Minutes
of the 51st Annual District 1 Meeting
SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF THE AMERICAS NORTHWESTERN REGION
DISTRICT 1
Minutes of the 51st Annual Meeting Blaine, Washington
October 30 – 31, 2004
Saturday,
October 30, 2004
The
51st Annual District 1 Meeting was called to order at 9:00
a.m., October 30, 2004, by District 1 Director Sue Riney
at Resort Semiahmoo, in Blaine, Washington.
The
Flag Presentation was provided by Northwestern Region Governor
Linette Zimmerman, Past Governors Dede Olson, Connie Baer,
and Polly Dyer, with the Canadian flag brought in by Sarah
Phillips, SI Surrey Delta. The Pledge of Allegiance was led
by Karen Cox, Treasurer, Northwestern Region Venture. Gaye
Litka, SI Oak Harbor and District 1 Director Sue Riney sang “You
Raise Me Up”. Kathy Wagoner, District 1 Secretary,
led the Parade of Banners and Roll Call Ceremony.
District
Director Sue welcomed all attendees. Gary Tomsic, Blaine
City Manager, presented the official greeting and welcome.
The opening session was concluded and a short recess
ensued to change those seated at the Head Table.
The
Business Session convened and Director Sue introduced those
seated at the Head Table. Region Officers in attendance were
Northwestern Region Governor Linette Zimmerman and Northwestern
Region Secretary Carene Davis-Stitt. Also at the head table
were Marilyn Choates, SI Oak Harbor; and NWR Venture Treasurer
Karen Cox.
Secretary
Kathy made a date correction on page 2 of the Agenda from
2003 to 2004. Secretary Kathy moved that the Official Agenda
of the 51st Annual Meeting of District 1, Northwestern Region,
SIA, be approved as corrected, with changes deemed necessary
by the District Director. The motion was seconded and passed.
Renee
Recker, Registration Chair, SI Oak Harbor, gave the credentials
report. Motion made and seconded to approved the credentials
report. The motion passed. (See attachment, Official Credentials
Report.).
Secretary
Kathy moved that the minutes of the Fiftieth Annual District
1 Meeting be approved as distributed. The motion was seconded
and passed.
Director
Sue announced that the following individuals had agreed to
serve on the Minutes Review Committee: Jane Straight, President,
SI Cook Inlet; Juanita Robinett, President, SI Coupeville;
and, Linda Bowes, President, SI Seattle Metropolitan.
Communications
were shared by District Secretary Kathy.
District
Director Sue recognized the special Soroptimist members with
us. Happy 82nd Birthday was sung to Kay Reid of SI Bellevue
Metropolitan; Becky King, President of SI Oak Harbor for
her work in creating the new district banners; dignitaries
visiting from the Western Canada region were introduced;
35 first-time district meeting attendees were as recognized.
Also introduced were Past Governor Polly Dyer, SI Oak Harbor;
Immediate Past Governor and current member of the Board of
Directors of SIA, Dede Olson, SI Sno-King; Past Governor
and current member of the SIA Fund Development Council Connie
Baehr, SI Cook Inlet; and Immediate Past District 1 Director
and the
Coordinator of the Status of Women and Girls Committee,
Suzanne Harris, SI Anacortes. She also asked all those
that had served as a region board officer, District Director
or Secretary, a committee chair or district rep, and club
presidents to stand. The attendees applauded all so recognized.
Director
Sue introduced Northwestern Governor Linette Zimmerman for
her report, summarized as follows:
• Best
Practice Awards given in each program of
service by Soroptimist International are designed to recognize club
service projects that best reflect Soroptimist International’s
Programme Focus for the quadrennium and for us that means 2003-2007.
Northwestern Region took home two of the six awards. SI Coeur d’Alene
in District 3 for their project “The
Soroptimist Children’s
Counseling Center”, an entry in Human
Right/Status of Women; and, SI Twin Cities
(now known as SI The Kenai Peninsula) in
District 1 for their Young Women’s
Conference, an entry in economic and social
development.
• President Joan Cromer
announced that Saturday of Service has
gone international. Saturday of Service
began as a hands-on service project on
a Saturday in February by a club in Phoenix,
Arizona about 3 years ago. The day for
clubs to perform a Saturday of Service
in their communities is the Saturday in
March closest to International Women’s
Day. For 2005, that means Saturday March
5.
• On the federation level is
where we see the most significant changes
and movement forward. First is the Renaissance
Campaign. The Renaissance Campaign is a
5-year plan of renewal for our federation.
The “5 for Philly” membership
campaign, and Project Story: an historical
record of our clubs’ activities
through stories and pictures.
• The
project taken on by past governors, more
commonly known as the Ritz Bitz, the PIE
contest aimed toward increasing club participation
in the Women’s
Opportunity Award and Club Giving Campaign.
There are also significant changes in the
Making a Difference for Women Award. There
will be only one award given by each club
this year.
• We reorganized
our region committee structure to complement
the region’s
strategic plan. The region’s committee
structure and strategic plan are easily
adaptable to the club level. Part of the
philosophy of the re-organization is to
place more of the region’s work
into the hands of the district representatives.
This gives them leadership skills to become
region chairmen and to become district
and region officers. Concerning leadership,
the region board the last few years has
struggled with the differences between
leadership development and officer training.
The two share some similarities but have
more differences. Leadership development
is important for all of us to learn for
our lives in Soroptimist, for our lives
in our families, for our lives at work
and in our communities, and to become better
citizens of the world. Officer training
is important in our lives as leaders in
our own clubs.
• Each
person attending this weekend will receive
a leadership directory to give you one
mode of access to the officers and committee
chairmen for the region. This same information
is on the region website. All region forms
and documents are now on the website. This
includes the president’s calendar,
Fellowship Award Applications, Professional-Technical
Award applications, and bylaws and procedures.
All district meeting calls were placed
on the website only to give every member
of the region access to every other district’s
call to perhaps inspire you to attend meetings
in other districts. . We will now provide
access for clubs to put their club newsletters
on the website.
• Region goals for
the 2004-2006 biennium were discussed.
Central to the goals is to detail the strategies
and tasks in the region’s strategic
plan to make it a living, working document
that will guide the future of Northwestern
Region. Noted in the “goals” is
the plan to expand the role of Venture
as they move away from a federation structure.
• Northwestern
Region has been issued
a challenge from Governor Cathy Mitchell of Founder Region
concerning the Women’s
Opportunity Award. Soroptimist
International of the
Americas is awarding
Women’s
Opportunity Award funds
based on the number of
clubs that
participate in each region. Ultimately, we are in competition
with ourselves. Every region will get one, $5,000 award for
the region winner. The new part … For every 10 clubs
that participate in the Women’s Opportunity Award
program, the region will receive $3,000. NWR had 61 clubs
participate last year, so this year NWR will receive the
one $5,000 award and 6, $3,000 awards for a total of $23,000
to award in 2005. In addition, we have 6, $1,000 region
level awards. So we will award a total of $29,000 at the
region level to 13 women. The challenge: Governor Cathy
has challenged us on
the participation aspect. She believes that Founder Region
will have more clubs participating than Northwestern Region
during 2004-2005.
The
Renaissance Campaign was presented by Governor Linette and
Secretary Carene.
The “5 for Philly” program
was presented by Secretary
Carene, with a little assistance from those seated at the
head table.
Marilynn
Choates, SI Oak Harbor, presented her Helping Angels Read
Project (H.A.R.P.).
Site
coordinator Carolynn Kaetterhenry made announcements, and
a break in the meeting was called until noon.
The
meeting was reconvened by District Director Sue at 12:00
noon. Introductions were made of those seated at the head
table. The Inspiration was Bernie Bell, President, SI Tacoma.
Following lunch, we heard from our keynote speaker, Noémi
Schoënberger Ban,
an award winning teacher
and public speaker who
shared her experiences
at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
Following announcement
by Site Coordinator Carolynn,
District Director Sue
recessed the meeting.
Afternoon
workshops were: “Officers
Workshop” presented
by Governor Linette and
Secretary Carene; "Making
the NWR Web
Site Work
for You” presented
by Kathy Purcell, District
1 Web Development Representative;
Kathy Sechrist, NWR Web
Developer; and Ann Thatcher,
Region Information Manager; “Do
You Dream” a project
developed that encourages
and supports local women
in reaching their goals,
living their dream, and “getting
what they want”. “Using
PR to Create
a Buzz” great
PR ideas to help your
club spread the word
about Soroptimists and
increase membership!,
presented by Norene Straker,
PR Chair for the Western
Canada Region of SIA,
and Jim Riney, owner
of Riney Production Services; “Get
a Grip! Standing
Up to Platform
Panic”,
presented by Rosemary
Vohs, who was classically
trained in performance
arts in her native England;” Expanding
Our Leadership
To Expand
Our Story” District
Director Sue and Secretary
Kathy met with the Area
Representatives from
each club in District
1 to discuss their roles,
make plans for the Area
Meetings that will take
place prior to Spring
Conference, and select
representatives to the
District Leadership Committee; “Rule
of Thumb” Members
of SI Vashon-Maury presented
a moving one-act play
which tells the story
of 5 women in various
stages of recovery and
separation from their
abusive partners; and, “Good
Leaders Make
Great L.O.V.E.R.S” Dr.
Violet Malone, emeritus
professor at Western’s
Woodring College of Education,
can assist you in identifying
your talents and increasing
your chances at success.
Tell
and Sell, along with Federation Sales
was held
with a No Host Hospitality Reception
from 6:00 – 7:00
p.m.
The
dinner began with District Director
Sue introducing
those seated at the Head Table.
The Inspiration
for the evening was provided
via video
by Donna Karvia, President and members
of SI
Centrailia-Chehalis.
The
SIA Convention Report was given
by Louise Lea, President SI Kent; Carolann
Hughes,
President SI Renton; Karen Marshall,
President
SI LaConner; and Ann Thatcher, member
of
SI Anacortes.
District Director Sue introduced Northwestern Region
Governor Linette Zimmerman. Governor
Linette announced Region awards and presented the winners within
District 1 for recognition, patches and certificates.
The “Ritz Bits” (past governor’s) presented the
PIE Contest.
District
Director Sue then introduced the entertainment for the evening, “You Oughta Be In Pictures.” Nine
attendees will be cast in a Hollywood feature film with their screen
test in front of us.
Announcements
were made by District 1 Site Coordinator Carolynn and District
Director Sue recessed the meeting.
Sunday,
October 31, 2004
District
Director Sue called the meeting to order at 9:00 am, and
introduced those seated at the Head Table. The inspiration
was provided by the Divine Divas of the Deep.
The
final Credentials Report was given by Renee Recker, Registration
Chair. Motion was made and seconded to accept the final report.
Passed (See Attachment 2, Official Credentials Report).
Karen
Cox, NWR Venture Treasurer, presented the Venture Report.
District
Director Sue presented her report. She shared information
regarding the efforts of SI Centrailia-Chehalis to increase
membership, using tactics that could be applied to any club.
She also announced the names of the women who volunteered
to be the District Leadership Representatives. They are:
• Alaska none at this time • Eva-Marie
Kiley, SI Kent – ARKWAYT
• Kathy Doll, SI Oak Harbor – Island
Group
• Holly James, SI Greater Bremerton – Olympic
Peninsula
• Roxie Chapin, SI Seattle South – Seattle
Area
• Mary Harding, SI Bellingham - Skagit
Director
Sue thanked NWR Governor Linette and NWR Secretary Carene
for coming to the District 1 Meeting. She also thanked her
Meeting Crew, especially her husband Jim.
District
Director Sue then called for the Region Committee Representatives
to share reports on the status of their committees and
projects of which the members need to be aware. Reports were
made by:
1.
Nancy Hanson, SI Friday Harbor, Chairman for Grant of Friendship
2. District Secretary Kathy Wagoner, SI Oak Harbor, District
1 Representative for Leadership
3. Carmen
McFadyen, SI Coupeville, District 1 Representative for
Awards and Recognition
4. District Secretary Kathy Wagoner
for the Human Rights Committee
5. Barb Gronseth, SI Olympic
Rain Forest, District 1 Representative for Violet Richardson
6. Janet Hall Schemph, SI Juneau, District 1 Representative
for Women’s Opportunity
Award
7. Robin Swain, SI Anacortes for Women’s
Health
8. Sigrid Thomas,
SI Vashon Maury, District
1 Representative for Professional-Technical
Award
9. Judy Dreis, SI
Seattle-Metropolitan, Chairman
for Making a Difference
for Women
10. Bernie Bell,
SI Tacoma, District 1
Representative for Nominating
Committee
11. Jane Reddie,
SI Seattle North, District
1 Representative for By
Laws/ Procedures
12. Carol Wise, SI Port Townsend/East Jefferson County,
Chairman for
Communications/Image
Director
Sue introduced District 1 Site Coordinator Carolynn Kaetterhenry
for Tell and Sell results and final announcements.
The
Venture and Soroptimist pledges were recited and the Soroptimist
Symphony sung. District Director Sue adjourned the 51st
Annual District Meeting at approximately 11:30 a.m.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Kathy
Wagoner
Secretary,
District 1
Northwestern Region,
SIA
Minutes Review Committee:
Jane Straight, President, SI Cook
Inlet
Juanita Robinett, President, SI Coupeville
Linda Bowes,
President, SI Seattle Metropolitan.
