She believes that this version is currently adequate for us. Upgrading the website would allow for a private, members-only partition to keep the directory private and leave the newsletter open to the public. (Interactive newsletters would still be emailed to members.) National may be upgrading their website and offering branches additional information and features. The Board voted to subscribe to “Lite” for a year, watching to see what an upgraded website offers.

Public Policy – The Board discussed the committee’s suggestion that our branch endorse school board candidates, which is now encouraged by AAUW-CA due to the current political climate. The committee suggests two Q&A forums: one now to help us select whom to endorse and one in the fall (e.g., at the library) to inform voters before election day. Endorsing early would allow candidates to include our endorsement on their campaign literature.

 ^.

Tech Trek – see treasurer’s report



Website – Ann McCarthy will assume this position.

Next board meeting: July 10 will be the old/new board meeting, 10:15 a.m. at Patty’s house.

Respectfully submitted,

Margot Dokken, recording secretary

Saturday May 11, 2024

La Cucina Trattoria Restaurant, Fallbrook

Karen Langer Baker called the meeting to order at 11:38 a.m. She thanked her current board and committee chairwomen individually for their service this past year and told the room in which ways each one had made her job as president easier. 

Karen Trapane announced the nominations for the 2024-25 board and asked them individually to promise service for the term. Each confirmed her promise.

Nancy Heins Glaser: Co-chair Programs Committee

Maritza Gonzalez: 2^nd co-VP membership

Helena Hanna: Corresponding Secretary

There being a quorum present, the membership voted to accept the slate as presented. The new board is installed at the June monthly meeting.

KLB called the current board to the front of the room for pictures, and adjourned the meeting at 11:50 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Margot Dokken, recording secretary

Membership Renewal Reminder!

Many of us on a traditional renewal schedule may see reminders to renew our membership coming in an email. Please renew your membership soon.  

Congratulations to Dr. Karin Moore, who completed a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University. Dr. Moore's dissertation was on the topic of attracting, retaining, and promoting women and girls in STEM.

In addition to completing her doctorate, Dr. Moore spoke for the second time at AAUW's National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL).

This year, Karin presented her findings from her PhD research and thesis, Resilience in the Face of Sexism: Attracting, Retaining, and Promoting Women and Girls in STEM. In one hour she summarized 1040 references and 220+ pages of research and writing (which has taken her three years, a record time) so that the women college leaders in attendance could take advantage of her expertise, both as a scholar and as an executive in Corporate America, public and private sector. The ladies were curious and brilliant, asking many thoughtful questions. It was a wonderful experience all around. 

Our newly minted Dr. Karin Moore attended NCCWSL as a speaker for the second year in a row. 

Congratulations to Dr. Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez, who has been named an Administrator of the Year by the California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA). Dr. Garza-Gonzalez is the superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District and a member of AAUW Fallbrook.

The DEI Group met May 15th for coffee and conversation to discuss our goals and plans for the summer with five members and one guest. We had a lively exchange concerning many relevant current topics.

One goal is to give awards of recognition to the places we have visited recently: The Thiền Viện Trúc Lâm Đại Đăng Zen Monastery in Bonsall and Barnes and Noble in Temecula. We highly recommend that you visit both places, which are open to the public most days.

This summer we are taking a break from our coffee sessions and doing a couple of fun activities. First, we are going on a field trip to The Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla on Friday, June 28. This exceptional facility has increased in size in recent years. I called and asked for a special tour for our group. Our guide will show us three exhibits, a San Diego/Tijuana border art exhibit; an all female artist exhibit, and Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today. We need a minimum of five for this tour. It costs $30 per person. There is also a nice restaurant on the premises for us to have lunch. We will need to leave at 9:00 am and return around 2:30 pm. Of course, we will carpool. This is open to all members. If you are interested or have questions, please notify me before June 22 by email or phone (760 579 3882).

For July, we will have a “Diversity Dinner” which means a potluck where everyone brings a dish reflecting their culture. For example, I will contribute corned beef and cabbage because of my Irish heritage. We have been wanting to do this for a long time and think an outdoor evening experience in the summer would be very nice and inclusive. Everyone is invited to bring at least one guest. There will be more information in the next newsletter. Thank you to all members for supporting the community through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Diane Summers, DEI chairperson

"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."

Maya Angelou

Trip to Palomar Mountain

The Mentorship group got together on May 18 to visit the Hale telescope at Palomar mountain. We were given a presentation by Caltech representative Steve Flanders. We were able to go inside the telescope room to get a full impression of the size of that particular iconic piece. The Hale telescope has a 200 inch mirror and for many years was the largest telescope in the continental US. It’s absolutely the largest in terms of weight than any other telescope in the world. It’s been in constant use and upgrade since it was installed in 1949. Although 75 years old, the telescope is used every night and there is a 6 month long waiting list for access by researchers. Our group of 15 consisted of 2 mentees, 7 mentors, AVID high school teacher (soon to be AVID coordinator) Shannon Charles and her two daughters and 3 husbands. Afterwards, in the relaxed mountain setting, we brainstormed changes that could benefit the Mentorship Program next year. One of these includes limiting the number of group activities to 5 a year and encouraging more 1 to 1 interaction among mentors and mentees. Another was to make the Speech Contest a Speech Showcase to eliminate competition and promote participation. To complete this very special experience, we enjoyed lunch under the trees and delighted in the beautiful drive back home.

Marli Shoop, Mentorship Program chairperson

Trip to UC Riverside

An excited group of AAUW mentees and mentors headed to the University of California Riverside on May 25th for a personalized campus tour, led by Alicia Tomas, one of our prior mentees who is now attending college at UCR. 

We walked the campus, visited libraries and a dormitory, and enjoyed fruit from trees planted around the campus. We also met two UCR graduate students now beginning their PhD work, ate lunch in the cafeteria, hugged the school mascot, and enjoyed popsicles in the warm afternoon sun! 



 What a day! The girls all agreed that UCR was a good school to add to their list of college options. 

Carlene Friesen, mentor

AAUW Public Policy May Meeting Focused on

the November Election and School Board Candidates

The AAUW Fallbrook Public Policy Committee had a record turnout for its meeting on May 16. Present were chairs Joy Frew and Ann McCarthy, along with Elizabeth Stuver, Margot Dokken, and Nancy Heins-Glaser. Sherry Ludwig joined us by phone.

The meeting focused primarily on planning the most effective method of introducing school board candidates to our executive board and our general membership. AAUW California and its School Board Project are encouraging local branches to endorse worthy candidates for these non-partisan positions in order to prevent extremist school board takeovers. We are working on finding the best time and means to invite candidates seeking our endorsement to speak. More information will follow in the July newsletter.

We agreed to create a candidate questionnaire in order to gather information about candidates' positions on issues that are important to AAUW, such as gender equity, inclusion, and student access to high quality curricula and books. That has since been done and we are collecting results.

Finally, the committee discussed AAUW California's efforts to provide training in increasing voter registration. Committee members expressed interest in attending upcoming online trainings.

The next Public Policy Committee meeting will be on June 14 at Joy Frew's home. A 12:15 potluck lunch will precede a 1:00 business meeting. Please contact Joy here if you would like to join us.

Ann McCarthy, Public Policy Committee co-chairperson

Voter Registration Links

AAUW Advocacy Links

Attention present and new AAUW Fallbrook Board Members:

Your presence is requested for a challenging, yet totally fun Strategic Planning Meeting, Wednesday, August 7th at 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. There will be a potluck luncheon and certainly lots of conversation. Watch for more details, which will be sent to your email in July. The results of this planning session will be provided to the members via this newsletter. 

Pamela Nevills, Strategic Planning coordinator.

Elizabeth Leader led the Bibliobabes in a terrific discussion of Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction, written by Lynne Olson. It turns out that many of us have long been fascinated by the treasures of the Nile.  Elizabeth acted on that by going to Egypt, where she experienced and photographed them. Luckily for us, she prepared a short slide show that gave us a much better look at what we’d been reading about. This fascinating non-fiction work followed the life of the extraordinary French egyptologist, Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, whose diligence led to, among other things, the almost-impossible rescue of the priceless temples that would have been flooded by the building of the Aswan High Dam and to the establishment of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Next month we’ll dig into True Biz by Sara Novic. Elizabeth Stuver will host and lead the discussion. Click the link above to whet your reading appetite!

Cynthia Young, book club coordinator

Nancy Heins-Glaser swept in and captured us all together!

On May 17, the Movie Review Group met for a potluck at Marli and Rick Shoop’s home. They completed the year by sharing their favorite shows and movies. Streaming provides such a plethora of entertaining and uplifting choices that we might otherwise miss. Our members shared their favorites and now have many new summer-watching choices. 

We will meet again in September to review the Netflix sci-fi series, The Three Body Problem, led by Richard Moore.

To receive announcements for future events, please email

Carole Hodges.

Carole Hodges, Movie Review Group coordinator

The Chart of Everyone's Favorites.

AAUW Fallbrook’s UkuLadies met twice in May to accommodate traveling members. We will meet again toward the end of June. Contact Margot Dokken at nevehmind@gmail.com or at 949-280-2628 for time and place. We have extra ukuleles if you’d like to give playing a go.

Margot Dokken, UkuLadies coordinator