HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FEBUARY MEETING AT CEDAR GROVE COFFEE

Thank you Lauren Smith for the wonderful news about the young man in Kenya we sponsored last year. For those of you who could not be at the meeting here is what Lauren shared with us.

Late last year, many club members supported the Pink Elephant organization by donating toward the educational sponsorship of a young man named Ezekiel. This young man is from a small Masai village on the Kenya-Tanzania border. He comes from a community, and even culture, in which education is not of top priority. In order to stay in school, he faced many challenges, included rejecting pre-arranged marriages and going against his families wishes in order to continue his education. Each day, he walked 4.5 hours each way to school and studied at night by fire light. Even though he was 20 years of age, he was only in Class 8, which is our equivalent of the 8th grade. He wanted nothing more than to continue his studies and attend secondary school. In order to do so, a large sum of money would be required to cover the cost of boarding, tuition, books, uniforms, etc. for an entire year of schooling. Fortunately, with the help of BCWC, Pink Elephant was able to fulfill the educational sponsorship that would allow him to continue to secondary school in a larger town in Kenya. As of the first of February, Ezekiel began school and was more than excited at the opportunity before him. His departing words were “You all have done your part, now it is time for me to do mine, and I will.” Congratulations and best wishes to Ezekiel as he embarks on this new journey in his life, one that will forever change his future. We couldn’t be more proud to have invested in such an inspirational young man! 

Here are a few of the pictures from our last meeting. 

Member Spotlight ... Lori Puchino...

I would like to introduce you to one of our  members in the Bullitt County woman's Club. her name is Lori Puchino, She joined in 2010 during our Annual  Salad Supper Membership Drive. Lori is a long time Bullitt County resident and has lived in Mt. Washington for most of those years. Lori is married with two grown children. She is the Director of the Mt. Washington Main Street Program where she is employed. 

Lori is very active in our community she serves as the Chair of the Conservation Committee with the Bullitt County Woman's Club, they are working towards bringing awareness of the needs to conserve our natural resources and the great need in recycling in our community. There long term goals are to have recycling centers in each of the cities in Bullitt County. 

Lori also is a part of the CASA Board of Directors and The U of K Cooperative Extension Office family and Consumer Sciences Council. Lori is a member of the Bullitt County Hospitality and Tourism Association and she is a Lioness with the Mt. Washington Lions Club.

The women in our club are active in the community and are working hard to make Bullitt County a wonderful place to raise a family. Thank you Lori for all the hard work you are doing for Bullitt County. 

Remembering and Honoring One of BCWC's Finest...........

Yesterday we lost one of our own. She was an amazing woman and a faithful club member. Sue Calvert went to be with the Lord yesterday after a battle with cancer. She defeated cancer around 15 years ago and was a healthy vibrant breast cancer survivor.

She started the first support group here in Bullitt County and was dedicated to letting women of all ages know how to stay alert and up to date on everything concerning Breast Cancer Awareness. She was the Keynote speaker this past year for the Think Pink Banquet at Paroquet Springs Conference Center. She lived an amazing life helping others succeed at a time in there life  when they were fighting there greatest battle.

Christmas Tea 2008 with her Daughter Diana

2008 Christmas Tea Honoring Breast Cancer Survivor's

Horses and Hope at Churchill Downs 

She joined the Bullitt County Woman's Club in 2007 and was part of the team of women that put on the Irene Carroll Style Show. Everyone knew that when Sue said she was going to do something they didn't have to worry it was going to get done. Sue was the Hostess Chair for the Style Show for many years, and in a few years she was a model and we were able to find one of the pictures where she modeled. She was our President in 2010. During her time as President she helped with the Improvements to the Domestic Violence Center here in Bullitt County. Over the last few years Sue worked on the Style Show Committee and she was the Website Chairman.

2014 Chair Woman Training

Sue was a Member of First Baptist Church of Mt. Washington and sang in the Worship Choir with Betty Porter for many years. Sue and Donna Stout were best friends from high school. There children played ball together all through school. The rest of this blog post is a photo tribute of her life.

We will miss you Sue, thank you for being our fellow club member and our friend! Today we celebrate you and your life.

January 2015 Public Issues Meeting...

Our January Meeting was centered on Public Issues we had two great speakers our first speaker was Kenneth Bernardi with the Shepherdsville Police Department he spoke on personal safety and Internet safety.

Our next speaker was Phil Lloyd-Sidle the Director of the Center for Women and Families. He shared with the club what the center does here in Bullitt County and what we can do to help the center.

We had a very informative meeting and had a great time of fellowship. Next month our meeting will be the International Outreach Committee, we will be meeting at Cedar Grove Coffee Shop.  We look forward to seeing you there.  

NEW MEMBER LUNCHEON JANUARY 2015

Our first New Member Luncheon was a great success! We were able to learn a lot about our new members and they were able to ask questions and learn a lot about the Woman's Club.  We were able to explain how our committees work and how they are split up into Special Committee's and  Standing Committee's. We also told about how our Hostess Committee's work.

We have a great group of ladies joining our club please give them a big welcome as they come in and work along besides us in our many endeavors. Be sure to read our Blog regularly so you don't miss out on there Member spotlights.

Ladies welcome to the Bullitt County Woman's Club. I hope you enjoy working along side of the many women that make up our club.

A Word From President Pam Harville

Dear Club Women,

I hope you are as excited about the New Year as Sherry and I. My goal is to make this a most exciting and fun year, with Sherry helping us learn all the new technology! Having the calendar, blogging and Facebook, we will be able to keep up with everything that is going on and bring even more new members into the club. I want you all too know that you're the greatest group of women i've ever known. I look forward to working with you in 2015. I know if I need help all I have to do is give a shout out.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who came out to the Installation Dinner. The hostess committee did an excellent job with all the decorations and desserts. A huge thank you to Lou Ann Moore and Barbara Crume for the superb food, these ladies out did themselves!

Icy thank you for all the Photographs, you did a wonderful job. I want to send a special thanks to Joyce Bell and Linda Peterson for coming and giving a wonderful presentation for the Installation of Officers ( Great Job!)

Gaye, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your dedication and tremendous loyalty to the Woman's Club. You always seem to have a smile on your face. Your love for God and your patience have been an inspiration to me. You always find the good in people. I have some big shoes to fill! May God Bless You.

Let's make this a great year and thanks for your support!

Pam Harville
2015-2016 Club President
Bullitt County Woman's Club

2014 YEAR IN REVIEW...PART TWO

Well, now for part two of the many things our club has done over the 2014 club year. We are a busy group of women and we all try to reach out to those around us and give them a hand up. We had our Bake Sale on May 12 at the Bethel United Methodist Church and it was a wonderful occasion of baked goodness. John Wigginton and Mike Mann entertained us while we sampled the many  delicious baked items. The bidding was lively at times and fun was had by everyone. The Bake Sale was a wonderful success as we raised $1800.00! We donated $900 to CASA and $900 went to the general fund to help with other programs and projects of the club.

For our June meeting we had a wonderful family night with children bring there art work for our First Annual Fine Arts Children's Art Showing. We had many of our children's art work and some from the area schools as well. We had a wonderful night and a great turn out. We hope the Art Showing will continue to grow every year.

In August our meeting centered around education we learned about how to prepare our finances for the future and what we need to have in case of an emergency and we are hospitalized or have an accident or become very sick. The Education Committee also joined forces with the Bullitt County Sheriffs office in providing desserts for their Annual DARE Chili Supper where we helped raise over $998 for the DARE Program for Bullitt County.

In September we had our Annual Salad Supper where we gained 7 new members in our club. This was wonderful news for our club. We had the Salad Supper at the beautiful home of Barbara Plenge and it was a beautiful evening every visitor that came had a wonderful time as well as all of our club members.

In October we had our Annual Talent Auction where we had our club members bring something they had made or something hand made by someone they new. We also gave money into the Pink Elephant Organization to help send a student in Kenya to school we raised $150 for the students educational expenses that night. The Talent Auction raised a total of $1522 which is double what has been raised over the last several years. Thank you to everyone that bought something or helped prepare food over the last year you have made this year 2014 a complete success.

We are now into 2015 and planning on making many great things happen in Bullitt County we are a great group of dedicated women that love Bullitt County and helping our fellow Bullitt County residents.

2014 Year in Review...Part One

This past year has been a busy fun filled year. We as a club have accomplished a lot together.
During our January meeting we had the Superintendent Bullitt County Schools speak and he shared with us a few of the milestones that our Bullitt County School system has reached.

In February we held a Shop and Share at the Shepherdsville Kroger and had a wonderful turnout. We were able to raise over $2,300  to help support the local Domestic Violence Center, The Center For Women and Families.

We even had a few awards given to some of our members. In February Lori Puchino received State Runner up for Small Farmers Market. Through the Kentucky Department of Ag/State Farmers Market Program. Way to go Lori.

During the March meeting Lauren Smith introduced us to the Pick Elephant Organization. There goal is to connect students in places of need with mentors around the world that can be a support and positive figure for the students. Our own Lauren Smith is one of the founders of this organization, thank you for all your work you are doing around the world Lauren.

Lauren's first partner site is Nakuru Kenya. We as a club gave money to help fund the education of a student in Kenya through her Pink Elephant organization.

In April we held our annual Irene Carroll Style Show at the Paroquet Springs Conference Center. It was a wonderful time of fashion and fun. We sold over 200 shares and we made over $500 on our silent auction and had over $1700 in donations. The high light of the Style Show was that we were able to give three scholarships to three Bullitt County seniors.

Our President Gaye Gardner, Our 1st Vice President Pam Harville and our Parliamentarian Donna Burke attended the GFWC Kentucky State Convention in Lexington, Kentucky. Our club received several awards at the convention this year. We received 1 st place for our Press Book Category 1. We received 2nd Place for our  Community Improvement Project.

Our GFWC Signature Project: Domestic Violence Awareness Received International Outstanding Achievement Award. Carol McLaughlin received 2nd place for her basket.

There are many more things each one of us have been a part of these are only a few of the things we have accomplished over the first part of 2014.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT... CYNDI WHITE

Good morning,  I would like to take a few minutes and introduce you to one of our members. Her name is Cyndi White she has been in our club quite some time. She was introduced to the club by Barbara Wright. Her and her Husband Randy have lived in Mt. Washington many years.

Cyndi is very active in her community she sits on the board of Mt. Washington Main Street where she is currently the Secretary/ Treasurer and The Club at Twelve Oaks.

 Cyndi is active in  Bullitt County Extention Council, Bullitt County Extention Family and Consumer Science Committee.  She is also active at Bernheim Forest she has done a lot of volunteer work there. She was a BSA ( Boy Scouts of America) Assistant leader for many years, a merit badge counsellor, a crew Advisor, a Hunter safety Education Instructor and a NRA rifle instructor.  She also earned the Woodbadge award and received brotherhood membership in the order of the arrow.She also assists with the Mt. Washington Farmers Market when she has time.

Cyndi has been married to her husband Randy since 1980. They have one son named Bryan. Cyndi and her husband love traveling now that he has retired. They love going on cruisies and flying their plane.

Cyndi has been a Chair of Conservation Committee and former Chair of CIP and she has been Hostess Chair as well. Cyndi is interested in Conservation CIP and Home Life.

Cyndi is on Facebook and Google Plus be sure to take a few minutes and send her a friend request and add her on Google Plus.

NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT...NIKKI PREWITT...

I would like to take a few minutes and introduce you to one of our new members. She is the daughter-in-law of Jacque Prewitt. I hope you take time and add her to your Facebook page and to say hello when you see her out and about in the community.

Nikki was just married in June of 2013 to Anthony Prewitt. She has a daughter named Emma. When Nikki isn't taking care of her family she is hard at work at the American Seniors Communities, as a Licensed health facility Administrator by trade, but her current role with her company is a Regional Marketing Director. She is also the owner of Southern Belles and Babes Boutique, a woman's online clothing boutique.

Nikki has lived in Bullitt County for 20 years. She grew up in Mt. Washington and after graduating from Western Kentucky University she moved back to the area.

Nikki joined the Bullitt County Woman's Club to become more active in the community and to become part of an organization she can relate to on a personal level.

Nikki has become the co-chair of the Style show with Lou Ann Moore. She will be learning everything about how to successfully put on a great style show. She will be great asset to Lou Ann, she is very organized and is great at event planning.

Welcome to the Bullitt County Woman's Club Nikki.

HAVING FUN AT CHAIRWOMAN TRAINING...

On October 25 we had a Training to get the new chairwomen ready for the 2015 club year. We have added a lot of new technology to our club and we had a training to update the chairwomen on the new technology, and to share the new Club Manuel for 2014-2016. It was a great time of fun, fellowship and training.

 

Invitation to Waveland State Historic Site

Hi Ladies,
Our President Gaye Gardner has passed on some information about Waveland Historic Site in Lexington, Ky.   It is from Charla Reed who is the Event Coordinator.   She wanted to let us know about their TEA TUESDAYS AT WAVELAND.   They will be hosting teas staring in November and continuing through spring of 2015.  If our group would be interested, teas will be served in the mansion with a tour and presentation which can be customized for our group.   The price of teas will be $25.00 per person and will be served at 2:00pm.  They will be able to accommodate up to around 25 people.  They are currently taking reservations.   If any you have questions please feel free to call.

Contact info is

Charla Reed
Parks Sales Coordinator
225 Waveland Museum Ln
Lexington,Ky  40514
859-272-3611   Office
859-619-8189   Cell

Website:  Waveland




Might be a nice day trip if we can get a group together.

A WORD FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

Hi ladies. October is wrapping up and we will soon be starting a new year. I think this club is going to have some exciting things happening in 2015! Get to know your fellow club members. Go have lunch, dinner or meet for coffee. Get to know each other. I have to admit when I first joined the club, I really wish my best friend from Texas was here with me. It's always more fun when you are doing things with your closest friend! And although I still wish my best friend was up here, I now have fun with new friends in the club. That makes it so much more fun.

I heard a story recently from one of the owners of  Two Guys Printing. She told me about how she use to be a part of the Bardstown Woman's Club, and that her mom was a State President one year. She went to her first State Convention as the newest member and the member who had been part of the Federation the longest were being honored it turned out to be her and her mom, as she was a brand new member. I loved hearing that story... the history. Even though it was about another club in Federation, it was wonderful to hear about. Of course, I've asked her to come and check out the Bullitt County Woman's Club. If you are in Two Guys Printing invite the ladies in there to come and join us.

All new members are exciting, but it was cool that Jacque Prewitt's daughter-in-law joined recently. I love seeing women in the same family being a part of this club...like Betty Porter and Jennifer, or Carol McLaughlin and her mom Kathrynn and of course Lou Ann Moore and her mom Barbara Crume. If I had a daughter, I'd have her right along with me in BCWC.

We will be having Chairman's Training on Saturday at my home. This is to help all officers and chairs be prepared to do the best job possible for each of you!

Now go invite someone to be your new club partner!

TALENT AUCTION NEWS....

What a wonderful turnout for our Talent Auction this year!

I chose to prepare some special auction cards in the shape of a key for this year's Talent Auction, in honor of the theme symbol chosen by GFWC/ Kentucky Federation President, Susan Alexander.

Those keys floated up and down all evening and I had to smile as some were turned in early to avoid the temptation of raising them again after some pretty exuberant bidding.

 

We had such an awesome display of talent up for auction that it even impressed our Auctioneer, Bryan Gifford, who kindly stepped in at the last minute to provide his services, free of charge.

Speaking of Bryan, he did an absolutely amazing job of drawing each of us in to bid top dollar.  His efforts and the fruits of our labor brought in a whopping $1522, over double what has been raised for several years past.

The proceeds of this fundraiser contributed to our general fund in order to provide monies needed for various Bullitt County Woman's Club events throughout the year.

A big thanks to Pat Kelly and new member Icy Parker, for playing our Vannas at this year's event and thanks also to Barbara Crume who organized getting the auction items beautifully displayed as they arrived, while I was tied up in the Executive Committee Meeting. One last huge thank you to Denise Lafferty, our event hostess, and her crew, who served up some good eats for everyone to enjoy throughout the evening. 

To everyone who participated in this year's event should collectively pat ourselves on the back for making this year's Talent Auction a fantastically successful event.

Donna Burke, Chair

BCWC Talent Auction

Committee