Letter from Our President
Happy Harvest Fellow Members!
I was delighted to reconnect with so many of you at the kickoff luncheon! We were nearly 80 strong! I want to especially thank Jennifer Jo for arranging a delicious lunch and creating such a beautiful ambience!
As I mentioned in my comments during the luncheon, I am so grateful to lead this incredibly vibrant club. While our enthusiastic board has been working with many members to create a slate of wonderful events, we need your help to pull off our thriving social calendar.
First, we always need leaders. I am happy to report that our interest groups continue to expand but we still need ladies to lead or co-lead interest groups. Life gets busy and sometimes IG leaders need to step down, so we need replacement leaders or new leaders to start new interest groups. So why not grab a friend and take on a new interest group or fill in for vacancies. Reach out to Katie Kachel with questions.
Secondly, we need ladies to step up and host events at their home. Some of our most popular activities such as Cocktail Parties, Wine 101, Wine Enthusiasts, Bunco and Lunch Bunch are in search of hostesses to finalize their schedule for this year. As a hostess, the demands on your time are generally minimal as the activities leaders will set up, decorate when necessary and clean up after the event. Moreover, you can determine your home’s guest capacity, and we will manage to that number. You can indicate your willingness to host on your member profile or reaching out the activity coordinators listed below.
| Cocktail Parties |
Lauryn Nashi or Sara Overman |
| Wine Events |
Bambi Landew |
| Bunco |
Karen Emani or Homa Fardi |
| Lunch Bunch |
Magda Clyne or Carol Brown |
For larger events, those with 26 or more guests, the board has decided to provide a cash stipend to defray cleaning costs, paper goods and other expenses associated with hosting a larger event. The stipend is commensurate with the number of quests. We hope that this will entice many of you to consider hosting some of these larger events in your home. Talk to the event coordinators regarding your willingness to host and the stipends. We will publish the stipends on the website shortly.
Lastly, we need you to show up for events. Again, we all have multiple demands on our time, but I ask if you need to cancel even at the last minute, please let the event coordinator know with as much lead time as possible. Moreover, some events are attendee dependent such as Bunco, so your absence lessens the experience for other participants.
Club News
Payment Processor
You may have noticed that our payment processer has changed from PayPal to Wild Apricots’ Personify. The change was prompted by an increase in PayPal fees and a new fee levied by Wild Apricot when using a non-affiliated payment processer. Many of you have already used the new system and I am happy to report it has been seamless. If you have any concerns or questions about the transition, please reach out to me. For technical support, reach out to our Membership VP, Cindy Smith.
Name Tags
Our club continues to attract new members, which is fantastic, however, it’s difficult to remember all the faces and names when you are at an event. To that end, we have invested in lovely nametags with magnetic backing. You will be receiving your nametag as you show at different events. Each of you will be responsible for the care of your nametag. We ask that you wear them at each event. I recommend keeping it in your car or your purse, so you won’t forget. Replacement name tags are $10.
Survey
Below you will note a link to our membership eligibility survey. As you all know, the Fairfax County School Board is considering altering the county’s school boundaries. This has an impact on the club in that our membership criteria are linked to the “Langley School Pyramid” and is codified in our by-laws. Given the potential school boundary changes are highly controversial/political, we thought it best to consider any changes to our membership criteria or its description now. To ensure that we understand the views of club members, we ask that you review the options contained in the survey and respond. Please take the time to review the three short options and respond. The results will be published in the November newsletter.Membership Eligibility Survey.
October Activities
All Club Meeting
I wanted to highlight a few events for your consideration. Our October All Club Meeting “Fall Under the Stars” will be a magical night at Krop’s Crops! It is a catered event with dinner by Mookie’s paired with adult beverages. We will be outside at the bonfire so dress accordingly. Sign up now and bring a friend!
Girls’ Night Out
We are rebranding the Happy Hour event to Girl’s Night Out. We have heard feedback that the earlier start time of the gathering may be problematic. Therefore, going forward, the events will have a soft start at 6:30 pm and will run to at least 9pm and maybe even later! Leading the new Girl’s Night Out interest group will be Teresa Rutledge and Teresa Yurt. Their initial event will be held Thursday October 3 at Yardbird located at Tyson’s Galleria. There is plenty of parking, great food and indoor and outdoor space with heaters! Hope to see you there as I have heard great things about this place!
Great Falls Spooktacular
This year, Celebrate Great Falls will be hosting their Spooktacular on Sunday, October 27th and the Women’s Club of Great Falls will be there for tricks and treats. We will have a 360-photo booth for parents and kids. If you have the time, we could use a few volunteers to manage the booth and of course dress up in your Halloween finery. Please reach out to Dynne Sung for more details or sign up on the website’s calendar.
Book Signing in November
While not in October, we have secured a book discussion and signing by Anita McBride, one of the authors of “Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America's History-Making Women”. Cindy Smith who has met the author was able to bring this neat event for our enjoyment. This event will be open to members and non- members. The event will be held November 21st so get your book and start reading! More details will be published shortly.
Wow, that seems like a lot of news to report. I urge you to continually check the club’s calendar, so you keep abreast of all the cool events.
I wish you a wonderful October and may all your Halloween tricks be treats!
Gratefully,
Cory
