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We are saying Thank You!

WHEN: Saturday, May 3, 2025. 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: Red Lobster at 4802 E. Cactus Rd. at Tatum in Scottsdale

WHAT: Installation of 2025-2026 Branch Officers by Branch member Dr. Linda Thor and Thank you to Branch

MENU: Choice of Fish & Chips; Grilled Shrimp on rice; or Grilled Salmon, Cheddar Biscuits, Beverage & Dessert

This Luncheon is a Thank You to our members and no charge to you. You must make your reservation for the Luncheon by Friday April 25th and include your FOOD CHOICE by RSVPing to: Judy Hubbard at: trinahub@aol.com

Brought to you by Judy Hubbard and Gail Stempil, your Program Vice-Presidents

Message from the Board...

It's May and time to say thank you to you, our Branch members, for your faithful support throughout this 2024-2025 program year and to our Board members/officers who worked so hard to make it a successful year. And a special thank you to our President-Elect Laraine Rodgers who was at my side all year as she learned the job of president and about AAUW.

Our membership grew this year, both from members new to AAUW and from members who came over from the Phoenix Branch and enthusiastically joined in our many Scottsdale Branch activities. We raised money for both AAUW National's Greatest Needs Fund and for the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation (MCCF), from which we have awarded an annual scholarship to a returning woman student. And this year we reallocated our Branch funds and have placed more into our MCCF AAUW Scottsdale Endowment, which will allow us to increase our award of annual scholarships to at least two in the coming years from the increased return on that investment.

May will also see our Branch member Dr. Linda Thor install the incoming officers for 2025-2026 at our May 3rd luncheon. We will have the opportunity to express our gratitude to each of these members who have agreed to give their time to this project for the coming year. And we will be addressing the future: with the help of Laraine we will acknowledge AI as the semi-recording secretary--What, you say? Well, Laraine has discovered that ZOOM, which we use for our Board meetings, has an AI feature that takes notes (or some such thing) from which our minutes can be derived (don't ask me, ask Laraine how it works).

And as this year closes, we must also congratulate our member Karen Ramos who was recently installed as President of AAUW-Arizona. Karen, we are very proud of you and will support you during this coming year.

So as this year closes, I want to thank each and every member. It's been a rewarding experience to be your Branch President over this past year. I am most proud to have worked with you to further AAUW's Mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy.

I hope to see you at our May 3rd luncheon or at one of our continuing summer activities. Or if you will be fleeing the heat to cooler climes, safe travels and I will see you in the fall.

--Alice Buck, President

GOODBYE LIBBY....

Hello Karen, Judy, and the wonderful women of the Scottsdale branch, 

My family and I are moving east soon. Before I go, I want to thank you for the AAUW’s support of our local schools and, on a personal level, of me while I was on the SUSD governing board. Those were difficult times and knowing of your support helped immensely. 

Keep up the great work for our schools, our children and our community! 

All my best,

Libby

Libby, we are so very proud of all you did for Scottsdale education during those "difficult times." We will miss you and we wish you the very best in this new adventure.

--AB

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS

LUNCH BUNCH

Hello lovely gourmands:

For my last choice of restaurant until September, when I take over again, (Gail S. and Judy H. will be at the helm of Lunch Bunch in June, July and August) I am going to go out with a “healthy bang!” Join us on May 15, Thursday, at Flower Child, in PV Mall facing the Tatum side. For those of you that might have been worried in the previous months about expanding your belt line or too few items that didn’t contain meat, here is the perfect solution! 

If you are an avocado lover, you can begin with avocado toast and or an avocado caesar (romaine, parmesan, bread crumbs, chives and avocado dressing). If, however, you are a lover of all fresh veggies that grow in the ground, the chopped vegetable salad will set you up for the whole day (organic greens, romaine, avocado, heirloom carrot, snap pea, radish, cucumber, ginger miso vinaigrette). But if a salad is not instantly appealing, then move right on to the “Bowls.” If you decide you are “hankering” for a little more protein, order the mediterranean chicken kabob (summer squash, portobello mushroom, bell pepper, harissa and quinoa topped with yogurt sauce or the Thai chicken and shrimp meatballs (masala sauce, jasmine rice, fennel, cucumber with lemon yogurt). But, boy far, my favorite (which is almost exclusively at Flower Child) is “Forbidden Rice” (red japonica, black pearl, snap pea, broccoli, carrot, onion with red chile hoisin - spicy but not hot!) Any of these bowls can have a protein added (salmon, steak, chicken, shrimp)

So plan to join us for several reasons: it is our last get together before the summer, we can sample some of the new fare installed at PV Mall and you will be proud of your waistline and what you “didn’t” eat for the rest of the day! Let me know by May 10 if you would like to attend!

P.S. Very important! Our last Lunch Bunch before the summer will take place on May 15 instead of May 1 due to a plethora of activities around the first of the month. Flower Child does not take reservations but I was assured that if I got there at 11:15 a..m., all would be ready for my group by 12:00 p.m.. So please show up at 12:00 p.m. at Flower Child at PV Mall on Cactus and Tatum. The turn in for Flower Child faces Tatum.  

--Cynthia Peplinski cynthiadysart@cox.net

Books Etc.

Ladies, the time has come to put our very knowledgeable heads together and choose the next nine books that will keep us mesmerized through the 2025- 2026 season. When you add food to this endeavor (it’s a Pot Luck at my house) this becomes one of the most enjoyable afternoons in the year! So on May 21at 12:00 p.m., please knock on my door with a dessert, main dish or side dish/salad that we can share and we will spend an hour or so telling tales and giggling before we get down to the serious business of choosing our next nine books. I have already sent out our list from which to choose. So keep it safe in that drawer meant only for special things or next to the refrigerator (which I assume you enter frequently) and let me know if you will be gracing us with your presence at 12:00 p.m/ on May 21 at the home of Cynthia Peplinski at3237 E Desert Cove, Phoenix, with an edible in hand!

On June 18, we will be discussing the last book for this season,  Absolution by Alice McDermott. We will meet at the lovely home of Camille Schmidt at 19868 N 84th Way, Scottsdale, at 1:00 p.m. and I will be our discussion leader. A short pre'cis follows:

Absolution takes the form of memories shared between two American women some 60 years after they left Saigon. Tricia Kelly was a shy newlywed in 1963, a parish kindergarten teacher who went to Vietnam with her husband, Peter — a civilian engineer "on loan" to Navy Intelligence. As Tricia recalls, back in those days, her "real vocation ... was to be a helpmeet for my husband." That helpmeet role includes, of course, becoming a mother, but, while in Vietnam, Tricia miscarries the first of many pregnancies. Now old and widowed, Tricia is contacted by a woman named Rainey whom she knew as a child in Vietnam. It's Rainey's mother, Charlene, now deceased, around whom the two women's memories orbit.

Without once lapsing into heavy-handedness, McDermott suggests parallels between the insistent charitable interventions of Charlene and her crew and the growing American military intervention in Vietnam. Recollecting the mood of "her" Saigon in 1963, Tricia recalls that: "the cocoon in which American dependents dwelled was still polished to a high shine by our sense of ourselves and our great, good nation."

McDermott also deftly recreates another cocoon — the Catholic one — in which Tricia and her husband live. Peter, in particular, believes that the JFK presidency and the shoring up of the regime of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam are part of a cosmic plan. It comes as no surprise when Tricia tells us that she eventually learned Peter had been working for the CIA, or "'The Catholic Intelligence Agency,' as it's playfully dubbed, because: "Who better [than Catholics] understood the threat of godless communism?"

McDermott possesses the rare ability to evoke and enter bygone worlds — pre-Vatican II Catholicism, pre-feminist-movement marriages — without condescending to them. She understands that the powerhouses can dominate the helpmeets. She also understands that playing God is the role of a lifetime — and every human actor should turn it down.

Please let me know if you would like to come to the Pot Luck on May 21 and let Camille S. know at camischmidt@cox.net if you will be joining us at her house on June 18.



--Cynthia Peplinski cynthiadysart@cox.net

Summer Lunch Bunch for 2025

Judy and Gail are once again organizing our Scottsdale AAUW Summer Lunch Bunch get-togethers. Everyone is welcome to join us!

Here is our tentative schedule:

Tuesday, June 10 at Starfire Grill 

Wednesday, July 9 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club

Wednesday, August 13 at Village Tavern

These are some of our favorite places to do lunch! If you would like to join us for any or all of these dates, please email us now to be included in our email list.  If you know of any prospective members, please bring them along. 

We will send reminder emails for each date, and we must hear back from you to be included in our reservations.  

Looking forward to seeing you and keeping in touch during the ridiculous summers that we endure here!

Judy Hubbard trinahub@aol.com

Gail Stempil stemgw@aol.com

Close to Delivery!!!

Many thanks to our AAUW members who have donated books to our Adopt-A-Book program. Due to the hard work and keen eyes of our members, we now have almost 700 books ready for cleaning, labeling, and inserting bookmarks prior to our upcoming delivery.  

We plan to meet in the upcoming future, April 30th, to prepare the books for delivery. This book delivery preparation day is always fun chatter and filled with food so be sure to sign up to help. Please come as you are and bring a friend to help remove dirt, tape, and any labeling that should not be on a book. We want the books in pristine condition for the students.

Here is the information for Prep Day:

Date: Wednesday April 30, 2025

Place: 6202 E. Delcoa Ave, Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

We will also need 1-2 members to help with delivering the donated books to Navajo Elementary School. Please mark the date:  

Date: Wednesday, May 7th, 2025

Place: Navajo Elementary School

4525 N. Granite Reef Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Please let me know if you can help with either or both activities by sending a quick email or giving me a call (please leave a voicemail if I am unable to answer).  

Thanks,

Linda Nance, Adopt-A-Book Chair

Lnance818@gmail.com

602-791-8472

Lilly...

After seeing a preview of the film Lilly, about Lilly Ledbetter, I highly recommend you watch for a showing of it at the Shea 14 theaters in Scottsdale,possible dates May 9-19. It is a well done story of her life experience fighting Goodyear Tire Company when she was the only woman manager at the plant in Alabama and found she had been paid less than the other managers for years.

AAUW hosted Lilly a couple of times before the Lilly Ledbetter Act was signed by President Obama. We take pride in the support we gave her.

--Janet Larkin, Public Policy/Community Action 

NEWS FROM NATIONAL....

AAUW Speaks Out on Equity 

CEO Gloria L. Blackwell was featured in a special insert to the Los Angeles Times, warning that dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs is a direct attack on women in STEM.  

Protecting Women in the Workforce 

AAUW continues to lead on workplace equity, calling on the Department of Labor to preserve staffing at the Women’s Bureau and OFCCP. Our pay equity research was featured in USA Today, and CEO Gloria Blackwell highlighted our work on a podcast and LinkedIn Live, reinforcing the urgent need for economic justice. Check out more AAUW in the News. 

Four Star Rating

We’re excited to share some news! AAUW has been evaluated by Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator, and earned a Four-Star Rating. This is the highest possible rating on Charity Navigator. Check out the page here. We also received Candid Platinum Transparency status for 2025! Check it out here.  

Time to sign up for the Two Minute Activist:

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