Hea

rt to

Hea

rt

mistake NO ONE is watching you eat while you sit at the head table, they really don’t care to watch you anyway.

6. Most importantly – there is a table cloth covering the front of the table, so no one can see under it…

Personally it has been a year of great joy, great laughter, tears, anxiety and lots of love. I jok-ingly told someone, I wear black shoes so that when I put out the fires that crop up, no one will notice that my shoes weren’t black before then. I thank each of you for the honor of being your President this past year. Without each of you it could have been less fun, less joy and less love. My theme this past year of Heart to Heart, has been carried on and shows itself in each member as we work to better the lives of those whom we touch. We are hard working, we are strong, we are united, and WE ARE SOROPTI-MIST INTERNA-TIONAL OF CHICO.

With my heart full,

Renè Boyes-Murdo ♥

I have been honored to be your President this year and will always cher-

ish the memories I have gathered this year. As we prepare to close one year, 2008-2009 and move into our 80th year, 2009-2010, we rejoice over our many milestones as SI Chico… past, pre-sent and future. ♥ We celebrate our

documentary DVD ‘Our Club through Our Eyes’ which documents who we are and where we have come from.

♥ We have enjoyed an increase in our mem-bership, (even in today’s tough econ-omy),

♥ our webmaster is building a wonderful new website, and

♥ we have continuing success with our Home, Garden & Antique show.

I pay tribute to our many, many talented members who have made these things a reality. I honor our members who are the rock that our club

is built on. We have the tradition of

a long and illustrious past. We are blessed with members who have continually worked to do their best for Soroptimist International. We always

look at the bigger picture. We are a hard working group of women who agree to disagree, we laugh with each other (never at each other), we are loyal, we are strong and we are among the first to step in and up saying ‘what can I do to help?’ This has been a year of personal discovery; just to mention some of the truism’s I have learned: 1. How busy you do

become as President. 2. How willing mem-

bers are to step up to the plate to ensure that things get done as they should be done.

3. You MUST ask the hard questions.

4. Even if you know what the outcome of something is going to be, you still need to do it if it is the right thing to do.

5. At times no one is listening to you any-way, so they won’t know if you make a

A Message from Renè

Soroptimist International of Chico

2008200820082008----2009 Committee Reports2009 Committee Reports2009 Committee Reports2009 Committee Reports

HIGHLIGHTS

♥ “Our Club Through Our

Eyes” Documentary

Premier

♥ Award Winner Honored

at Sierra Nevada

Regional

♥ Increased Membership

♥ Home, Garden &

Antique Show Success

Hea

rt to

Hea

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The ‘08/’09 Member-ship Committee had quite an active year! As a result of hosting “Getting to Know Us” functions for prospective new members at the Goodman House B & B in September, November, January, February and April, we increased the membership with a total of 22 new mem-bers.

The Membership Committee hosted the Octo-ber Halloween meeting with decorations and costumes. John Rubino was our special guest and carved very unusual & creative pumpkins & donated them to Ways & Means to auction off. Our wing clipping was performed by our own Farmer Brown’s Gayle Aylward & Joyce Brown We also hosted the February Valentine’s meeting with a surprise Cupid (Nan Timmons) arriving to clip wings. Members of the committee do-nated special items for a Valentine basket to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the SI Chico Relay for Life team. After Hours were held at Bidwell Perk (Michelle Power), Dream Dinners (Loree Synder & Jan Sveiven), Spelts Wealth Management (Kim Huber) and Agua Azul (Brenda Miller). It was an opportunity for members to showcase their businesses. They were fun, informative and well attended. Members of the committee interviewed different club members each month and submitted one or

two lines of interesting tidbits to e-Blast for “Did You Know” articles. What a fun way to get to know our members better!

New-bie’s Nite Out was an an-nual social event held in May for our one-

year members to attend with their sponsors. In a relaxed atmosphere the Newbies can ask ques-tions about any concerns that have come up and share ideas they found helpful in getting indoc-trinated into the club. We remind them of things they should know to get the “most” out of being a SI Chico member. Laura Burghardt designed a year-end retention survey, and the results were given to the Presi-dent, President Elect, Vice President and the program committee for review for 2009-2010. The Membership committee also designed a “Sponsorbilities” form to give to sponsors when their prospective new members are inducted. Sharadin Castaldo acted as liaison between SI Chico and Bidwell Rancho. The Membership Committee also posted up-coming events on the SI Chico website calendar and submitted Membership information to the Tapestry monthly and any pertinent information to the weekly eBlast. Many thanks to the entire committee for a job well done! Submitted by Bev Rozendaal, Co-Chair

2008-2009 Membership Committee

Nan Timmons plays

CUPID as part of wing-

clipping

Page 2 2008-2009 COMMITTEE REPORTS

“we increased

the

membership

with a total

of 22 new

members.”

Co-Chairs

Bev Rozendaal Candie Williamson Kit Tzikas, Liaison Charlotte Drew Gail Holmes Gayle Aylward Joyce Brown

Laura Burghardt Margo Graham Marilyn Anderson Rita Lehr Sharadin Castaldo Susan Evers McCauley Tish Gabel

The entire committee worked diligently to put together the year’s entertaining and educa-tional programs. In addition to the weekly programs, this committee worked with Jeanne Rawlings, Dus-tlight Productions, in the production of the DVD “Our Club through Our Eyes.” This very successful video spotlights our club’s past presidents and accomplishments It was shown to our club on February 25, 2009. The video was also shown at the annual SI California Nevada Region conference Programs Committee line budget. There were no personnel costs charged by Jeanne Rawlings. Hard costs consisted of copying costs and music. To cover the additional costs, the DVD’s were sold at club and at Conference.

•Hard costs to produce the video were paid from the Programs Committee line budget. There were no personnel costs charged by Jeanne Rawlings. Hard costs consisted of copying costs and music. To cover the additional costs, the

DVD’s were sold at club and at Conference.

•We are much indebted to Jeanne Rawlings and her assistant Karen Sinell for the production of this excellent snapshot of our club’s his-tory. It has been a pleaAsure to serve with this board and bring these programs to the club. Submitted by Rosie Potestio, Co-Chair Diane Fossum, Co-Chair

Page 2

2008-2009 Program Committee

Salvation Army Rehab Center August 27, 2008

CAPD Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Women’s Resource Clinic

September 10, 2008

September 17, 2008

SIA TAIWAN CONFERENCE REPORT

Habitat for Humanity in Central America

SI/Chico BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Halloween Party

October 8, 2008

October 15, 2008

October 22, 2008

October 29, 2008

Jesus Center Feather River Hospice

November 12, 2008 November 19, 2008

Club Birthday Party/Honoring Past Presidents

Heart Health

Think Pink

Valentine’s Party

January 14, 2009

January 21, 2009

January 28, 2009

February 11, 2009

American Heart Association

“Our Club Through Our Eyes” Premier

February 18, 2009

February 25, 2009

Awards & Recognition:

SAVE Program

Saving Girls from Prostitution

Awards & Recognition:

Salvation Army Graduates

Foster Care Presentation

Helping Girls in Kenya

April 8, 2009

April 15, 2009

April 22, 2009

April 29, 2009

May 13, 2009

May 20, 2009

June 10, 2009

2008/2009 Programs in Review

Co-Chairs Rosie Potestio, Diane Fossum, Kit Tzikas, Liaison Betty Wakefield Cheryl Tuck-Smith Jane Alt

Karen Sinell Leslie Holmes Louise Bullard Renee Everett Sara Nelson Vickie Johnson Sherry Holbrook

respective facilitator members.

We requested that they update

their contact lists during the

process and save information

regarding this year’s recipients.

We also chose possible dates

for our award presentations

during our weekly Club meet-

ings and then confirmed those

with the Program Committee.

Our committee as a whole was

dedicated, enthused, and cohe-

sive and were on target for

meeting their deadlines. They

justly promoted their award to

Our committee meetings were

held on the second Tuesday of

each month at noon at the

Umpqua Bank Office building

boardroom. Our space was

generously provided by mem-

ber Tammy Gregersen in their

boardroom.

During our first meeting held

on September 9, 2008 we had

introductions, reviewed each

award and members chose the

awards they wanted to facili-

tate. Notebooks from last

year’s awards were given to the

find the best prospects. Judges

were competent and neutral in

the decision making process.

Each award was handled with

the detail and respect it de-

served. Members contributed

to each others’ projects and

worked synergistically with

other committees to achieve

our goals.

Here is a brief description of

the criteria of the awards.

Making A Difference for

Women @ $3000 - Honors

women in our community who

2008-2009 Service Committee

2008-2009 Awards & Recognition Committee

This year’s Service Commit-tee’s budget was $32,110. Ad-ditionally we have $3054.00 in the Special Projects fund which was not used. We divided our money as fol-lows:

Some of the projects we sup-port annually are Christmas Baskets for Shut in’s, Adopt-A-Family, Jesus Center, and Relay for Life along with the Chico Science Fair. Other projects this year are Humboldt Fire Victims fund and Yankee Hill Fire Safe Council, and the Peg Taylor Center for nursing services. Chico Community Food Locker and Salvation Army Food Bank, Innovative Pre-School, Girl Scouts and the Independent Living Services.

Catalyst also received money as did the Sunshine Kids. We also gave The Faye Bedford Award of $750 to the Torres Home-less Shelter for the children’s room and gave $750 to the

Annie B’s Microfinance Col-laborative.

It was a great year for Service and the committee participa-tion was awesome. Submitted by Linda Kerch, Co-Chair

Page 4 2008-2009 COMMITTEE REPORTS

“Service was

able to

contribute

$32,000 in

2008/2009”

Economic and Social

Development

$6,800

Environment

$2,300

Health $3,700

Education $10,870

Human Rights Status of Women

$3,250

IGU $5,838

Co-Chairs Linda Kerch Katy Warren Krista Grove Renè Boyes-Murdo Liaison Candy Murphy Elizabeth Stolp Jackie Travis Joanne Edwards Kim Huber LaDonna Joyner Linda Bates Linda Lotspeich Lisa Fitzgerald Lori West Marcia Zimmerman Margaret Van Laan Martin Michelle Power Sarah Fry

Continued at top of Page 5.Continued at top of Page 5.Continued at top of Page 5.Continued at top of Page 5.

have made outstanding

achievements in professional,

business, or volunteer activities

to enhance the lives of women

and relate to at least one of the

six areas of Soroptimist Ser-

vice. The regional winner goes

to Federation level.

Women’s Opportunity

Awards @ $1500 - Is to pro-

vide assistance through a cash

grant to women who serve as

primary breadwinners for their

families and who are seeking to

improve their employment

status by gaining additional

education skills. This is a SNR

sponsored award.

Violet Richardson Award @

$1800 - Young women 14-17

years of age who contribute

significantly to their commu-

nity. Recipients and a volun-

teer organization of their

choice receive a cash grant.

Continued from pre-

vious page.

Positive Parenting Award @

$4000 Honors individuals who

are working toward economic

independence, improving par-

enting skills, building self-

esteem and eliminating nega-

tive coping skills. This is a

Club only award.

Imagining Possibilities

Award @ $4000 (Dottie Locke

Memorial Fund) Recognizes

outstanding achievement ori-

ented young women who have

been in foster care and who are

being emancipated from these

programs.

Hand-Up Award @ $2000 -

Recognizes women over 40

years of age who have com-

pleted a training program to

improve their economic status

and who are entering the work-

force.

Scholarship Funds:

• Butte College @ $4000

-Scholastic achievement,

community volunteerism,

leadership, creativity, finan-

cial need.

• Chico Community

Scholarships @ $3000 -

same as above

Sheila Burson Honored at

Region:

SI Chico again enjoyed having

a Regional

“Women’s Op-

portunity Award”

winner with

Shelia Burson this

year. Shelia and

her guests at-

tended the Reno

conference to

accept her award.

Considerations

for the Future:

Carol Burr brought to our at-

tention the request from CSUC

to explore the possibility of

contributing to their HPPAE

Scholarship. This award aids

second year students to attend

on site training for Senior Aid

programs. Our commit-

tee had a presentation

from two of their repre-

sentatives. We have a

video and also all the

information to present

to next year’s Awards &

Recognition Committee.

At each award presenta-

tion, our member briefly

described attributes of

the winner and then they were

presented with their check, a

gift and a framed certificate.

The recipient was given a few

minutes to share about their

accomplishments, future plans

and, of course, express their

thanks. Those meetings were

definitely heart warming

events.

It is truly our mission in ac-

tion.

Submitted by Sherry Line-

Coil and Carolyn Nava

Page 5

Members

contributed

to each

others’

projects and

worked

synergistical

ly with other

committees to

achieve our

goals.

Co-Chairs Sherry Line-Coil Carolyn Nava Renè Boyes-Murdo, Liaison Marilyn Evers, Mentor Amy Hawes Barbara Evans Betty Boles Carol Burr Ester Kidwell Kris Johnston Marsha Cohen Roseann Bradley Tammy Gregersen

Awareds & Recognition Report Continued Awareds & Recognition Report Continued Awareds & Recognition Report Continued Awareds & Recognition Report Continued

The roster committee consists

of Bev Rozendaal, who

downloads photos, prints, cuts,

punches and collates pages for

updates and complete rosters.

She puts periodic updates in

the member’s mailboxes Susan

Evers McCauley, photographer

and editor of photos. Barbara

Evans also assists in putting

updates in the member’s mail-

boxes.

The roster committee has been

self sustaining and therefore

able to update the rosters,

when there is information

changes, for members at no

additional costs.

As of June 17, 2009, the cost

to purchase a roster with alpha

indices is $20.00. The cost to

update individual information

and/or a new picture is $8.00.

2008-2009 Special Events Committee

2008-2009 Roster Committee

what we can’t be

soroptimists without!

The Special Events Committee organized five (5) events dur-ing the 2008-2009 year for club members: End of Summer BBQ Au-gust 24, 2008 The Special Events Committee started the year with an End-of-Summer BBQ held at the home of member Gwen Cu-ratillo. The event was well at-tended by members and their families. Retreat September 25-27, 2008 The 2-1/2 day Retreat was held

in Folsom, CA. The Special Events committee worked diligently to fulfill the needs of the retreat for a fun and infor-mative time to be had by all attending. Accommodations and dining were well received.

Birthday Party (reception) January 9, 2009 The celebration of the club Birthday Party comprised two events at the start of 2009. A Friday evening recep-tion at the home of member Michelle Rasmussen brought together good food, potluck style, and many members. The evening was very social and members seemed generally to be having a good time.

Birthday Party (club meet-ing) January 14, 2009 The reception was followed up by the Soroptimist Birthday party at a regularly scheduled Wednesday club meeting. Beautiful large cakes of carrot and chocolate were sliced and served by Special Events com-mittee members as member Valene Posey expounded on the history of SI Chico activi-

ties and membership.

Installation June 13, 2009 The culminating event of the year was the Installation dinner for the 2009-2010 President Linda Dye and her Board. Held at Tuscan Ridge, the event was themed in Linda’s “Rosie the Riveter”-style “we can do it!” With a mild temper-ate climate agreeing with the evening, the event was pleas-ant.

Submitted by Roseanna Galindo-Kuhn, Co-

Chair

Page 6 2008-2009 COMMITTEE REPORTS

The culminating

event of the year

was the

Installation

dinner for the

2009-2010

President Linda

Dye and her

Board.

Co-Chairs Gina Grether Roseanna Galindo Kuhn Linda Dye Liaison Christine Douglas Donna Beauchesne Jackie Castaldo Janice O'Brien Jan Sveiven Jennifer Mojica Julie Regalado Kim Lange Loree Snyder M Elizabeth Norton Margaret Bomberg Michelle Rasmussen

We meet in the summer begin-

ning the new Soroptimist year

and whenever necessary to

discuss changes to rosters,

improvements and to place

orders for supplies, as needed.

Submitted by Bev Rozen-

daal

Roster Committee Bev Rozendaal Susan Evers McCauley Barbara Evans

2008-2009 Communications Committee

Communication

is commonly

defined as "the

imparting or

interchange of

thoughts,

opinions, or

information by

speech, writing,

or signs"

Wikipedia

Co-Chairs Kristen Staggs Carol Thomson Kit Tzikas Liaison Anne Johnson Billie Sommerfeld Janet Earl Jeanne Rawlings Jennifer O'Rourke Karen Huff L. Lea Wagner Tam Le

At the beginning of this club

year, the committee purchased

and put into use web-based

email service CONSTANT

CONTACT© for use of the

committee.

E-Blast Under the direction of

Janet Earl, the use of Constant

Contact greatly improved the

usefulness of the e-Blast to all

club members as a primary

communications tool. During

summer 2008 with messages to

members on an as-needed basis

to relay member health infor-

mation as well as fire emergency

information

Tapestry Tapestry became a

monthly newsletter for the club.

The electronic magazine

(ranging 106-120 copies per

issue) for each month of the

club year averaging 70 SI read-

ers/monthly issues. The Tapes-

try was entirely self-supporting

through advertising sales.

Club Press Releases & Pub-

licity Lea Wagner maximized

the club’s press relations, in-

cluding TV and magazine in

addition to print. An enhanced

media contact database is cur-

rent. The results are monthly

articles in Chico Enterprise

Record, Northstate Parent and

Senior Living magazines. The

article record is on file with Lea

Wagner.

Use of Survey & Polling Tool

At request of HGA Co-Chairs,

we designed and conducted a

survey of club members regard-

ing Home, Garden & Antique

show .

Additionally, the committee —

• Worked with Billie on

coming up and concepting

the vision of the new web-

site design

• Assisted HGA with all

levels of media and com-

munications for the event,

including tv commercial

content and design, ad

placement and design,

radio content and place-

ment

• Assisted with issues on

HGA website

• Assisted with HGA print

vendor with marketing

materials

• September 2008 reviewed

and analyzed annual

budget for the committee

to Board of Directors

• Committee members

attempted launching a SI

Chico blog

• Reviewed a draft of video

shot at 2008 HGA event

for future use

Submitted by Kristen Staggs, Co-Chair

Page 7

2008/2009 Administration Committee

Page 8 2008-2009 COMMITTEE REPORTS

“We continued

to fund

records

retention at the

CSU Chico

SPECIAL

Collections.”

The Committee met on an as-needed basis throughout the year. As

Co-Chair, I would like to extend my appreciation, although it was a

rather slow year, to the dedicated members for their attendance, par-

ticipation, hard work and good ideas that resulted in the Committee

having another successful year.

Budget Development & Presentation

Make the following recommendations to the Board and/or Member-

ship:

• Presented Final Budget for 2008/09 (Approved)

• Proposed Preliminary Budget for 2009/10 (Approved)

Annual Dues Development

Made the following recommendations to the Board and/or Member-

ship:

• Proposed a dues increase of $150. for Regular Members, $50. for

Life Members and $85. for Chico Life Members

(Approved)

Bylaws & Club Guidelines

Made changes to the existing Bylaws and Guidelines throughout the

year.

• Those changes are reflected in the Board Minutes

Records Retention

Made recommendations to the Board and/or Membership

• Approved monies from Archives Fund to cover costs of housing

archives in the CSU Chico Special Collections

• Continued adding archival materials as received from members to

our storage facility and CSU Chico Special Collections

Submitted by Juliann Clarke, Co-Chair

Co-Chairs Juliann Clarke Linda Buckingham Renè Boyes-Murdo Liaison Joan Stoner, Treasurer

Linda Lotspeich, Treasurer-elect Carolyn Dusenbury Dina Volenski Doris Arbuckle Lise Smith-Peters Valene McIntyre-Posey

2008-2009 Ways & Means Committee

Co-Chairs Chris Mulqueeney Mary Kay Ricketts Linda Dye, Liaison Annette Heileson Brenda Ranzenbach Donna Laskey

Florence Soares Davilos Gwen Curatilo Karen Escott Lauri Strauss Nancy Mendoca Teresa Gisske Val Bowlby Valerie Miller Vicki Reed

Happy Dollars have been very successful this year bringing in a total of $1,382.86. This included

two cookbooks donated by Joan Jackson, carved pumpkins at Halloween and other special extras.

Our Holiday Silent Auction netted $1,116.00 and was great fun. Our members are incredibly tal-

ented and generous.

Then there was “Miscellaneous Fundraising” which brought us

$785.75.

Our expenditures were $27; our profit for 2008-2009 was $3,257.61. Our

budget was $1,750 leaving us $1,507.61 more than we budgeted.

We tried to put together a Bunco night but couldn’t find an evening that

was open and not the week after HG&A.

Our spring Wine Tasting was held at Monk’s Wine Lounge. Keeley did a

great job for us. This one broke even.

All in all we had a good time and raised $3,275.61 for the General Fund.

Teresa Gisske generously donated her office conference room for our

monthly meetings and Donna Laskey and Annette Heileson were invalu-

able resources.

Submitted by Chris Mulqueeney, Co-Chair

Page 9

2008-2009 Home, Garden & Antique Show The HGA committee held a “getting started” meeting at Co-chair Lily English’s home in June. Our first planning meeting was in September. The Co-chairs, Linda Sheppard, Lily English, and I, Sydney Thompson, met with our board liaison, Linda Dye, to set an agenda and some guide-lines for the 2009 HGA Show, March 21 and 22. We formulated a budget based on past show’s expenses, trimming and eliminating items to better keep our expenses in line with the current economy. The budget was presented to and adopted by the SI Chico Board of Officers at the September board meeting. Our regular meetings we held the third Tuesday of each month at Music Express with 10 to 15 com-mittee members attending each meeting. Area coordinators for the different venues of the HGA show reported progress on sales and at-tractions. There was a bit of a chal-lenge in the outside sale venue but the problem was handled by the co-chairs. Co-chairs reported to the club each meeting, reminding them of the date, any help needed and gener-ally keeping the members informed of the progress of the preparations. HGA presented the pro-gram at two meetings – one for staffing and job training, the other to report and generally wind up the after-show details. The co-chairs maintained the HGA website, adding the vendors, activities and demonstration sched-ules. Advertising included postings on various websites, AAA’s magazine Via, a statewide insert in our local paper, magazines, newspapers, radio, television and billboards. Articles appeared in the local papers as well. The weather for the show was not wonderful with strong winds, rain and very chilly temperatures. We were, however, still able to have a very successful show with many compliments from vendors and attendees. Both the Marketplace and Antiques buildings were sold out in presales for 2010. Because we were very conscious of the state of the economy and had, therefore, kept expenses to a minimum, our profit for the show was a very respectable $64,000+. Submitted by Sydney Thompson, Co-Chair

Page 10 2008-2009 COMMITTEE REPORTS

Co-Chairs Linda Sheppard Lily English Sydney Thompson Linda Dye, Liaison Kit Tzikas, Liaison Barbara Todd Brenda Miller Carol Brazil Evelyn Mar Franki Sion Irene Cobeen Jeanette Summers Joan Johnson Lisa Furr Marilyn Anderson Marilyn Ey Marti Davis Michelle Olson Nicole Williams Peggy Dudman Robyn Barlow Shayla Waddell Sue Juanarena Traci Williams

MISSION 2010 HGA SHOW

It is the intention of the 2009-2010 committee to concentrate on increasing attendance through pre-sale tickets, a specific theme, more “name” presentations and promotions to the vendors and non-profit participants. We will also be continuing to streamline the preparations for the show to make a more efficient and less demanding process for future committees.

Page 10

Because we

were very

conscious of

the state of the

economy and

had, therefore,

kept expenses

to a minimum,

our profit for

the show was a

very

respectable

$64,000+.

2009-2010 Board of Directors

www,SICHICO.com

“We are an

international

volunteer

organization for

business and

professional

women who work

to improve the

lives of women

and girls, in

local

communities and

throughout the

world.”

Soroptimist International of Chico meeting each Wednesday for a lunch meeting at Manzanita Place