MESSAGES September 2020 – Issue 1

UWC Today

• Value of UWC Membership
• UWC Event – Virtual Membership Coffee
• President’s Message
• A note from the “ZOOM Czar”

Lecture Luncheons
Interest Groups
Happy Hour/Tea Time Conversations

Scholarships
Announcements

• Renew Your Membership for 2020-21
• Margaret Willard 2020 Award Recipient
• Nominations

Note from MESSAGES Editor
Executive Board
Calendar

Has COVID-19 changed everything?  It sure seems like it, doesn’t it?  Many activities that we took for granted are now being handled in a radically different way.  We’re getting our groceries, receiving medical care, and socializing in ways that are substantially – in some cases, radically – different from what they used to be.  In all aspects of life, the chance for face-to-face interactions are virtually (pun intended!) gone.

But the statement that everything has changed is false!  Yes, the “hows” are different, that’s true.  But the “whats” and “whys” behind what we do?  They haven’t changed at all!   We’re simply finding new ways to satisfy the same needs.  And so it is with the University Women’s Club.

We are a group of strong women who still want to connect with friends, learn and expand our horizons, and help others.  We hope you’ll recognize that UWC membership is more important now than ever in the ways listed below.

• Our interest groups continue to function — but the “how” is now frequently using Zoom and the internet. With interactions with friends greatly diminished as a result of the pandemic, UWC still provides this opportunity for socialization.
• Our very popular lectures will resume in October, as they do every autumn, with programming that we know will not disappoint. But as you’ve probably guessed, they will be online.  Different than before?  Yes, but with technology at our disposal, neither the quality of the presentations nor our ability to participate in the Q&A period will be lacking in any way.
• We’ll have our annual September Member’s Tea – the tradition continues! This year, however, you’ll need to brew your own and then connect via your new best friend: Zoom.
• Most important is that our mission is the same as before: to provide help for non-traditional students at CU whose education was interrupted by unusual circumstances.  As always, we’ll raise a portion of these funds through our annual membership dues. Frankly, if there’s a COVID-related difference in this area, it’s an increase in demand for our financial assistance, stemming from the economic disruption that has occurred for many deserving university students.

And so, we present you with something that you can do today, as you would have done one year ago before COVID.  You can renew your UWC membership by paying dues and keep this great institution going strong!

Norma Portnoy, UWC Board Member

UWC Opening Event –  Membership Coffee
September 8, 2020, 11:00 -12:30 via ZOOM WEBINAR

Program

Welcome to 2020 – Janet Brewer, UWC President

• Welcome
• Short presentation from one of the 2020 UWC Scholarship recipients
• Overview of UWC Activities
  • Lecture Events
  • Interest Groups
  • Tea/Happy Hour Conversations
• Scholarships
• Margaret Willard Award
• Members and Membership
• Wrap-up

This event is open to all UWC members and potential new members but registration is required – Please sign up now!

The Membership Coffee will be in “webinar” format. This means that you will be able to watch and listen to the UWC President, board members and Interest Group chairs talk about upcoming events and UWC programs. You will be able to ask questions by typing them into the Q/A or chat functions on your screen. We will also talk about how UWC members can break into smaller groups for discussions and how interest groups will be using ZOOM for their meetings.

Be sure to register – just click on the blue button!

You will receive an automatic email reminder one week, one day and one hour before the event begins.

Questions? Contact us at boulderuwc@gmail.com

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Moliere

The world, the country, the state, and the community have been confronted with a great obstacle, a deadly pandemic.  The threat to our collective health and the disruptions to normalcy are substantial.  The Board of the University Women’s Club found it necessary to cancel several of our spring events. Over the summer, we concluded that none of our fall events should take place in person. However, under the leadership of Merry Bullock, the organization has obtained a Zoom account and begun implementing the technology for virtual gatherings.

One of our objectives is to promote friendships among our members and to strengthen their common interests.  The Club has excelled at this in the past by offering many activities and social events.  Our inability to meet in person is a set-back and a loss.  Although virtual meetings may not be as satisfying, they do enable us to maintain a safe connection with one another.  We feel it is preferable to preserve a sense of continuity, rather than to submit to a total interruption.  While the organization is being stressed, our hope is to keep it viable until such time as we can resume normal operations.

Another central purpose of the University Women’s Club is to provide scholarships for non-traditional CU students.  The ability to do this rests entirely on the collective generosity of our members.  I am asking personally that past members stick with us during this emergency by renewing your membership and, if possible, recruiting new members.  The Board has decided to offer all its virtual events during the year at no cost (a wonderful member benefit!).  If your circumstances permit, please remember to make a contribution to our Scholarship Fund when you renew your membership.  If enough members do this, the Club can still fulfill one of its major goals in spite of COVID-19. I’m planning to make a $100 donation in addition to my membership dues.  If you are able, please join me in this gesture.

Janet Brewer, 2020-21 UWC President

UWC meetings are now online! UWC has obtained a UWC Zoom account which allows us the options of uninterrupted meeting length and the possibility of breaking into smaller groups for discussion. We also have the ability to host Webinars. The Zoom meeting has worked very well for Board meetings, for On the Road Again, several of the foreign language groups, the Out to Lunch Bunch, and other Interest Groups. “Breakout rooms” work well to keep the group size manageable and enable everyone to have a chance to share their ideas.

If you’ve never used Zoom before and feel a little intimidated by it, we can arrange a practice session so that you can feel comfortable with this new technology.  If your interest group would like to use the UWC Zoom account, it is there for the asking. In either case, please contact our new “Zoom Czar” Kathy Randall, Landline: 303 530 1095; Cell: 303 746 4523. She will provide whatever you need.

Last winter, the Scholarship Committee set a goal of making 2019-20, our Centennial year, memorable. They hoped for a banner year of donations for one of UWC core functions – supporting non-traditional students whose college studies have been interrupted.

Little did we know as we set those goals that events in the Spring of 2020 would make the year so memorable in other less happy ways.  However, in spite of the pandemic, UWC members’ contributions to the Scholarship Fund reached a new high-water mark.  We were able to award scholarships to six amazing students, whose stories you can read and hear in the materials on the UWC website.  A special thank you goes to so many UWC members, who, in addition to their other donations, chose to donate their registration fees for the Scholarship Luncheon and other spring events, which had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.

So, as we begin our current “virtual” year, we want to remind new members and returning members that providing scholarships, which mean so much to these non-traditional students, has been a core activity for the UWC for many decades.  In spite of the pandemic, college will carry on, if in a different format, but, nonetheless, with bills that must be paid.  So, we hope and trust that we can join together in this unprecedented time and not allow the dreams of these non-traditional students to be a casualty of the pandemic.

As always, our ability to award scholarships is completely dependent on the generosity of our members. So, please consider an extra donation to the Scholarship Fund when you pay your membership dues or register for a lecture event. You can also donate at any time online or by sending a check in the mail. You can additionally support UWC when buying groceries! Just a reminder that King Soopers donates 5% of all purchases to the UWC directly through your loyalty card! You can find out how to enroll your loyalty card in this program on the UWC website.

While we will all remember this year for the disruptions in life routines we have encountered, let us also work together to make this a year also memorable for the scholarships we are able to support!

Margaret Riddle, Scholarship Committee Chair

Donors to this Year’s Scholarship Fund between April and July, 2020

Merry Bullock
Mary Anna Dunn
Elizabeth Fox
Ellen Gille
Isabelle Henderson

Frieda Holley
Karon Johnson
Beth Karpf
Lois Linsky
Linda Nordberg

Judy Reid
Kathleen Salzberg
Barbara Zable

Here’s a brainteaser for you: what do the following questions have in common?

• How can I get the most from viewing documentaries and which films should I add to my watch list?
• How does the Boettcher Foundation invest in the promise of Colorado?
• How did one of the youngest music directors ever to be appointed to a major symphony get the education and experience required for such a position?
• How does my brain process, respond to, and create art?
• What can I do to avoid being scammed?

If you guessed that these questions will be answered by this year’s speakers, you guessed right!

We are excited to announce a great lineup of talks on a wide variety of topics, presented by talented guest lecturers who are widely recognized for their expertise.  We have scheduled the October and November lectures and will schedule the January, February, and March lectures in late fall.

All lectures will be presented in a webinar format on Zoom.  After you register online for the lectures, you will receive the necessary links and reminders via email.   All lectures will be free this year as a UWC member benefit!

October 13, 2020 – 11:00-12:15

How to Watch a Documentary
Jack Hanley, Boulder Filmmaker

Documentary films are one of the most interesting cultural forms of our time.  They are intended to document reality and have the power to educate and inspire.  They serve as powerful tools that bring important topics to the table in a way that sparks conversation and sometimes even social movements.

Jack Hanley will enlighten us about documentaries including examples of documentaries that literally changed the world.  You will “walk away” with a syllabus of recommended documentary films.  Jack is an academic, critic, podcaster, and filmmaker based in Boulder.

November 10, 2020 – 11:00-12:15

Leaning in: Shaping Colorado’s Future through Leadership and Community Investment
Katie Kramer, CEO, The Boettcher Foundation

Please join us on November 10 when we hear from our prestigious Margaret Willard Award recipient. Katie Kramer is being honored for her noteworthy contributions to her field and her contributions that benefit our community.  As president and CEO of the Boettcher Foundation, Katie Kramer has been recognized as one of the Denver Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and one of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s “Top 25 Most Powerful Women”.

Katie will talk about the transformational impact of leadership, the Boettcher Foundation’s current strategies and investment in the potential of Coloradans, and the influences that inspired her during her professional journey.

2021 Lectures – dates to be announced in late fall

Conducting Business: Lessons from the Podium
Brett Mitchell, Music Director, Colorado Symphony

You do not want to miss this informative and entertaining presentation by the extremely gifted yet humble Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, who gave his first public performance as a conductor at the age of 16.  Hailed for presenting engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs, Brett Mitchell has led the orchestra in the majority of its classical subscription programs every season, as well as a wide variety of special programs featuring guest artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Renee Fleming.  Brett regularly collaborates with the world’s leading soloists.

Conductor Mitchell will share his journey in music and the lessons in leadership that he learned along the way.  You will hear about his fascinating journey leading to his appointment as Music Director of a major symphony orchestra at the age of only 37.  Brett will also discuss the Colorado Symphony’s unique business model and its day-to-day workings.

Your Brain on Art
Bill Stoehr, Boulder Artist

Have you ever wondered why a particular work of art appeals to you?  Attend this lecture to learn how the brain processes, responds to, and creates art.  Boulder Artist, Bill Stoehr will focus on the brain’s response to art and ways in which it is a window to the way that we perceive the world.

You will find out how a  greater understanding of the brain’s response to art can lead to improvement in education and medicine including helping to rehabilitate a brain after a stroke or  debilitating disease.

Bill will also discuss his own creative process in which he creates ambiguity with abstraction and a few naturalistic cues, which enables viewers to create their own reality by completing images, creating narratives based on their own emotions.

To learn more about this lecture and to register for it, click here.

How to Prevent Yourself From Becoming a Victim of Crime
Christian Gardner-Wood, Senior Deputy District Attorney; Lizbeth Parker, Specialist for the Community Protection Division, Boulder County District Attorney’s Office

Walk away from this presentation knowing more about how to protect your money and identity.  You will learn about the most frequent scams including the latest scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  You will learn ways to recognize and avoid these fraud attempts, whether they’re coming by way of phone calls, text messages, email, social media, mail, or even at the door.  The speakers will present information about identity theft and ways to keep your personal and financial information safe.

Christian oversees all Boulder County prosecutions for elder abuse and significant financial fraud cases, and Lizbeth handles consumer complaints and reports of fraud, scams, elder abuse, and financial exploitation from community members.

To learn more about this lecture and to register for it, click here.

Bicycling, discussing a book, conversing in Italian or French or Spanish, sharing gardening tips, taking a virtual road trip — these are some of the interest group activities that are continuing, even during these very difficult times.

Interest groups are a vital and integral part of the University Women’s Club.  Groups offer an opportunity to interact with others who share your pastimes and passions.  They enable you to know people and develop friendships that last a lifetime. They provide a way to remain connected to the larger UWC organization.

Many groups continue to be active, primarily on Zoom. Two groups – Bicycling and Golf – are meeting in person, appropriately socially distanced, of course.  Sadly, a few groups are on hiatus until in-person meetings can resume.  Several groups are seeking new members.

Joining an interest group is easy.  The groups that are taking new members are listed below in the list of Interest Group information.  To join, you can contact the Group Chairs listed for each group. You can find email addresses by consulting the downloadable document (Link below) with Interest Group information.  Alternatively, you can fill out an interest group form to indicate the groups you are interested in and the chair will add you to their email list. Please remember that you need to be a UWC member with dues paid to join an interest group or continue as a member. Dues must be paid by October 15.

New groups are welcome. If you have an idea for a new group, please contact Interest Groups coordinator Helen Hooper (720-778-6124). To form a new group, you will need five members including a group chairperson.  To start a new book group, please contact Kathy Randall (303-530-1095).

Helen Hooper, Interest Groups Coordinator

The UWC Nominating Committee is tasked with recommending nominees for President-Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect to serve on the UWC Board next year (2021-22).  In addition to attending board meetings next year, these positions provide the opportunity to become familiar with the tasks of the executive positions as well as being available as back-up if needed.

The “elect” positions then serve the following year (2022-23) as the President, Secretary and Treasurer. Here is a brief description of each position:

President:  Serves as the UWC figurehead and provides overall executive leadership. Chairs the Executive Board and provides supportive leadership to Board decisions and Board members.

Secretary:  Attends and takes minutes at all Executive Board Meetings and General Membership Meetings.

Treasurer:  Responsible for the oversight, management and reporting of UWC finances including bank account maintenance, financial transaction oversight, budget development, monthly financial reporting and all tax filings. The tresurer does not need to be a CPA for this role. However, good bookkeeping skills, and skill with excel and quick books  is ideal.

If you would like to be considered for one of the “elect” positions or can recommend someone, please contact Arlene Gerwin, Kathy Herder or Diana King who are on the Nominating Committee. If you are interested in reading the complete job description of the above positions, please contact Arlene Gerwin.

Arlene Gerwin
Nominating Committee Chair

MEMBERSHIP COURTESY – If you know of a member who would appreciate a card, note, or any personal contact due to illness, death, or other reasons for support, please inform Betty Huff, 303-919-8712.

Did you know that UWC can receive contributions at NO cost to you, through your purchases?

AMAZON SMILE: You can link your Amazon account to the University Women’s Club of the University of Colorado at Boulder, through smile.amazon.com. After your account is linked, just shop using the smile.amazon.com website. For complete instructions click here

To link your account, go to https://smile.amazon.com/ch/84-1342699.

KING SOOPERS: You can register your regular King Soopers loyalty number to donate to UWC. King Soopers will donate 5% of your purchases directly to UWC!! Please click here for complete instructions.

As you have probably noticed, MESSAGES has changed its format. This issue is the first to be entirely online. This new format allows information in MESSAGES to integrate more completely with the new website – and we hope it provides a useful, and easy-to-navigate reading experience for you, the reader.

We have some features that may make reading easier:

1. You can increase or decrease text size to make reading more convenient – in MESSAGES and in the website overall – click on the red “person” icon at the top right of the webpage to see a menu of accessibility options.
2. Links mentioned in MESSAGES can be accessed just by clicking on them. This will take you to a new window with the new link. You can then easily return to your place in reading MESSAGES by clicking on the MESSAGES tab at the top of your browser.

We would love to hear from you! Are there things you would like to see in MESSAGES or sections you would like to see done differently? Please send feedback here!

Thank you, and happy reading!

Merry Bullock, MESSAGES Editor

President – Janet Brewer
President Elect -Tamera VanSpriell
Past President – Merry Bullock
Secretary & Secy Elect – Karen Bell
Treasurer & Treas. Elect – Kathy Herder
Communications – Betty Huff
Email/Directory – Berry Todd
Historian/Yearbook – Vacant
Honors Reception – Tamera VanSpriell
Interest Groups – Helen Hooper
Lecture Registration – Lynne Barnett
Margaret Willard Award – Kathleen Peterson
Membership – Karen Neff

MESSAGES – Merry Bullock
New Members – Kathy Terrill
Nominating Committee – Arlene Gerwin
Opera Brunch – Sandy Johnson
Parliamentarian – Frieda Holley
Program Chair – Norma Portnoy
Program Co-Chair – Sharon Nehls
Repository/Email Monitor – Lorna Yoder
Scholarship Committee – Marge Riddle
Scholarship Luncheon – Mary Pierce
Telephone Tree – Helen Hooper
Website – Joyce Spencer