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Hear the Candidates for Kingston Mayor and Ulster Cty DA, 10/29

Kingston City and Ulster County Candidate Forum
Sponsored by the AAUW Kingston Branch and the League of Women Voters
Saturday, October 29

Kingston City Hall
420 Broadway

10 AM    to 11:15 AM    Candidates for mayor of Kingston
11:15 AM to 11:30 AM    Break
11:30 AM to 12:30 PM    Candidates for Ulster County District Attorney

Each candidate is allowed two-minute opening and closing statements.
Index cards will be distributed to the audience to write questions on.
The cards will be collected and read to the candidates by the moderator
for one-minute responses.

AAUW Kingston Branch 2011 -12 Calendar

2011 -2012 AAUW Kingston Branch Board

Membership & National Contact– Ruth Bean

Meeting Facilitator – Vivi Hlavsa

Program Coordinator– Diana Chesmel

Treasurer – Jane Riley

Recording Secretary and PR – Adele Calcavecchio

Corresponding Secretary - Joan Reis

Trips - Vivi Hlavsa and Linda Gold

Communications - Ruth Wahtera

Directory - Sheila Beall

Diversity - Arlene Bruck

Educational Foundation - Doris Goldberg & Gloria Sender

Historian – Virginia Kohli

Hospitality Coordinator – Vacant

International - Vacant

Legal Advocacy Fund - Dolores LaChance

Public Policy – Susan Holland

Telephone Tree – Dot Henry

Board meetings happen on the second Tuesday of the month. All members are welcome to attend and participate.

This Sat., 2/12/11: The Story Behind "Music in Desperate Times" Ars Choralis

February AAUW Branch Meeting
Saturday Morning, February 12, 2011, 10:30 a.m.
Kingston Library

Tom and Cecelia Keehn will present the story and slides of the renowned singing group, Ars Choralis, when they performed the unique "Music In Desperate Times" locally, in Germany and at St. John the Devine in Manhattan. Cecelia was the soprano soloist and Tom was a member of the chorus. Both are music educators and outstanding musicians.

If you're unfamiliar with "Music in Desperate Times, a friend of [Barbara] Pickhardt urged her to read a book about women who saved their lives by playing in an orchestra while prisoners in Auschwitz/Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland during World War II. Barbara was deeply moved by the story of these women.
 

She eventually researched the music the women played. Ars Choralis' member, Gregory Dinger, and accompanist, Kristen Tuttman, arranged the music. The spoken word was derived from texts written by survivors.

Survivors of the Ravensbrueck concentration camp in Furstenberg, Germany invited Ars Choralis to perform at their annual Liberation Day ceremonies in 2009 at the former Birkenau concentration camp, The Ars Choralis performance was   intensely emotional not only for the audience, but also for the performers.

Please note, this is not a presentation of the concert although there will be music in the background at times. This is the story of the performers' journey back through history and across the ocean in memory of those musicians saving their lives through music.

I hope that we will have a very good audience for this program.

Pat Stedge

AAUW Kingston Branch Officers: 2010-11

Congratulations to our new 2010-2011 AAUW Kingston Branch Officers and many thanks to those of you who completed your terms

2010 -2011 Officers
President - Bette Nitzky

VP, Programming - Beverly Sloane

VP Membership - Ruth Bean
Treasurer - Jane Riley
Recording Secretary - Carole Leib
Corresponding Secretary - Joan Reis
Committees
Bus Trips - Vivi Hlavsa
Communications - Ruth Wahtera
Directory - Sheila Beall
Diversity - Arlene Bruck
Educational Foundation - Doris Goldberg & Gloria Sender
Historian - Virginia Kohli
Hospitality - Pat Stedge and Ginger Yaples
International - Rokki Carr
Legal Advocacy Fund - Dolores LaChance
Publicity - Rosalie Zimmerman
Public Policy - Susan Holland
Telephone Tree - Dot Henry

See your directory for phone numbers and email addresses. We'll be adding links as we complete more profiles.

Join AAUW Kingston on our first trip to Barcelona!

Barcelona, on the Mediterranean coast, is one of Spain's most livable and lovable cities. For anyone who has ever wanted to go on an excursion to Europe, this is the perfect time!

The US dollar is strong and the exchange rate is in our favor, so pack your bags, locate your passport, bring a camera and join us for the trip of a lifetime.

For additional information click here.

AAUW Kingston Branch Scholarship Winners

(L to R) Yuvelca Reyes, Irwin Rosenthal, and Marie Daniels

We had a great opportunity to meet with our two 2010 scholarship winners at the annual picnic this month. Both earned associates degrees from Ulster Community College this month and will use their scholarship money to pursue their bachelor degrees.

Yuvelca Reyes has enrolled with SUNY Empire to pursue her degree in therapeutic recreation, a major of her own design. Yuvelca believes that our lives and the world would be better if we all found things to do that we enjoy. Her quest is to help people find those things that are right for them. She's especially interested in using her motivational skills to engage residents in Newburgh in constructive fun -- an alternative to the gangs and crime we've been following in the news. To that end, she's been organizing a July 4th tournament. Yuvelca is full of energy and ideas; now she wants to learn how to make them work.

Marie Daniels has enrolled at SUNY New Paltz. Her plan is to get a degree and teaching credentials in earth science and teach. But that's just the first step. Marie loves library science and plans to pursue a graduate degree to become a librarian. (Librarians love AAUW. There were three at the picnic, all ready to provide Marie guidance and support.)

Both these young women are mid-career students with children at home. They are following in the footsteps of many of us, balancing family and children, pursuing the love of learning and the need to support our families doing the things that we love.


Irwin Rosenthal and Doris Goldberg, Education Foundation co-chairs, coordinated selection of our 2010 recipients. You won't find Doris in the picture. Why? She had to leave early for a library board meeting!

Congratulations to Marie and Yuvelca. The branch has given them student memberships to AAUW so we hope to see a lot more of them and follow their career.

Jean Semilof, Serving Our Community

Jean Semilof is gregarious, upbeat, and full of energy -- exactly what a membership co-chair needs to be.

A realtor by profession for over 3o years, Jean says she is currently devoting a great deal of energy to the Ulster County Board of Realtors' community service projects.

She says, "I believe strongly that realtors should give back to the community. Last year, I spearheaded a very successful coin drive to benefit the Helping Hands Soup Kitchen at the Clinton Avenue Methodist Church and I am currently involved in planning an upscale yard sale to benefit the STARS mentoring program at the Everette Hodge Center, which the AAUW Kingston Branch is also particpating in."

Jean is a past President of the Ulster County Board of Realtors and a REALTOR of the YEAR.

• Membership Committee co-chair with Suki Kerr, 2009-2010
  

Building a Monument to Truth: May 26th

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This month Anne Gordon, Ulster County historian and Branch member, will discuss the work underway to raise a monument to Sojourner Truth in the new park on the former site of the Port Ewen Town Hall.

Truth was born into slavery in 1797 and lived the first 30 years of her life in an area that now is part of the town of Esopus, some of it working in a tavern on the very site of the park. Last month Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and others unveiled a bronze bust of Truth, which will be permanently displayed in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol.

Anne chairs the Sojourner Truth Monument Committee.

Kingston Library, May 26th, 7-9 pm
Bring a friend

How would you fix health care?

The Obama-Biden Transition Team is asking people to contribute their own thoughts and ideas for how to fix the system at Health Care. They've asked people to organize Community Discussions all across the country, and Ruth Wahtera, a member of our branch public policy committee has volunteered to host a discussion this Saturday. Details are on the Unofficial Passions blog here.

If you would like to host a discussion before December 31st, you can find the information on the Transition website. The Transition Team provides a moderator's guide and a participant's guide. They include a half dozen or so questions to discuss and provide directions for getting feedback to them.

If you haven't visited the Transition website, take a look. They're working hard to use web 2.0 tools to engage us all.

AAUW Branch Members at the United Nations

AAUW Kingston Branch members visit the United Nations on December 2nd for the conference: The Impact of Climate Change on Women and Children. Left to right: Garnette Arledge, President, Janine Mower, Irene Miller, Susan Holland, and Denise Springer

BOARD RETREAT JUNE 12

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

All interested AAUW members are invited to join the upcoming joint board planning session in Rosendale, Thursday, June 12, 10 am to 2 pm. We'll gather for four-hours, including lunch, at the mountain top center, LifeBridge.

Here are excerpts from the web to begin your thinking how we can benefit from our time together:

Excellent boards attend to detail and also take time to look at the bigger picture. Retreats away from the usual place of meeting and with a different kind of agenda are a good way to self-examine and explore how the board might adjust its style and composition to get focused results. According to Dr. Sandy Hughes of BoardSource, an annual retreat is considered a “best practice” for boards. . .

Recently, the board of a three-year-old organization gathered for a tightly packed four-hour session, including a working meal, having crafted an ambitious agenda: Flexibility was the key. . .

Most organizations are a work in progress, still refining strategy, seeking to expand the base of members and public participation. . .

With assistance from a timekeeper, the facilitator’s role is to keep the group on task and to ensure that everyone had a chance to talk. And talk we will do – freely and openly – but in a spirit of respect and sensitivity for each other. . .

In the course of those four hours (which ended precisely on time) the example board generated ideas for marketing and publicity, new tricks for fund-raising, for programs and ideas for new initiatives.

What are your ideas? Let me know your interest in joining this opportunity. Even if you cannot be present, I would like to present your thoughts and vision for KAAUW next year.

With thanks, Garnette

Kingston Branch Receives President's Award - Honorable Mention

It's the first night of the AAUW NYS Convention and we're already receiving recognition. This is the first year of the President's Award. The plan is to recognize two branches that implemented exemplary mission-related programs. Well, we didn't receive the award, but they felt they wanted to recognize Kingston for our use of technology. Here's Irene Miller, Ruth Wahtera, and Susan Holland with our Honorable Mention certificate. We are delighted to have our work recognized.

This afternoon at the resolution caucus, we were surprised by some opposition to the Clean Election resolution. Some members expressed concern that this effort would divert members from the AAUW NYS public policy goals. We think it is central to accomplishing our goals. So tonight the three of us worked on an amendment we'll propose tomorrow. The amendment clearly states the relationship between Clean Elections and our goals. Wish us luck.

Lilly Ledbetter was the keynote speaker tonight. Her story is compelling and it extends beyond the Supreme Court ruling.

For two decades at Goodyear Tire, Lilly Ledbetter was paid less than any man in her position. The Supreme Court ruled that since she did not file suit within 180 days of receiving the first discriminatory paycheck (even though the company forbade employees to reveal their salaries) she is unable to ever collect any back pay. A bill in Congress to make the 180 day clock start after each act of discrimination failed this week to get enough votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster or override a veto threat.

She spends much of her time now working for passage of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She reported on her week in Washington and how close we came. But not close enough.

So that's the news from Cooperstown. What's happening with that tour of Washington, folks? Or, did you leave your computers home???

How to Register for Focus the Nation

Our AAUW Board Member Doris Goldberg's artwork of the Hudson River past-present-future has been chosen for the Focus the Nation teach-in and Art Installation.

You can see Doris' work at the Bard Art Reception Friday, February 1st, 6:30-7:30 pm. Update: the exhibit will be on display through Feb. 7th.

Update: you can read Doris' post on her creative process here -- link.

FOCUS the NATION is a national teach-in at over 1,300 institutions of learning. Government, educational institutions, faith groups, civic organizations and businesses will collaboratively engage in an interdisciplinary discussion about " Global Warming Solutions for America."

Click for more information:
REGISTER (note: you will not get a confirmation email after registering)
SCHEDULE (Word document)
Panel sessions (Word document)