Some of the ladies in the Stroller Walking Group
May is the month we celebrate Mothers and here at International Neighbors, we are honoring our Founding Mothers and all our volunteers in this month’s newsletter and at our 65th International Neighbors Annual Meeting and Lunch.
Founding Mothers, as the name suggests, are the ladies who took care of International Neighbors through its infancy and guided the organization to what it is today - a 65 year old organization dedicated to welcoming ladies from all over the world, focusing on friendship and cultural exchange.
Founding Mothers Shirley Wolfe and Ann Staiger
I imagine many of our members don’t know who the Founding Mothers are. I will be the first to confess that I didn’t know who they were. Of course, they don’t usually walk around with a sash promoting their title, so it was an eye opener to read Robyn’s “Founding Mothers” and each of these ladies’ introductions in this month’s newsletter. By reading each Mother’s introduction and seeing their photos (and we have several terrific photos), you might realize that, indeed, you are acquainted with some of them. We don’t have introductions to all the Founding Mothers in this issue, but we present you with several wonderful ladies: Frankie Simonds, Martha Bhatia, Barb Banet and Jolanta Nowak. We also remember some of the ladies who have passed on: Shirley Axon, Marilyn Maaseidvaag, Mary Munson and Shirley Wolfe.
Founding Mothers cut our International Neighbors 60th Anniversary cake.
From left Shirley Axon, Frankie Simonds, Ann Staiger, Marilyn Maaseidvaag, and Helga Schacht.
The ever bright and energetic Frankie, did one better by writing her own memories in “Reflections”. It is easy to see why Frankie, who was IN’s President twice and introduced organization concepts and worked on several projects at IN, is such an important part of IN’s history.
We also commemorate the birthdays of two long standing members in “Happy Birthday, Carolyn S.!” and “Happy 101st Birthday, May!”
As you know, our 65th International Neighbors Annual Meeting and Lunch will be on May 25th. We will be honoring all these ladies in person at Venue, a restaurant, and the $15 ticket will pay for your meal. Robyn has been very busy organizing the event and she assures me that there will be both non-vegetarian and vegetarian selections in the menu. Because of the arrangements with the restaurant, we ask you to confirm your presence for this event until May 18th. You can reserve your seat and buy your ticket on our website. To pay by check, please contact Robyn at tea@international-neighbors.org
For more information, check our invitation below.
During our Annual Meeting we will also vote our new officers in. That means that this will be the last event under Andra’s presidency. As Andra steps down from her position, she will have served five years as IN president. She leaves us with one last “President’s Letter”.
We, in turn, offer Andra “A Fond Farewell and Thank You!” for all her years of service. After so many years, it will be strange not having her as president anymore, but don’t despair: we will continue to see her as she presides over the “Let’s Make Music” group at our IN Day gatherings.
Hiking Group
It is easy for us to stay with our circle of friends or the IN groups we love. But have you ever wondered what is happening to all the other IN groups? Do you wonder what it takes to keep IN running? The “Annual Reports” gives you a condensed version of all that was done during the year in all areas of IN.
Finally, Carole reminds us that it is time to update our information with IN. Did you move? Maybe some of your information has changed? Please take some time to let us know. Read her reminder in “A Note from the Memberdata Team”.
We hope to see you on May 25th for our 65th International Neighbors Annual Meeting and Lunch, but if we don’t see each other there, have a good summer and the IN Newsletter will be back in September!
