President Paula welcomed everyone to our meeting this week. We are all thrilled that our Amazing Mad Hatter Tea Party and the OPENING of the ONLINE AUCTION happened on Sunday. Don't forget, our auction closes on Friday, May 12, at 5 PM and that's the same time we draw our RAFFLE WINNERS! click here to register for the auction

We welcomed guests: Greg Bergner, Bob Harms, Peggy Blowney and Sandie McAnish. It was wonderful to have you all, we hope you'll come back again.

Invocation - Another inspired piece by Lydia Rogers was read by Nancy Muller. The invocation dealt with Marie Curie, a Polish immigrant to France who became a physicist and chemist and won 2 Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. As a woman, in that day, she proves it is possible to face and overcome challenges no matter how daunting.

Sunshine: None to report this morning, let's all hope and pray that this is a trend that continues.

OUR MAD HATTER TEA PARTY WAS SUCH A SUCCESS!

All our preparation and hard work paid off and the guests were raving about this fun event. They loved the amazing decorations, delicious food, raffle baskets and photo booths. The table decorations by our table host ladies were phenomenal! Everyone was talking about what they planned to wear to the next Mad Hatter event. We even had a wedding party come to the party in full costume as part of their celebration. What an amazing group effort it took to put this party together and what a way to get our name out there again and socialize with friends. Amy, Lisa C. and their crew of decorating gals did an AMAZING job making this such a gorgeous event. Jeanne Prestella and her group of kitchen queens put out all the food... and it was FABULOUS! Paula's rabbit hole was a huge job, but everyone loved the whimsical feel of it. The girl scouts really helped out with serving and beverage refills (and found some time to play cards too) The winner of the costume contest was Astrid, THE QUEEN OF HEARTS! The scavenger hunt, art display and raffle vacation raffles were also a big hit. WE even had good enough weather for a few folks to play corn hole on the deck.

We were lucky enough to have the program "The Northwest Passage" performed for our group this morning. Rachael Mcclinton, portrays Julia Berg a young immigrant from Sweden in a most compelling way. Using historical perspectives based on real people and events, Living Voices combines live performance with audio/video, visual aids, and discussion. Archival film and photos, blended with sound and then synchronized with a live actor, provide a dynamic, interactive experience of how the world looked, sounded, and felt during a significant time in history.

The story: After emigrating from Sweden with her family, Julia defies traditional gender roles and conventions by becoming a nurse, traveling throughout Washington to serve her broad new American community during the 1918 flu pandemic. The story follows Julia and her family through the difficult journey from her native land to this new frontier. Trials and tribulations were plentiful but their perseverance was inspirational. The dramatic changes during these “passages” years included new patterns of settlement. The railroad made it easy to travel and settle here for people around the U.S. and all over the world. Since the Railroads owned much of the land near the railways they actively promoted the benefits of moving to this region so that they could sell this land to the outsiders. The newcomers poured into Washington in such large numbers they altered the patterns of life: ♦ New communities sprung up (often bringing together specific national groups of immigrants). ♦ Native-Americans were affected by increasing competition over land and land use. ♦ Cities grew at an extraordinary rate. There were slow times during these years of intense rapid growth and the region was gripped by a severe depression from 1893-1897. Yet, the events of one single day changed everything. Suddenly a gloom caused by four years of economic hard times seemed to disappear. On July 17th 1897 the Alaskan steamer, The Portland entered Seattle’s Elliot Bay bringing news and evidence of Gold in the Yukon. Northwest Passages is the story of all these things as seen from the point of view of one person.

SITS Member Items & Our Projects

MEMBERS PLEASE READ: Please take a look at the auction website www.sitsfundraiser.org and verify that all the donations you have received are input correctly. If you have any donation forms that have not been turned in, please give paperwork (in person or via email) to Laurie Flesher or Lisa Huard, gift cards can go to Lisa H. If you have a physical item, please arrange to transport it to Jeanne Prestella at the Coldwell Banker office in Zephy Cove . If it needs to be "basketized" please give it to Cookie. AUCTION closes on Friday May 12th. Don't forget to tell your friends and neighbors to check out the auction, if they are going to buy things in our community anyway, they might as well buy it from us and help our community stay strong.

YES Committee: For years, our club has been hosting the reception for the Senior Projects with homemade cookies and we're back at it again! The reception will be on June 6 but cookies need to get to Shelly by June 5. We also want to be sure that some of our members are present on the 6th so please coordinate with Shelly. STHS is still in need of Senior Project Judges and this is such a great thing to participate in. If you are interested, please email Ashley Aminian at aaminian@ltusd.org.

For your calendars

• SITS Installation: Mark your calendars now for June 22! This is such a fun event. No one does a better job at thanking their current Board and welcoming in their new one. It's always entertaining!
• SNR Conference: June 2 - 4, 2023 in Reno. Pres. Paula will send out information, but this is not only a vital way of learning about Soroptimist and all that we do, but it's a load of fun as well. Remember ladies, it is due to our Happy Dollars (funds from our members each week) that we are able to budget funds to attend this conference.
• Mt. Tallac Prom: Our students at Mt. Tallac will be having their Prom on June 3. Stand by to volunteer for help they may need with decorating! Thank you to our friend Keith Williams, whose beautiful art that was auctioned off last year, is providing the funds for this wonderful occasion. We miss both our dear Sandy and Keith each day and appreciate their love.

2023 FUNdraiser has so much to choose from!

Our ONLINE Auction is OPEN! Register to bid and begin to do your shopping! Items for yourself, or someone else are all at your fingertips thanks to our generous community! www.sitsfundraiser.org Our auction closes on Friday, May 12th at 5 PM! We will also draw our raffle winners at the same time!

We are still selling RAFFLE tickets so purchase yours and start packing! We have two (yes two) raffles for exciting vacation destinations. One is a week's stay in a 2 bedroom Kihei, Maui condo, and the other is a week's stay at a timeshare anywhere in the world!

Your odds of winning are amazing ! Just 200 tickets will be sold for each vacation location! Tickets are $50 each and include six nights and seven days of accommodations (no airfare). To purchase raffle tickets, please email us at raffle@sitahoesierra.org. You will be contacted for payment and then receive your tickets. Winners will be drawn at 5 p.m. on May 12, 2023. No need to be present to win, and the club's president will call the winners that night!

SITS is now a part of NASCAR'S DAY We are excited to be joining @The NASCAR Foundation for the NASCAR Day Giveathon! Created in honor of #NASCAR's 75th Anniversary, the NASCAR Day Giveathon is a joint effort of the NASCAR industry to provide much needed funds to communities across the country.

Starting May 16 at 5pm EST, you can help our organization by donating to us, or sharing our fundraiser during the 75-hour period: WWW.SITSFundraiser.org

#NASCARdayGiveathon #NASCAR75 #TheNASCARFoundation

GIVEATHON!

Click here for details - more updates to come!!

NON-SITS Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

SISLT SOFTBALL FIELD WORKDAY

SATURDAY, MAY 6^th 12:30PM-4PM

Please join Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe volunteers to help clean up the softball field Soroptimist Stadium: Home of Girls Softball at the South Lake Tahoe Middle School 1066 Lyons Avenue on Saturday, May 6th from 12:30-4PM.

An assessment will be made as we get closer to determine what needs to be done. Odds are that we will finish earlier than 4PM (many hands make light work), but we are not sure yet what we have in store for us until we can see the field and surrounding property. Generally speaking, the job includes picking up trash and pinecones, raking and bagging needles, removal of weeds and graffiti, cleaning the bleachers, and possibly filling in gopher holes. You will need to bring work gloves and possibly some tools (rakes, brooms, weed trimmers, cleaning rags, etc. if you own them). More information will follow.

If you can help out, please let Rose Marie Ottman (rose.ottman@att.net) know you are available and provide your name and contact details. She will email volunteers closer to the workday with additional information.

May 6, Nationally, is Wildfire Preparedness Day: What You Do Makes a Difference.

Recreation Center, 11-3 PM and ALL of Tahoe is invited! More details to follow but get this on your calendar! For details to here.

Today, May 4th is International Firefighters' Day. Today we recognize firefighters for their extraordinary commitment, exceptional courage and for their selfless service. Tragically we also remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. To firefighters, and to those that love and support them, across the world, THANK YOU!!!

TECH TREK - STEM CAMP APPLICATIONS

Nominations for seventh grade girls interested in STEM camp. The date for camp at UC Davis is July 9-15 this summer. Any girls now in 7th grade, granddaughters, parents of girls to inform, please spread the word and have them contact Jan directly and she will see about getting them applications. Contact details below.

Jan Lynds

Tech Trek coordinator for SLT branch of AAUW

jklynds@gmail.com 530 318-5903

Click here for full flyer

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.

They are also in great need for clothing items and will accept donations at their office

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

More details here

Blood Donations are Needed!

Our Nation continues to have a blood shortage everywhere. Giving blood is giving life. So GIVE!

Vitalant Blood Donations. Click here to find a blood draw near you!

Wed - Mon Carson City Vitalent Donation Center

256 Winnie Lane

Carson City, NV

Click here to find more dates and locations

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.