Greetings Sister Zontians,

We started out the second half of our Zontian year without skipping a beat.  January’s dinner meeting was not only productive but also a lot of fun, thanks to Dana’s Amelia Earhart challenge game. Karen Fontaine’s experience as a pilot may have given her team an edge!

Our friends from Soldier On worked with us to create 25 yarn dolls to donate to the Women and Children’s program at the Chicopee Women’s Correctional Center.  We will have the dolls on display at our February meeting and hand them off to Phyl Grondolski for delivery.

And that brings me to all the work Zontians and community members have done to collect items for our Fill A Bag with Hope project!  What an incredible outpouring of support we have seen—we have hundreds of bags! Many guests are expected  to be at the February 8 event for dinner and/or to help us with this hands-on project. Please join me in making them feel welcomed and appreciated.  We will set up the assembly line before eating and begin filling the pocketbooks about 6:30ish. We are working on plans for a smooth workflow.

At our March meeting we celebrate International Women’s Day and identify an organization which will benefit at this year’s Silent “no more” Auction.  Please give it some thought and submit proposals.  It is not too early to start collecting baskets, items, services and gift certificates for the May 2nd Auction.  Also help us spread the Save the Date message—we need good attendance at this important event.

Finally, I am looking for your input on awarding a Zontian of the Biennium at the June meeting. If you support this, what criteria would you recommend?  Email me your thoughts.

Thanks for all you do,
Lisa Sedelow