RSVP for Holiday Lunch & Scholarship Presentations by Tuesday, December 2

We need a head count in advance of the upcoming holiday lunch and scholarship celebration on Saturday, December 6, at Pere Marquette Bistro and Catering in Reed City. Please let Kathi Parker know by Tuesday, December 2 if you plan to come. You can call or text her at (231) 796-1531 or email her at kaparker51@gmail.com. If you commit to attending, please know that you are committing to the cost of a meal, so if your plans change, please tell Kathi asap.

Kathi does not need to know in advance what what entree you want to order, just that you are coming. There will be three options served at the lunch: mushroom ravioli, pan-fried whitefish, or chicken stuffed with apple and brie. The price for each meal with be $39, which includes tip. Treasurer Marilyn Jablonski will collect payment at the lunch. The cost has increased since we last had a sit-down meal at Pere Marquette, but so have food prices. It will be a dinner portion, so plan your other meals of the day according, and feel free to ask for a box to take some home.

Collection for WISE for Community Giving Day on Tuesday, December 2

At our November 19 meeting, we decided to once again collect donations in support of WISE for Community Giving Day. Jennifer Cochran has volunteered to collect checks and to deliver them to the WISE table at the Community Giving Day event at the Eagles. If you would like to participate in the group gift to WISE, please mail or drop off a check at Jennifer's home so that she receives it before Tuesday, December 2. Jennifer's address is 430 S. Stewart Avenue, Big Rapids, MI 49307. Please call or text her at (231) 349-4925 to check that she will be home if you want to drop off a check.

Scholarship Recipients

We will learn more about our scholarship recipients at the holiday lunch, but here are the names of the awardees and a little bit of information about their status at Ferris. We look forward to meeting them and celebrating their successful progress towards earning their degrees!

• Christina Mayer - Senior - BS in Business Administration.

• Abbigail Hildebrant - Junior- BS in Heavy Equipment Engineering Technology.

• Patient Frey - Senior - BS in Allied Health Science and AAS in Dental Hygiene.

Thank you very much to the Scholarship Committee for their work in reviewing 50 applications to select the award recipients. Sarah Lucas chaired the committee, and other members were Julie Alexander, Wendy Nystrom, Kathi Parker, and Anne Spain.

November Meeting Recap

Colleen Green, Senior DEIB Officer at Ferris State University, was our speaker for the November meeting. Colleen is an enrolled citizen of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and a descendent of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

In recognition that November is Native American Heritage Month and October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Colleen made an informative, emotional and thought provoking presentation on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). Colleen shared her PowerPoint presentation, which includes many links to online resources. Unfortunately, the attachment got lost in the process of forwarding email messages, so as soon as Leah gets the file, it will be shared with all of our members in a separate email message.