Hello fellow Zontians & Friends,
In the Spirit of Giving at this time of year, we invite all to support Gifts for Kids being collected by Girls, Inc. of the Valley (page 2) or gather items for family in need in your community.

December is also a good time to introduce more Zonta Spirit in our club at the get together at Chris and Karen’s. It is an informal opportunity to meet and connect with individual members.(page 2).

Know someone in a STEM field or someone interested in women succeeding in traditionally male-dominated environments?  Think about inviting them to our January meeting. We welcome back Grace an inspirational woman in a male dominated field. (page 7)

Best for happy holidays and wishing all a healthy, productive and prosperous new year.
Cyd Melcher,
President

December 2023

 

 

I am looking forward to attending all the events this year! We have outstanding speakers and events happening at the Ludlow Country Club.  During the three years that I have been involved with Zonta, I have learned so much from our guest speakers and fellow Zontians.  I started out as a guest visiting one of the events. I quickly realized that I had a knowledge gap in terms of what was happening to women around the world. So I started to get involved with Zonta and have met some of the most intelligent, thoughtful and caring women that I’ve ever met in my life. I encourage and challenge all Zontians to try and bring a guest or two or more to our events.

Looking forward to seeing you on November 13!

Karen Keough-Huff
Co-Vice President

November 2023

Hello fellow Zontians & Friends,
And just like that, it’s Fall already!

October is an especially important month since it is Domestic / Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month, which goes straight to the heart of our mission: to raise awareness about the prevalence of gender-based violence; end the stigmatizing of those who experience or are impacted by domestic and partner violence; and most importantly, speak up and offer resources to anyone you think may be in an abusive relationship. It can be difficult to know what to do, whether you are a survivor yourself or know someone who may be one. Mass.gov (search “domestic violence”) has a list of resources on the topic.

If you are able, please also join Monica Moran and local Task Force members for the annual Domestic Violence Awareness Walk at Veterans Park in Ware on October 22nd at 1pm.

October 2023

2023 Dates—Mark your Calendar

March 5—17 CSW  Register: ngocsw.org/ngocsw67/
The 2023 Commission on the Status of Women in NYC will be hybrid. Workshops will cover critical issues impacting women worldwide.

March 13—International Women’s Day
Honoring Christina Royal, President HCC
Ludlow Country Club 5:30 reception—7:30

March 2023

 

What an inspiring meeting we had in January. Maya Nasr was an amazing speaker and a truly incredible woman. Thank you again to Maya for talking with us. Amelia Earhart would certainly be proud to see the women who are receiving the fellowships in her honor.

February 11  11:30—1:30 Period Project Assembly
Palmer Library Community Room

February 13—6pm  ZOOM
Julie Kaufmann, Zontian and RAD instructor—
Empowering women through knowledge and training       Business Meeting to follow

February 2023

Hello fellow Zontians & Friends,

It was lovely to have guests again at our October meeting. Thank you again to Monica Moran and Pamela Barnes for speaking to us about their organizations and how they work in tandem to support people in domestic violence situations.

I am very excited for our Founder’s Day celebration on November 14th at 5:30p at Ludlow Country Club. This year we are honoring Community Legal Aid. CLA is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to over 7,000 low-income and elderly clients a year across the five counties of Central and Western Massachusetts, impacting an estimated 18,000 of the region’s most vulnerable residents – most of them women and heads of households. At the meeting we will hear more about this amazing organization and guests are more than welcome!

 

November 2022

Congratulations again to Sruthi, our club’s YWPA scholarship winner and now District winner!  She is in the running for a $5000 award from Zonta Foundation for Women, so wish her luck.
Thank you to everyone for a successful May calendar fundraiser and congrats to all the winners. At the May meeting Mary, our 2022 Convention delegate, gave us a good summation of topics to be voted on in Hamburg Germany. If you have any questions or comments please contact Mary.

Thank you to all the new officers and board members for the next biennium. The club and I greatly appreciated your service to our club. I can not wait to get back to normal in-person meetings and really get to know our newer members better. It has certainly been a difficult couple of years.

 

 

June 2022

Hello fellow Zontians and Friends,

We had a busy and fruitful meeting in April. Lots of business was discussed so I hope if you were unable to attend that you read through the meeting minutes. Thank you Mary for a great presentation on the CSW. There is so many amazing topics and speakers there every year and I am very glad that you have been able to share some of that information with us.

May 2022