SEPTEMBER BRANCH

MINUTES

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

2

PRESIDENTS’ MESSAGE 3

AAUW FUNDS INFO 4

BOOK GROUP 5

AAUW INFORMATION

ITANYAN EDITOR

OFFICER LIST

6

Inside this issue:

October 2014 Volume 37, No. 2

N O R T H E A S T M E T R O B R A N C H

Itanyan “To grow by reason”

September Program

Monday, October 13

6:45 PM at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church

1965 County Road E, White Bear Lake

Jeanne Cochran will inform us on her role as an administrative law judge. She will include the story of her journey to her present job with some focus on mentor experiences. Jeanne is the daughter of NE Metro branch member Margaret Cochran.

October 21: Take Back the Campus rally, Hamline University

October 25: Gourmet group: Russian cuisine

November 10: The Invisible War screening

December 6: Holiday Brunch and Auction at Hillcrest Golf Club

January 12: Trisha Cummings Kaufman from Solid Ground

February 9: Valentine's Tea at the Avalon Tea Room and Pastry Shoppe

March 9: Karen Kuehn; Women and the Civil War

April 13: Green Dot Violence Prevention program with Kathy Burleson

May 11: Getting Ready for Spring Gardening by Nancy Hendrickson

June 8: Salad Supper

Upcoming events

http://mn.gov/oah/administrative-law/judges/cochran.jsp

Itanyan

The meeting on September 8 was preceded by a presentation by Kathy Tomsich and Joan Sullivan from the

League of Women Voters.

The meeting was called to order at 8:21 PM by President Chris Koentopp. 15 members were in attendance.

The hospitality sign-up was circulated. Those volunteering for October will need to purchase supplies.

The Valentine Tea has been moved to February 9th to avoid conflict with a Gourmet Group event.

Secretary’s Report : The minutes from the June meeting were approved as printed in the Itanyan.

Treasurer’s Report : We have $1042.18 in checking and $4073.48 in savings.

The budget for 2014-15 was distributed. Christine went through each line, discussing any changes. There

was a motion to accept the budget as proposed. The motion was seconded and carried.

Membership: We have 2 new members—Mary Alice Sell and Nancy Backlund. Membership booklets will

be handed out in October.

Program: Chris walked us through the program for the year. Upcoming programs and events are listed in

the Itanyan each month.

We no longer have a Public Policy chair. Discussion followed about whether we really need one. Many

already get e-mails from AUW, so it seemed redundant to have someone report on these.

New Business

Chris is working on our website, and would like to list “Info About Us” that showcases our members’

accomplishments. More will following collecting this information.

NCCWSL scholarships from state increased from 10 to 15 this year.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Kathy Burleson, Secretary

Minutes of the September 2014 NE Metro Branch meeting

Page 2

Two new members recently joined the Metro East Branch.

Mary Alice Sell (left in photo) moved to White Bear Lake from Pennsylvania, where she was a former member of the Fox Chapel Area Branch in Pittsburgh. She holds a B.S. from Douglass College in Stonybrook, New York, and Master

of Library Science from Rutgers University.

Nancy Backlund moved to Coon Rapids from Cody, Wyoming, where she served as president and programs chair, and belonged to the gourmet and book clubs. She holds a B.S. in arts and sciences from the University of Wyoming. A native of Wisconsin, she worked as a hospital medical technician

in Cody and in Saudi Arabia.

Photo: Mary Alice Sell (L) and Nancy Backlund (R) at the September meeting.

-Story and photo by Gail Van Horn, Co-Membership Chair

New Branch Members

Page 3

Volume 37, no. 2

This message comes to you from Aurora, Nebraska. One of our stops along our National Park tour was Dinosaur National Monument. One of the points of interest we visited there was the home of Josie Bassett Morris. This independent, resourceful, true 'wild woman' demonstrated how self sufficient women can be. All but three of her 90 years were spent in the Cub Creek area of the monument. She lived for 50 of those years in a house she built herself. One interesting aspect of her life was that her family hosted many guests

in their home 40 miles away. One of these guests was Butch Cassidy.

Not every woman could or would want to live as solitary and taxing a life as Josie.

We have other challenges and opportunities.

In September we were offered the opportunity to help get out the vote (GOTV). This month we welcome Margaret's daughter, Jean Cochran JD., who will tell us about her experiences as an administrative law

judge in St Paul.

Finally I have a request for all of you . The AAUW state president, Sharon, has requested that those of us who have a website make sure we keep it current. As the web manager, one thing we need to do is improve the story about our chapter. I would like to include about all the wonderful volunteer work our members do . Please send me a message about how you volunteer. My plan is just to list the aggregate organization that

you volunteer your time with. No names will be mentioned.

Hope to see you all at the next meeting.

Chris Koentopp, President

Message from the president

Please help President Chris Koentopp create a list of all the volunteer work that our members do! Send a list

to her at chris.koentopp@gmail.com

She will compile all our volunteering to feature on our branch website. We should celebrate what our

members accomplish.

Calling All Volunteers!

Page 4

Itanyan

Who is this Jane Anderson Skinner with a fellowship named after her? Born and raised in St. Paul, she became a Graduate of Carleton College, Northfield. After graduation, Jane worked in social services in St. Paul. She joined AAUW in St. Paul in mid-1930’s. Ms. Skinner then moved to Boston with husband, Dr. David Skinner and worked in social services there as well. Jane continued her membership in AAUW. She was a stay-at-home mom for her kids’ during their growing up years. She earned a doctorate in community education at Boston University. She befriended Emilie Larson during her many years as a member of the Boston AAUW Branch. When Emilie retired to MN, she convinced Jane to join her. Jane was a member in Northfield from 1987 until her death. Jane Skinner was very supportive of AAUW, financially as well as other ways, especially LAF. She made large donations to both LAF and EF during her Northfield years and established the fellowship herself with $10,000 of her own money. Bio info on Jane Skinner was provided by Carol James, Northfield AAUW Branch President. Thank You Carol for taking time to prepare and send the information about Jane Skinner! My conclusion to “who is Jane Skinner?” She is a woman like the rest of us in AAUW who truly supported AAUW and its programs. Let’s continue helping AAUW by donating to the fellowship she started. Remember a fellowship must reach stipend for the funds to be used productively to support AAUW programs.

Respectfully submitted, Doris Morrison

Funds Chair

Jane Skinner Fellowship

The Named Gift Honoree program is a wonderful way to recognize branch and state members who do extraordinary things for AAUW and our mission. They have been used to recognize the efforts of outgoing branch and state leaders, to acknowledge extraordinary gifts of time or money, and to reward stalwart,

longtime members without whom our state and branch work would not be possible.

To participate in Minnesota, a branch must contribute $750 for each named gift honoree to either the Minnesota Past Presidents American Fellowship #4326 or the Jane Skinner American Fellowship #4203. These are the two Minnesota fellowships that have not become stipend producing. We encourage your

branch and its members to direct donations to these fellowships.

All checks should be made out to AAUW Funds. In the memo place the fellowship number. All contributions are welcomed and tax deductible. Further questions may be directed to Jan Paulsen, MN AAUW Funds VP

at JLPaulsen@aol.com.

Printed in Itanyan with permission from Jan Paulsen

Respectfully submitted, Doris Morrison

AAUW Funds – Named Gift Honoree Program

Page 5

Volume 37, no. 2

Northeast Metro’s Book Club has announced their books for the year:

September 22, 2014 2:00 PM at the home of Gail Van Horn: The Light Between

Oceans: A Novel by M.L. Stedman

October 7, 2014 10:00 AM at the home of Janet Brownell: My Beloved World

by Sonia Sotomayer

November 17, 2014 10:00 AM at the home of Christine Koentopp: lluminations:

A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt

December 11, 2014 Book Discussion and lunch at the Minneapolis Institute of Art at 11:30:

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt

December 15, 2014 10:00 AM at the home of Clary Gray: Ordinary Grace: A Novel by William Kent

Krueger

January 19, 2015 10:00 AM at the home of Joan Henry: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

February 16, 2015 10:00 AM at the home of Linda Ruggles: In The Garden of Beasts; Love, Terror, and

an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson

March 16, 2015 10:00 AM at the home of Linda Ruggles: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

April 20, 2015 10:00 AM at the home of Joan Macheledt: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

May 18, 2015 10:00 AM at the home of LouAnn Hoppe: The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of

the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan

June 15, 2015 (date may change) Place TBD; would like to go bird watching at Tamarac Nature Center

Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson

AAUW NE Metro Book Club 2014-15

Book club members discussed "The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Stedman on September 22 at the home of Gail Van Horn. Pictured from left are LouAnn Hoppe, Clara Gray, Joni Henry, Joan Macheledt, Janet Brownell and Linda Ruggles. The next meeting is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday, October 7 at the home of Janet Brownell. The book selection is "My Beloved World" by

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer.

Submitted by Gail Van Horn

Book Club Report

Officers 2014-2015

President:

Chris Koentopp

Co-Vice Presidents for Membership:

Gail Van Horn and Nancy FitzGerald

Vice President for Programming:

Chris Koentopp

Co-Treasurers:

Margaret Cochran and Christine Johnson

Secretary:

Kathy Burleson

AAUW Funds Chair:

Doris Morrison

Newsletter Editor:

Kathy Burleson

Mission Statement: AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

N O R T H E A S T M E T R O A A U W

Learn more about AAUW!

The American Association of University Women has promoted the advancement of education of women and girls for over 120 years. Learn more about our publications, leadership programs, and

scholarship opportunities at www.aauw.org

Take action! Visit the AAUW Public Policy site to find ways to get

your voice heard. www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/

To access the Itanyan online and see other state branches, visit

http://aauw-mn.aauw.net/

Join the AAUW Facebook group to connect with the broader community and get daily updates on AAUW issues.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/AAUWMembers/

Newsletter Editor:

Kathy Burleson

846 Arlington Ave W

St. Paul, MN 55117

kburleson01@hamline.edu

Itanyan Editor

Please e-mail your submissions to me by the 20th

of each month. I will make sure the Itanyan is

sent out 2 weeks in advance of our meetings.

I welcome your news, photos, articles, interesting

links and anything else that you want me to

highlight in the newsletter. Please send them to

kburleson01@hamline.edu