MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Happy New Year to you all!

I am having a lazy day. I always look forward to seeing a blank day on the calendar, but then I get restless by about noon so I am writing this early instead of an hour before the deadline. We certainly have had snow on the ground for a long while which is contrary to what the prognosticators of weather were saying in the fall. I really love the snow and I think the trees have remained flocked longer than I ever remember.

Some of you have asked about Trudy, the one-legged turkey, and I am sorry to report that she has disappeared. I would like to think that she just moved on, but I doubt that it was that happy of an ending to our relationship. Anyway, I have now turned my St. Francis tendencies to the covey of California quail that has been around the property for a year. Their numbers are down from about 40 to about 10 so I decided that I should leave them some feed everyday because the snow is so deep. After all, they are transplants from California and so probably need a little coddling.

Since I am not a skier I always think of January and February as the winter doldrums. By March I start to think about spring so even an occasional snowstorm doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm. This is also the time when donations often slow down at Bizarre Bazaar. We are lucky to have had a couple of great pieces of furniture donated. My favorite is an incredible solid maple round table with a light pine finish. It is gorgeous rustic piece. I have been deliberately going through my cupboards and garage to find gift and house ware items for the store. It always looks a little depleted in that category after Christmas. I found four sale-able items in my house without much trouble a couple of days ago. If you are of a mind, take a look around your house. If every member found just one or two items that they don’t need or use we would have 200 to 400 new bits of merchandise.

When you go into the store be sure to notice how great the book department looks. Sue Vogelsinger and Robert Qualls spent days culling and organizing. Their efforts also opened up the house and gift ware sections of the store giving us better visual display there. 

We had our first board meeting on Wednesday. It seemed like we hadn’t seen one another in ages, but despite the off-topic chat there was a lot of work happening. Lin Otey has already got a handle on the spring luncheon, Mary Sturgis has our programs nailed down until the end of the year, and Diane Arrants and Sherry Ennis are organized for the upcoming grant and scholarship season. This team is a well-oiled machine despite how noisy they are ☺.

I hope to see you at the general meeting on January 20. Watch the ice, please.

Love,

Sherry