UPCOMING EVENTS

“Mad Hatter” Holiday Tea

Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2024, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Sharon Spinardi’s house

(see membership directory for address)

Check out the Programs page for a schedule of other upcoming events!

OCTOBER MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Warm autumnal greetings AAUW!

We kicked off the 88th year of the Merced AAUW branch on Saturday, September 14th. In case you missed it, Stephanie Dietz was our guest speaker reintroducing us to the Merced Community Foundation- a cause worth supporting whose goal is to help bring about dynamic and enriching changes to Merced.  Stephanie started by telling her own back story. Her career path and achievements are truly inspiring!

I chose UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES for this year’s theme, and we had fun sharing our own stories of times when we discovered something purely by surprise. Some of your stories were real whoopers!

We have added a trip to our schedule this year. Yosemite in late March. At our next event, we will announce the date and details of that trip. Kathleen Hull has offered to guide us on some trails and share from her vast knowledge of Yosemite. Our own Trekkers will also offer short hikes. Even though we’ve all visited Yosemite many times, it is our hope that this trip will be rich in new knowledge and experiences. In preparation for the trip, Dee Near shared the book Guardians of the Valley about the efforts John Muir (and others) made to protect and preserve Yosemite (and Hetch Hetchy — a failed effort). As we live in close proximity to Yosemite and
are often called on to serve as ambassadors for the park, I believe that this will be a highly interesting read – filled with (what else?) unexpected discoveries!

Looking ahead – our next event will take place at the Gracey Room (County Library) on Tuesday, October 15th at 6:00 p.m. Merced County District Attorney, Nicole Silveira, will be our guest speaker. Her topic will be Teen Concerns. Following their discussions, you are invited to tour the Mary Hoffman Center on the 3rd floor of the library. Your donations helped create this innovative space for the teens of our community.

On this delightfully cool morning, I was out picking another hundred or so limes, reminiscing about the Fall Brunch, and hoping that you found a delicious use for all those limes. I hope that this autumn brings you many delights and unexpected discoveries!

Until our next event, Cheers!

 

 

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