Coming Soon - United Nations Day

Our Welcome Back event this year will be on October 24th, a Saturday morning brunch at Nick’s in honor of UNITED NATIONS DAY. Guests are welcome. We'll have a special guest speaker from the United Nations Association of the Midpeninsula, who will talk about international relations and the United Nations. He's looking forward to a lively discussion, so please bring your questions, concerns and opinions about the United Nations.

• Where: Nick's Seashore Restaurant at Rockaway Beach
• Time: 10:45 am
• Date: October 24th
• Cost: $16.50 each (includes tax and tip)

Please let Joan Denney know (650-355-6229) or jkdenney@earthlink.net by October 15th if you are coming and how many guests you will bring. It would be helpful if you would send a check to Christine Krenzel at Pacifica AAUW, P. O. Box 521, Pacifica, CA 94044.

Coming Soon - Pacific Coast Fog Fest

Visit Us in the Fog Fest Souvenir Booth!

September 26-27 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Palmetto Avenue in Pacifica

Welcome

We're Reaching Out!!

In the Index, see -

• About - for an overview of the Branch
• Branch Governance - to learn who we are and how we’re organized
• Calendar - for a general overview of our activities
• Coming Soon - for upcoming meetings or Events
• Events - to learn what we've been doing recently
• News - for Branch members or events in the news

June Chocolate Fest

At our Chocolate Fest meeting on June 13th we honored our Tech Trek students, local scholarship students, and Janice Dole Dutton Memorial Scholarship student. While munching on an incredible array of chocolate desserts, we heard from the students about their plans for the future. Listening to the upcoming generation of young women is truly inspiring and reminds us why our work is so important.

Other highlights of the meeting include:

• Ainsley announced the grand "opening" of our website
• We voted unanimously to send a letter to the National Board supporting the proposal to change the order in which the proposed new bylaws will be voted. We agree that the one person-one vote proposal must precede the new membership proposal, so ALL AAUW members have a say in this very important change.

The book swap table showed a wide variety interests - travel, mysteries, historical novels... you name it, there was something for everyone!

Many thanks to Joan for arranging use of Creekside Clubhouse and coordinating the event details! More photos to come.

2009-2010 Calendar Meeting

On June 1st we held our annual planning meeting, where we created the Branch calendar for 2009-2010. The process starts with an empty calendar page for each month, then using pictures, graphics and various sticky notes, we identify and document our activities. The work is done in 3 steps:

• first, we post all the known activities - book clubs, drama readings, Tech Trek, etc., including those that are not specifically AAUW but have a strong member participation, like the Pacifica Historical Society
• next, we determine what and when our special events for the year will be and post those
• last, we plan the newsletter distribution and Coordinating Committee meetings for the best fit in relation to our planned events.

All of this takes several hours and a lot of energy, so we had fruit, cookies, water and Joan's homemade fudge to help us along!

Coming Soon - June 13

Join us for a June Chocolate Swoon!

Come to the AAUW Chocolate Fest to honor our Tech Trek students, local scholarship students, and Janice Dole Dutton Memorial Scholarship student. Bring your favorite chocolate dessert–cookies, muffins, cakes etc. We’ll enjoy delicious desserts, punch and coffee and some lucky person will leave with a door prize! If you have books to exchange, bring them along for a swap. WHEN: Saturday June 13th from 2pm to 5pm. WHERE: Creekside Clubhouse, located at 1284 Rosita Road, Driveway#2. Please park on Rosita Road.

News - Shirley Drye

On Monday April 13, Branch member Shirley Drye was honored with this year's annual city of Pacifica Open Space Award. Shirley has been active in the environmental area for many years, working with the Open Space Task Force and Committee, the GGNRA and as a volunteer at San Pedro Valley Park. Her contributions have been varied, greatly beneficial and widely appreciated.

Click HERE for a photo and to read details of Shirley’s contributions - Pacifica Tribune article “Longtime environmentalist, Ohlone, native plant expert Shirley Drye honored with coveted city Open Space Award”

News - Mildred Owen

We were shocked and saddened last week to learn of the sudden death of Mildred Owen. Along with the myriad of her other achievements, Mildred was a 50+ year member, joining our Branch in 1958. Mildred’s passing leaves a void in Pacifica and well beyond.

Click HERE to read the Pacifica Tribune article “Arts community loses a champion: Pacificans bid farewell to their one-of-a-kind Mildred Owen.” A Memorial will be held on Sunday April 19, 1 p.m. at the Skyline College Auditorium (Main Theatre), 3300 College Drive, San Bruno.

A 3 p.m. Reception will follow at the Pacifica Performances Sanchez Concert Hall, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd. Consider bringing: Finger foods, desserts and light fare which do not require refrigeration. Contact: call 355-1882.

About

Our branch was chartered over 50 years ago, in the same year as the city of Pacifica was formed, and we have been serving and supporting the interests of women and girls in Pacifica since then. We support AAUW national programs, provide local scholarships, offer our community public policy and educational forums and build community and friendship through special interest groups and community involvement.

Contact our Membership Chair about membership. The Pacifica branch address is:

P.O. Box 521 - Pacifica, CA 94044

Our Interest Groups include (see Calendar for meeting information):

• Daytime Book Club
• Evening Book Club
• Drama Reading Group

News - Janice Dole Dutton Memorial Concert

Last August we lost our long time (since 1960) and Life Member Janice Dole Dutton. On March 29th, to honor his mother, Norm Dutton, his wife Karen (Life Member) and their children Valerie (Life Member) and Eric hosted a memorial concert honoring the life of this "activists' activist".

Click HERE to read the article "Celebrating a woman who made Pacifica sing" in the Pacifica Tribune for a wonderful description of Jan's life.

Events - Educational Foundation

Our Educational Foundation keynote speaker was Patience Tusingwire, a post-graduate student from Uganda who is studying International Transaction and Comparative Law at the University of San Francisco. Patience recounted her difficulties growing up the oldest of three orphaned children and told how, against all odds, she acquired a college education through persistence and hard work.

She spent several years working to improve the legal rights of orphans and women in Uganda, and was awarded an AAUW Educational Foundation fellowship which enabled her to further her studies in San Francisco. Julianne Cartwright Traylor, Associate Director of International Programs at the USF School of Law, accompanied Patience for the presentation.

Events - Roosevelt Birthday Brunch

November 20, 2008 “When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.” Eleanor Roosevelt. This quote, which exemplifies the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, was the inspiration for our Eleanor Roosevelt Birthday Celebration.

The program featured readings from a variety of Roosevelt’s writings by branch member Mildred Owen, including some from My Day, a syndicated newspaper column published from 1935 to 1962. Members also shared stories of how the work of Eleanor Roosevelt touched their lives.

This celebration was the perfect occasion to launch our new Janice Dole Dutton Scholarship. Jan was a vibrant member of the Branch for nearly 50 years, and a Life Member of AAUW. She was Branch President several times and held numerous other Board positions. Jan was instrumental in making jazz concerts possible in Pacifica, starting in the Old Firehouse; she tirelessly hung art in the Community Center for years and spearheaded the candidates’ forum broadcast on Channel 26.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a female graduating senior at Oceana High School who is a resident of Pacifica pursuing a degree in visual or theatre arts. You can donate by sending a check to our address and indicate Dutton Scholarship in the check Memo.