MESSAGES February – Issue 6

UWC Today

• President’s Message
• Lecture Events – UWC Online!
• Happy Hour/Tea Time Conversations
• Opera – “Non-Brunch” Hansel and Gretel
• Vintage Moves Offer Extended

News and Announcements

• Campus Update
• UWC Images
• Nominate an Outstanding Woman!

Scholarships

• Message from the Chair 
• Support UWC when Shopping

UWC Notes

• 2020-21 Nominations and Elections
• Member Support – UWC Notes
• Interest Groups
• Executive Board
• Calendar

… [A note from a previous scholarship recipient] “certainly reinforces our belief that this is going to be an important scholarship year as students are likely to be struggling even more and in new ways.”                                                         –Merry Bullock, UWC Board member

One of our club’s central purposes is to support the CU community through funding scholarships for non-traditional CU students.  This will happen in 2021 despite the external challenges posed by COVID limitations on UWC activities. Already we have a good “leg up” on the Board’s goal of awarding $25,000 – $30,000 in scholarship aid.  Contributions received during the months of January and February will be critical in enabling the University Women’s Club to offer these lifelines to our carefully vetted recipients.  Based on our financial standing at the time of our March 2 meeting, the UWC Board will decide on the amount of money to be allocated for 2021 scholarships.

I wish to thank Marge Riddle, Chair, and her fellow Scholarship Committee members for the service they render to the University Women’s Club especially in the month of March. That is when the applications are reviewed, finalists interviewed, and ultimately the winners chosen. I appeal to all UWC members to make additional donations during January and February to empower the Scholarship Committee in its work.

Note – UWC Elections to be held at the Feb 9 Lecture

At the start of the February Lecture Event, UWC will hold a short business meeting and election of new officers. Please be sure to attend! You can see the slate here

March 9, 2021 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 pm.

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 of 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.

Announcing: Hansel and Gretel Opera Non-Brunch on March 14, 2021

Please save the date and join us for our virtual opera-non-brunch at 12:30 p.m. on March 14, 2021.  Maestro Carthy, the Opera Music Director of the University of Colorado Eklund Opera Program will introduce us to Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, Hansel and Gretel.  Following his Zoom talk, we will be able to watch the Eklund Opera production of Hansel and Gretel.  Since this is a video of the fall opera production, you will be able to watch it at your convenience after Maestro Carthy’s talk.  The Zoom format with Maestro Carthy will provide plenty of opportunities for your participation and questions.

Hansel and Gretel was composed by Engelbert Humperdinck in 1891-92 and first performed in Weimar Germany in the following year.  It is a “fairy-tale” opera based on the Grimm brothers work and incorporates many delightful folk-music inspired themes.   The opera features two children venturing into the woods in search of something sweet to eat.  With rich orchestration, simmering wit and a sumptuous witch hiding out in a candy cottage, the fairy-tale is a delight.  To whet your appetite, please click on the following link, which is a brief video preview of the student performers discussing producing the opera during this year of covid.  You don’t have to be a facebook-user to view the video. https://www.facebook.com/1450697756/videos/10223197260867106/.

If you feel moved to donate to the Eklund Opera Program, there will be an opportunity to click on a donation link when you view the opera video.  However, in this year of social distancing, there is no “ticket” charge for the opera so price is not a barrier to your participation in this event.

As in previous years, this opera event is open to UWC members, spouses and guests so treat it just like you have treated previous year’s opera brunches.  It is our most fervent hope that by next year we will be back to partaking in a gourmet brunch at the UMC and then walking over to Macky Auditorium to see next year’s opera.  You do need to register for the event so that we can provide you with the Zoom link.

Vintage Moves for UWC Members

In January, UWC members had an opportunity to learn about a senior movement and strength building program from Vintage Moves. You can view the introductory video here on YouTube. As part of a scholarship activity, Vintage Moves made an offer to UWC members – in addition to an invitation to attend two free classes, UWC members could sign up for the program at a deeply discounted first month ($4o rather than $75), $15 of which would be returned to the UWC scholarship fund. In January, this earned $110 for the scholarship fund.

Vintage Moves has agreed to extend this offer for one more month. UWC members can attend the following “tryout” classes:

• “Try it out” Classes are free – 2/4/21 Thursday, 2:30-3:00. Get UP & Go – Starting in a chair. Building the strength and flexibility to get up and down from a chair, and eventually from the floor. 3:00-3:15 is a workshop style time for questions, coaching and getting up and down from the floor.  Use this link: https://vintagemoves.punchpass.com/classes/7442806
• 2/5/21 Friday, 9-10am. Nia Class that includes attention to moving safely and vigorously, building strength, balance, flexibility, cardiovascular conditioning, and confidence in moving.  Use this link:  https://vintagemoves.punchpass.com/classes/7544899

More thorough descriptions are on www.vintagemoves.co

Update from CU: The Education Building May Be Renamed After the First Black Woman to Graduate from CU: Lucile Berkeley Buchanan, a Woman Whom We UWC Members Know Quite a Bit About

In 2019, the University Women’s Club Celebrated 100 years of promoting friendship among members and providing service to the University and Boulder Community.  In celebration of that 100 years, we looked back through the history of CU by way of speakers at our monthly lecture luncheons.  In January 2020, we were honored to hear from Polly E. McLean, associate professor of Media Studies and an affiliated faculty in the CU Department of Ethnic Studies.  Professor McLean shared insights from her book Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family’s Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High, which explores the life of Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones.

Buchanan, who died in 1989 at the age of 105 after a long teaching career, earned a bachelor’s degree at CU Boulder, but her alma mater barred her from walking across the Macky Auditorium stage to accept her college credentials. In 2018, Professor McLean walked across the stage to accept a diploma in memory of the recognition withheld from Buchanan. In her book, McClean said she was “motivated to dig deeper” into Buchanan’s story and had “a desire to understand the university’s reasoning for dismissing her achievement.”

Lucille Buchanan, who was born in Denver in 1884, was the daughter of emancipated Virginia slaves and became the first in her family to graduate from two of Colorado’s public universities.

In 1905, she graduated with a two-year degree from what is today the University of Northern Colorado. Buchanan left Colorado to teach for a decade in Southern schools under Jim Crow laws before enrolling at the University of Chicago, where she studied German, Greek and the work of British poets Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson during the summer of 1915.

She returned to Colorado and eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in German at CU Boulder in 1918. Her mother, two sisters and a niece came to campus to watch her graduate. However, after the university barred her from accepting her degree, Buchanan vowed never to return to campus and, according to McClean’s book, “She kept her promise.”

In 1949, she retired after teaching in the Chicago Public School system and returned to Denver, where she lived until her death in 1989.

If approved by the regents, the campus will rename the Education Building to honor Lucile Berkeley Buchanan.

Do you know an outstanding woman in the Boulder community?

The University Women’s Club is soliciting nominations for the Margaret Willard award for 2021.  The award, named after the first president of the University Women’s Club, is presented annually to a woman who has enhanced the quality of life for women in Boulder and/or on the CU Boulder Campus, is an exceptional role model, and has brought honor to all women through her accomplishments.

Nominees may be connected to CU Boulder in some way or be members of the Boulder Community.  There are hundreds of women  who fit these criteria. Look around and find that special woman and then nominate her so we can celebrate her while honoring Margaret Willard.

To make a nomination please see the nomination information online. Questions? Please contact Kathleen Peterson, Chair.

Kathleen Peterson,
Margaret Willard Award Chair
Telephone 303-579-8652

Message from the Scholarship Committee Chair

February is the month that the work of the Scholarship Committee begins in earnest. This task is always both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. It can be heart-wrenching to read the stories that applicants submit describing the extraordinary challenges and adversities many have experienced in their life journeys.  But it is also heart-warming to see the determination and fortitude our applicants have brought to meeting the challenges they have been presented with.   As we make our recipient selections in March with their life stories in our minds,  we often wish we had more to offer.  At the same time, we are also proud of our organization’s long history of supporting the UWC Scholarship program for non-traditional students and the generosity of current members in carrying on with that mission.

This year, as college expenses are going up and part-time jobs are being lost because of the pandemic, the needs we will read about in these scholarship applications will only intensify.

So we offer our sincere thanks to those many members who have stepped up so generously this year, but we also want to ensure that our members know that donations at this time are still critical in determining how many students we can support this year and with how much.

In closing, just a final word of encouragement to go to our website under “Scholarships”  (boulderuwc.org), where you can donate directly to the Scholarship Fund. While at the website also look for the “Support UWC “ section, where you can learn how to sign up for the King Soopers and Amazon Smile charitable rewards programs, which enables automatic donations to UWC at no cost to you!

Marge Riddle, Scholarship Chair

New Donations to the Scholarship Fund
(reported through December)

*

Lilian Baer
Karen Bell
Cathy  Cloutier
Marge DeFries
Ruth Henderson
Kimberly Hills
Betty Huff

Karon Johnson
Marilyn Moses
Kathy Randall
Jean Rohrschneider
Boyce Sher
Nurit Wolf

Look at this!
You can raise funds for UWC at NO COST TO YOU!

King Soopers and Amazon both have programs that will donate a percentage of your qualifying purchases to UWC at no cost to you whatsoever!  Even better, once you’re set up, everything happens automatically.  It’s “easy peasy!”  University Women’s Club hopes that as many members as possible will enroll in these programs and designate UWC as the recipient of these donations.  And to make it happen, we’re here to help you get enrolled.

King Soopers shoppers can join their Community Awards Program and Amazon customers can join the Amazon Smile Program.  The vast majority of our members frequent both companies on a regular basis and should join both programs.  For that matter, let’s also get our spouses, children, and adult grandchildren to join these programs to help us raise funds.

The decision to participate is truly a no-brainer!

Support UWC When Shopping at King Soopers

With the King Soopers Community Rewards program, you can support UWC with every purchase.  You’ll simply need to create an online account and then register your Loyalty (“Shoppers”) Card to link it to UWC.  Purchases at King Soopers would generate an annual gift of approximately $115 for a single-occupant household and $230 for a two-person household.

Please click here for instructions on how to do this.

Designate UWC in the Amazon Smile Program

With AmazonSmile, you’ll automatically help UWC every time you shop, with no cost to you of either time or money.  You can link your Amazon account to the University Women’s Club through the AmazonSmile Program.  Then just shop using the AmazonSmile website (smile.amazon.com) and UWC will earn a percentage of your qualifying purchases.  Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations.

Please click here for instructions on how to do this.

Do You Have Questions or Need Assistance?

If you have questions or need assistance setting up your accounts, please contact UWC Board Member, Norma Portnoy at normaportnoy1112@gmail.com.  She will be glad to walk you through the enrollment processes, step by step, on the phone, while you are on your computer submitting the necessary information.

Thank you!

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING in this program to help UWC raise needed funds.

The UWC Nominating Committee consisting of Arlene Gerwin –Chair, Diana King, and Kathy Herder, has presented the following slate of officers-elect. The UWC Board approved the slate at the November Board Meeting.  The membership will vote for the officers at the February 9, 2021 Lecture Meeting on ZOOM. So be sure to sign up to attend and to cast your ballot for the slate of officers-elect.

President-Elect 2021-2022 (to serve as President 2022-23)

Norma Portnoy

Norma has been a UWC member for two years and has held the board positions of Lecture Luncheon Registration Chair and Program Co-Chair.  She retired after 40+ years in leadership and direct service roles for non-profit agencies devoted to enhancing the health and welfare of underserved children in Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Denver metro area.  She hasn’t allowed her retirement status to keep her from trying to better the world.  As such, she is actively engaged with numerous service organizations and non-profit agencies as a volunteer.

She is particularly enthusiastic about the scholarships that UWC awards to deserving non-traditional CU students. Norma also appreciates the UWC sense of community among our group of bright, informed and vibrant women leaders.

Norma looks forward to serving as UWC President-Elect.

Secretary-Elect 2021-2022 (to serve as Secretary 2022-23)

Karen Bell

Karen is a registered nurse (RN) and was the Clinical Nurse Specialist/Educator for the Nephrology Department at University of Colorado Health. She and her husband have been in Boulder 1974-77 and 1983-present. They have two children (Fairview grads) who each have two children. Karen travels frequently and volunteers for EFAA, OSMP and the National Kidney Foundation. She sings with the Boulder Chorale, has served on their board and is currently on the grants committee. She joined UWC 3 years ago. She has enjoyed travels with the “On the Road Again” interest group, getting together with the Garden Group as well as attending lecture luncheons. Karen is a strong advocate of the UWC scholarship program and considers the interest groups a delight.

Karen is our current Secretary and Secretary-Elect

Treasurer-Elect 2021-2022 (to serve as Treasurer 2022-23)

Frieda Holley

Frieda has been active in the University Women’s Club since she retired.  She has been co-chair of the Hiking Group since 2012-13, served as Chair of the Scholarship Committee, was President in 2017-18, and chaired the UWC Centennial History Book Committee, which wrote the book describing the Club’s first 100 years, published in late 2019. Prior to her retirement, she worked for over thirty years at Metropolitan State University of Denver both as a Professor of Mathematics and as an administrator in various positions including Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. Frieda was also active in the League of Women Voters of Boulder County, serving as their treasurer for six years.

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