President Lisa Cali called the holiday meeting to order on this very festive morning.

Lydia's Invocation: Norman Vincent Peale said: "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." The feelings of the season are unrivaled. Children's boundless joy and excitement; the colors of dazzling decorations; familiar scents of spice; shouts of joy and laughter from family greetings. Peace on earth and good will towards men? That is the most elusive sentiment of the season - peace on earth.

100 years ago, this Christmas Day, German and British troops left their trenches to share greetings of joy, friendship and peace. Gifts and foods were exchanged; songs shared, friendly matches of soccer held. After the Christmas Truce, World War 1 continued for another four years. We look at our news and wonder - where is the peace, where is the good will? Perhaps, amid our celebrations we need to remember the lyrics "let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Not just during the joyous Christmas season, but throughout the New Year.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Sunshine goes out to all those lonely and hungry this season.

Correspondence: Thank you letters were received from TASK, STMS leadership students, El Dorado Community Foundation, Tahoe Rim Trail and Mt. Tallac Students. Wendy read several moving letters from the Mt. Tallace students thanking us for their Thanksgiving Feast last week.

Business meeting: After the approval of minutes and the Treasurer's Report we moved on to Old business.

Lisa reported that Barton Hospital and South Shore Glass have both signed up to be SiTS sponsors at $750 each. The electronic Auction donation email letter goes out next

Once a year, members of our club's Laurel Society, select an honoree to join them as a Laurel Society member. Proceeds from Laurel Society directly fund the Live Your Dreams scholarship program. SITS newest lifetime nominee to the Laurel Society honors our club - Jeanne Prestella! Thank you Jeanne for your leadership and help with the 4th of July Parade float, American Century Golf Tournament, Thanksgiving meals for Mt Tallac, leader of the Mad Hatter Tea Party luncheon. We look forward to your continued support of our mission and the Soroptimist pledge.

The Basket of Christmas goodies was won by Paula Peterson!

For all those who couldn't make it, you were missed. Especially Shirley Barr at the piano.

SITS Member Items & Our Projects

Members, mark your calendars for our upcoming dates of our Fundraising events: Signups will be happening shortly. Kudos to Jean B and Laurie F for getting the signup.com prepared.

• Bread & Broth with Lasagna Love, Feb. 10.
• Online Auction, May 16 - 30, 2025.
• Vacation Raffle Ticket Sales, April 1-May 30.
• Mad Hatter Tea at Valhalla, May 18, 2025
• Celebrity Tournament, July 9-13, 2025
• 

We are a hands on club, and we need all hands on these important projects to raise funds for our community.

SITS Committee Happenings!

Reminder: When hosting an event/meeting, please forward a photo and paragraph to techhelp@sitahoesierra.org so we can add it to our website and social calendar.

Omar is our Student of the Month at Mt. Tallac. Congratulations Omar!!

SITS Spring Fundraisers: Our Auction opens Friday, May 16 and closes on Friday, May 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM.

We just sent out Club Sponsor & Event Contributor requests this week and will follow up with individuals mid December. If you have suggestions, please include them on the google spreadsheet that all members have been sent a link for or contact Lisa Huard. Thank you to the ladies who helped with the sponsor letter.

Reminder to club members, please use the link to sign up for "follow up" with business donors. Your hard copy letters will be provided in January. Laurie F will also create a hard copy sign up sheet that we can pass around in meeting. Thanks everyone!

Our ONLINE AUCTION site is UP and Running! SITS2025.org. Donations are accepted NOW! Sponsorships and Event Contributor positions are accepted NOW!

Mad Hatter Tickets go on sale in January through the website AND we have a return of our Vacation Raffle opportunities thanks to the generosity of the Jean Bergner, Cookie Rork, and Jeanne Prestella! Here we go ladies!

Vacation Raffle tickets will be sold starting April 1 and run through May 30. Tickets will be $50 each and only 200 per trip will be sold. You have a choice of a week in a 2 bedroom Maui condo, or a week anywhere in the world in an RCI timeshare.

MEMBER Weekly Contribution or Quarterly Contribution can be paid online here! It's fast and easy! It can go through your Paypal or Credit Card. Get er dun!

COMMITTEE Signup Portal!

This is how we get things done.

Our SITS club and all that we do are driven by the committees that we maintain. All members are asked to join at least ONE Service Committee and ONE Technical Committee. Service is what we do and Technical is how we roll! Our Committee Signup portal is ready for members to sign up on! Simply click here! Newsletter Team sign ups are here and all are welcome to learn a new skill and join in!

NON-SITS

Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

There's actually so much going on so you're going to want to check out the EVENTS tab on www.southtahoenow.com, but here's a few to get you started!

The Marcella Foundation along with Tillson Law and Tahoe Valley Elementary have joined forces to bring a reading program to help students at Tahoe Valley Elementary. Here is the link t sign up to volunteer. https://www.marcellafoundation.org/readingpals

Reading pals is a community-based reading mentorship program with a proven track record of success, modeled after a grogram that has thrived in Chico Unified School District for over a decade. Our team is receiving direct training and coaching from the Reading Pals organization to endure this program is impactful and meaningful for our students.

Free Zoom Fitness Classes

Connect Fit is offering free fitness classes the week of December 16-20. Exercise from the comfort of your own home with these zoom classes for spin, strength, yoga, and total body conditioning. Perfect for your New Year's resolutions to get fit and strong. Sign into

Zoom meeting ID 918-6123-4016, password fallfavs.

No link needed.

Zoom classes include:

6am: MON/WED/FRI: Total Body Conditioning

7am: TUE: Spin, Strength and weekly nutritional cooking demonstration

     THU: Spin, Strength, and Balance 

7:30am: MON/WED: Restorative Movement

8am:  SAT: Spin

Noon: MON: Yoga

  WED: Barre

Who doesn't love a middle-schooler? Their energy, enthusiasm and eagerness to just be a bit different? What they need at the local middle school is a way to be engaged during the FLEX period in the middle of the day, allowing for different grade lunch periods. AAUW is in discussions with the math teachers about providing a short, 30 minute activity that relates to STEM or STEAM a few times each month, beginning in January. Our first organizing meeting is at the South Lake Tahoe Library on Tuesday January 7 at 10 am. Please contact Jeanne Benin at jbenin@charter.net or call 530-541-1371

Looking for up to date resources in our community? Barton Health has a list for all of us and it is actively updated! SHARE this link with others!

It's almost time for the Drug Store Project- April 1st 2025- Volunteer for the Drug Store Project to help keep our kids off drugs.

Sign up to volunteer for Challenge Day Wednesday, Feb. 5th All day program or Thursday, Feb. 6th Assembly-Volunteer for Challenge Day with Middle School students- Challenge Day Volunteer Sign Up

ALL YEAR LONG!

LTCC Basic Needs Center is looking for food donations. A variety of foods and basic need items are on the list. Click here for full list and drop off details

If you'd like to donate through our club, please bring your donations to the monthly business meeting and Lisa C. or Andie will make sure they are delivered to the college. Please include an estimate on the value as LTCC needs to keep records of that information.

Important information for your family from TASK (Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids)

TASK's mission is to prevent and reduce youth substance use and related harm - Keeping kids safe in collaboration with our community partners. TASK's mission is to prevent and reduce youth substance use and related harm - Keeping kids safe in collaboration with our community partners. For more information about TASK click here.

For TASK's October campaign to keep kids safe, click here!

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue has a quarterly newsletter to keep us all updated on fire safety info. Their goal is to help people learn about the fuels reduction products they are working on, seasonal fire safety info and other fire dept related news. Click here to sign up for the newsletter

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust has changed their Motel to Home (MTH) program from a loan program to a grant program and we're hoping this will attract families living in substandard housing, who would like to live in a more permanent and adequate home. Please click here for more details

Tahoe Learning Haven - Click here for all their information and a link to each month's newsletter.

TAHOE LEARNING HAVEN: Are you aware of the FREE monthly educational forums that Kathy Haven has set up for students, parents, and all interested community members? These are great! Most TLH forums are the second Wednesday of the month from 6:45pm-9pm at the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe! See here or tahoelearninghaven@gmail.com. Mark your calendar now.

·       12/18 – Student/alumni college panel & fair

·       1/8 – Scholarship application tutorial

·       2/12 – The college track: A-G requirements

·       3/12 – Playing at the next level: Athletics after high school

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless seeks community support in keeping people cared for.

Our South Shore community has been able to sleep better knowing that our homeless population has an indoor option. This winter season marked the seventh anniversary of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) providing warm beds to the most vulnerable in our community.

The office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-4 at the Red Lodge, 1137 Emerald Bay Rd.

More details here

Between Horses and Humans continues to grow! If you're a lover of youth and a lover of horses, this is a program for you! You can keep up on their information by reading their newsletters here! Volunteers and donations are always needed. BHH Update-they are soon relocating to the Amacker Ranch!

Food Assistance Guide for So. Lake Tahoe. If you know of anyone in need, please share this information. Click and print!

CURLING NOW THAT DAYS ARE SHORTER? Maybe you’ve been waiting until the fall when there’s not sun to keep you on the beaches into the evenings and the temps are dropping? Never tried curling, come out and try some of the best ice in the US! The first dedicated curling ice in Nevada was right here in Stateline! Lessons, games, leagues, group parties, etc! See here