Looking Back and Forward

“And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” T.S. Eliot.

What an honour and privilege it has been to serve CFUW St. Catharines as President these past two years. Our club is graced by so many fun and fearless women, and it’s been a joy to get to know more of you during the meetings and events. While it is impossible to share all that I have learned from working with others to move our dear club’s missions forward, allow me to offer a few impressions.

Fundraising

Members, always generously supporting our mission of fundraising for education and helping local women and children with their time and financial support, magnified those efforts and found some new ways to help. Some examples are buying tickets to new fundraisers, matching donations, donating their own art and handcrafts, providing experiences to share, and opportunities to learn a new art or craft.

Membership and Retention

Through the collaborations of long-term and newer members, the meetings have been a more engaging and accessible experience for all. We must have set a record for guest attendance at our kick-off meeting in September (Women in Wine panel) and it seems that many more are inviting their friends out to meetings and parties. You’ve been sharing more of yourselves whether through interest groups, on special short-term projects, and in small groups’ efforts out in the community (this year’s new and special vigil to remember the young women of the Polytechnique tragedy comes to mind). The Meet-A-Member short interviews at some of our meetings gave us a better awareness of who is in our club.

With our community efforts, and the club meetings and fundraising events that were opened to guests and the public, and the promotions of those bright spots for our club, we’ve raised our profile in the community yet again. Those strengthened and new partnerships at the city level and with other clubs and businesses will hopefully be platforms from which to further boost our club’s impact and membership.

Leadership

I will never forget the bright minds and boundless energy of our club’s executive and other dedicated leaders and volunteers. As a strong and actively engaged club, we have so much to be proud of. And we have so much more to look forward to! What’s to come under Terry Rotella’s brilliant leadership will be spectacular!

Has the cold left us? Perhaps there’s just a little more wintery weather ahead and we can manage that because we know there is an end. This one was particularly unpleasant. However, through my office window I can already see the crocuses poking above the mat of maple leaves. As they herald a whole new growing season, I imagine my friends and neighbors in their gardens, equipped with gloves and plans to bring about the Spring.

These are tumultuous days. Prices keep rising. Iconic stores are closing. The “tariff wars” as warned by others will have long-lasting effects on more than just our bank balances. Rights fought for by our mothers, grand-mothers and beyond are being eroded.

Perhaps because of the sort of work I do, I’ve become more attuned to cycles and admit to gravitating towards theories that confirm my bias. Most influential for me are the works of Neil Howe and William Strauss. From the late 1500’s to the present, the Strauss-Howe generational theory posits that every 80 years or so, society moves through four cycles just as consistently as we have our four seasons. Howe calls these cycles “turnings” and they happen in this order: High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis. The first of several books by these authors is “Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069” (1991).

The season of Crisis, the period we are in now, is also called the Fourth Turning. You can find much about this online. Here is a link to Goodreads. From the author: “Over the course of this book, I hope to persuade you of a more ancient yet also more optimistic doctrine: that our collective social life, as with so many rhythmic systems in nature, requires seasons of sudden change and radical uncertainty in order for us to thrive over time. Or, to paraphrase Blaise Pascal: History has reasons that reason knows nothing of.”

There’s a lot of optimism in that quote. After winter, after the crisis cycle, there is a High Period. And having studied the history presented by these authors, the High Periods, like Spring, are a time of rebirth and community focus.

It’s time to put on our gardening gloves, my friends, and keep doing what we can in our own backyards to bring about the Spring. Read about the women speaking out elsewhere in this newsletter and keep an eye on our provincial, national and international counterparts. Much great work is being done. Also, be sure to have your say! Check CFUW National’s Election Toolkit 2025 for key issues and tips for individuals and clubs.
https://www.cfuw.org/Federal+Election+Toolkit_2025/

How disconcerting that just ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8th, our CFUW National President, Linda Sestock wrote that there was a growing anti-rights movement for women and marginalized communities in recent weeks: Club Action News – Feb 7

Since 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been recognized in many countries, a day perhaps upon which to measure progress with women’s equal participation in society around the world, and one certainly to celebrate women’s achievements.

Our club’s foundation and mission are to fight for access to education for every woman and first, to educate ourselves. Here is what you can do this month:

• • United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), in its 69th year, is holding a two-week session in New York that among many other goals, sets a gender equality and women’s empowerment theme in the international community for the year. Always rooted in the theme are actions that will accelerate progress and promote women’s and girls’ rights.
  • CFUW participates every year with a statement and delegates: www.unwomen.org/en
  • To draw on the inspiration of some of our stronger sisters, the Government of Canada has web pages devoted to Canadian women trailblazers, with Trailblazers
  • CFUW National offers many resources for IWD.

There is a screening of the film “Woman” from March 1st to March 15th: https://members.cfuw.org/calendar This is a free screening, however, Individuals and groups must register to watch the film online. If you are interested in hosting a screening group or post-viewing discussion, please let us know.

On Toxic Political Culture. I had the privilege of participating in the well attended virtual CFUW President’s Plus New Year’s Party. The key topic was the issue of respect and civility in politics and society. Senator Marilou McPhedran, (sencanada.ca/en/senators/mcphedran-marilou/) who sits in the Senate as an independent (non-affiliated with any group or party), spoke to CFUW members from an airport lounge about the ubiquitousness of political incivility at all levels of government. That disrespectful behaviours around policies and viewpoints can give way to vicious personal attacks no longer seems shocking. None of this serves as a model for Canadians to emulate.

Senator McPhedran was the youngest lawyer to be named a Member of the Order of Canada for her work on an Ad Hoc committee of Canadian Women on the Constitution. A Human Rights lawyer with close to 40 years’ experience representing harassment and abuse victims, her references to how others were applying pressure for civility in the political landscape were discussed in break-out rooms.

1. Pledge of Civility. With Federal and Provincial elections ahead, this pledge of civility specifically requests that candidates end the harassment of women politicians and that they commit to calling out colonialism, racism, misogyny and discrimination whenever they see it.
2. Better Ballot Campaign. It was launched by CFUW Guelph in 2019 and won that club a National award. It seeks to encourage more women and visible minorities to run for offices by requesting that candidates and voters commit to support issues-based campaigns and healthy debate.

I can’t get away from the news bites and YouTube shorts that are littered with shameful vignettes of insults flung across the political aisles or spat out over microphones. It feels a bit like rock bottom to me and isn’t that when things can start to change?

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” So says Tony Robbins. However, being a catch-more-flies-with-honey type, I prefer Mel Robbins’ approach to change: “It’s not the big moves that change everything—it’s the smallest ones in your everyday life that do.” Here is another: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”, Margaret Mead. I intend to soon send, only in my personal capacity and not as an affiliate of our club, a few “Valentines” out to our leaders and hopefuls, and the handwritten messages will simply say that I appreciate (in advance) that they will serve as a model of civility and respect to us all. Care to join me?

Well, that was fun and such a success!

Fundraising: The risk paid off and as we’d hoped, more was raised during this year’s Holiday Auction than from last year’s Silent Auction and Makers Market combined. Others will provide more details on how and what your generosity will provide for our club’s work. While we’ve some logistics wrinkles to iron out, it is clear what to build on. What attendees shared most during the event and after was the festive mood, fabulous music and that beautifully displayed auction of interesting and varied items. As expressed on the night of from the podium, on behalf of our club and its future beneficiaries, many heartfelt thanks to the promoters, planners, organizers, volunteers, makers, donators, and especially the bidders who all but guaranteed this successful fundraiser.

Fun-Raising: So lovely to see you and your guests enjoying the evening. Apart from the financials, everyone there (and even a few who weren’t but had heard) commented that our evening was also a social success. Jocelyn and Alyssa planned a beautiful meal in a lovely setting, and “our” band, Chix@Six, filled that hall with merriment. And special thanks to Carol C. for her generous surprise table prizes and for enticing Santa and Mrs. Claus to come for a visit.

It was great to share social time with so many of you and I know that you are pleased as well that together we raised considerable money for our club’s work. As an added benefit, it was such a treat to get to know a few of you a little more while we planned the event and later as we set up the auction tables. Listening to friends working together and laughing sent energy out across the room and was another highlight for me. Which brings me to my next topic for this article.

Ikigai: Another president may have introduced this idea to the club some time ago, but it came back to mind twice recently. First, as I saw clubmates enjoying working together at the Festive Dinner, and second, during a recent conference I attended for financial advisors who were interested in helping their clients find meaning through volunteerism. IKIGAI is a Japanese concept akin to Raison D’etre that overlaps with Joie de Vivre. I’m hoping my drawing of the concept (the diagram appears in different forms all over the internet) will quickly help you see the nut of the idea being that which makes life worth living can be found while doing what you can for others. There’s a nuance to IKIGAI that I am obsessing on and that is that one’s sense of purpose does not have to come from grand accomplishments in life, but rather by simply doing what we can and doing it well.

While boosting your beneficiaries with your energy, somehow this lifts us too. From the United Heath Group study, 2013, titled “Doing Good is Good for You”, 76% reported that volunteering in the prior year made them feel healthier and 81% said volunteering with co-workers strengthened their bonds. I’m personally feeling and observing that this finding applies amongst our club mates as well. Diving deeper, I just landed on a synopsis of study by Dr. Iza Kavedzija on the website: BLUEZONES.COM Do you know what ‘bluezones’ are? If you look for an article called “The Japanese Concept of Ikigai – Why Purpose Might Be a Better Goal than Happiness” you may be interested to learn how Dr. Kavedzija and others I’m following such as the National Geographic reporter, Dan Buettner, are tying the longevity noted in blue zone Okinawa to the citizens’ desire to keep contributing as long as they are healthy.

Best wishes for your 2025. One of mine is to keep doing good things for others and growing a bit younger with all of you.

Lessons from the Grinch

What’s your favourite Christmas or Holiday movie? Is it It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)? Maybe Miracle on 34th Street (1947)? Or do you always watch A Christmas Story, filmed around 1983 and partly in dear old St. Catharines. A Christmas Carol (1951) tops many of your lists, no doubt. Mine’s still How The Grinch Stole Christmas, that first aired in 1966 when I was one year old. Like so many holiday-themed classics, “The Grinch” celebrates the importance of family and caring for others. The part that I looked forward to seeing the most every year, and this is one of my first memories growing up, is that moment when sweet little Cindy-Lou who finally got through to that curmudgeon: it is not your presents that matter, it’s your presence.

Thank you to all of you for your presence in this Club of ours, for your support and dedication to the works or our organization throughout the year, and for creating a warm and welcoming space for each other and especially for our new members. Finally, and most of all, thanks for looking out for your club mates and others who may be struggling right now.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Festive Dinner party and if not there, then let me say it all now:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Holidays
And all my wishes that you’ll be able to share everything you hope to in the New Year.

Two Ways the Club is Refreshing Fundraising

and Three Reasons Why

1. Holiday Auction – Wrapping up the Makers Market and Silent Auction into One Present

Perpetually successful, the Silent Auction fundraiser held during the Festive Dinner has been a highlight of the Club year for over 25 years. It runs like a well-oiled machine and it’s just fun! In my first year of membership, I didn’t quite understand the drill, but the bidding was a riot, and I won that exquisite Nordic sweater donated by a women’s store, and almost all of the baby items lovingly knitted by members.
The Makers Market, our newest money-maker, is as much a fundraiser as a celebration of the many creative abilities of our members. A fresh way for guests to see (part of) what CFUW St. Catharines is all about, last year’s Makers Market was especially fun because of the dulcet tones of the Chix@Six band and the live chocolate making.

Combining the best of both events, the Holiday Auction has some new twists that I know will amuse you! Not only will you and your guests be able to bid on carefully curated “consumables” and hand-crafted items and home-made goodies, but this year you will also have a chance to win “experiences.” What’s that, you say? Members are being canvassed to see what sort of expertise or experience they can offer to one another. Let me tell you that if Susan submits “how to make pie crust” it’s going to be tough to beat my bid. Not for me, actually. My sweetheart wants to learn how to make Lemon Meringue Pie from a pro. An email went out with more information, and others will write more about this in this newsletter. I’ll be calling many more of you soon.

As we did for last spring’s Makers Market, we plan to contribute money raised at the Holiday Auction to the Charitable Fund or we may split between Charitable and the Club depending on need. We will let you know.

2. Drawn to Niagara Black Tie Gala

As many of you know, the club’s executive has decided that the House and Garden Tour will be paused for the year so that we can focus our efforts on trialing a new event that aims to leverage funds and effort from outside the club. This elegant evening will be hosted at Coppola’s Restaurant in the spring and features not only an excellent dining experience but also a live art focal point. Leveraging the commitment of influential friends from the food and wine industries, and the deep experience of club members who are experts in their fields, we’re concentrating on producing a memorable evening unlike any other in the Niagara region. News to many, I realize that this appears to be a bold move and hope you will be encouraged to hear that I began collecting the foundational pieces for this vision almost five years ago. As additional details are published throughout the year, my thoughts are that you will be enthused by what you see!
(P.S. There is additional fundraising news to be announced by the Charitable Fund very soon. Stay tuned. This will be such a source of honour for the club.)

Why the Changes?

Very simply, the recent changes to the fundraising line-up respond to the handwritten recommendations of the 63 respondents to the extensive Membership survey (2021) and the discussions with the more than 30 participants of the Focus Group research that followed.

Three of the themes from that body of research that support this direction for fundraising are:

1. While nothing matters more to the club than that we continue to raise money for scholarships, the hope is that we can find ways to do so that require less effort for our members.
2. Members join the club to meet new people, and they want to know more about each other.
3. Building and retaining membership are key to a flourishing club. When members invite a guest to an entertaining or inspiring club event, there is a higher likelihood that they will join.

October. With the change of seasons, some notable dates: My penchant for making connections can border on the unlikely, however, I wonder if you can also see some ties between the beauty of Autumn’s beginning changes and what’s being celebrated on several dates in October. A few:

• Oct 1st – National Seniors Day in Canada. This is a day to personally acknowledge the contributions of an older person to your families, communities or society.
• Oct. 11th – the International Day of the Girl Child celebrates the achievements of young women worldwide and asks us all to work towards mitigating the additional challenges these young women face because of gender.
• Oct. 14th – Thanksgiving – on behalf of the executive, we wish you and yours another wonderful celebration this year.
• Oct. 18th – Persons Day in Canada. The Famous Five (I can’t write their names without getting goosebumps: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Muir Edwards) lost a hard-fought legal challenge when the Supreme Court of Canada shamefully decided in 1927 that the word “person” did not include women. These valiant women appealed to the Privy Council of Great Britain in London and on October 18, 1929, decisively the word “person” would include females. Much more than semantics, this decision paved the way for women to participate fully in society. Please take some time to appreciate women, past and present, whose work improves the lives of all women and girls in Canada.
• Oct. 31st – with its 1,000-year-old origin as part of a Celtic festival, this day for trick-or-treating fun once asked that we turn our minds to those we’ve lost. Will you be able to resist “being someone else” for a few hours this Hallowe’en or can you contain yourself to just providing joy to the children this year?

October is Canadian Women’s History Month, Global Diversity Awareness Month, and Canadian Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. From cancer.ca, we know that almost 28,000 Canadians are diagnosed each year with breast cancer and thousands live with disease. I am one of those (2012). To provide encouragement to the several hundred other women competing and to many more supporters, I wore the bubble-gum pink “cancer survivor” cap during my first triathlon a couple months ago.

Apologies Due: On a different note, were you able to attend last month’s spectacular meeting? The smart work of several committees and the draw of the brilliant women on the panel must have created a record-breaker for both club attendance and number of guests. A business meeting had been planned after the break where excited conversations captivated many. I take full responsibility for calling an early end to the agenda and apologize to those who remained for the reports and announcements, especially the new members waiting to be introduced and those with prepared reports. Those items have been deferred to the October meeting and I have learned to set a timer! Best to get one of those right away, for this month’s speaker will also capture your attention.

Thank you to moderator, Jennifer Wilhelm and to panelists, Donna Lailey, Kelly Mason, Allison Findlay, and Brooke Husband, for their informative discussion on Women in the Ontario Grape and Wine Industry at our September 10 meeting.

CFUW St Catharines also extends a special thank you to Cogeco Your TV for filming this panel discussion. Cogeco’s production will soon be available for viewing on their Your TV Niagara channel:

Wednesday, September 18 at 8:30 pm

Saturday, September 21 at 7:00 pm

Sunday, September 22 at 9:30 pm

Saturday, September 28 at 7:00 pm

Well, hello there! Hope you’ve had the summer you envisioned and that you are already curious about what your club will be offering this year. The kick-off event, written about on the first page of this newsletter, is sure to be a highlight of the year and perfectly launches another dynamic suite of speakers. With many hours still ahead of them, heaps of thanks to all involved, especially our Program Chair, Promotions Convenor, Graphic Designer and acting Past President who have done an incredible amount of work in a short time.

I joined CFUW St. Catharines with high hopes for connections and to make a difference but my passion for the club was ignited only once I had joined interest groups and helped with the fundraising efforts. And once involved in leadership, I found the friends I’d been missing all my life. I hope you feel the same.

Members: longer term, newer or new, what can I do to help you make the most of your club year? My number is 905-525-0111 and my notepad and pen will be ready. Or email me at [email protected]

With my mind on fundraising and raising the club’s visibility in the Niagara community, I’ve been reading, or rather, “studying” a book by Hank Moore called “NonProfit Legends. For Humanity and Good Citizenship.” Both a social club and one of service, much of our organization’s work is done quietly. From my perspective, much too quietly! How to change that? I have some ideas, let me know if you do too.

Furthermore, from the main page of CFUW national website ( https://www.cfuw.org/ ), we learn that our organization has been active for over 100 years, and currently has about 95 clubs across Canada with 6,500 members who work “to improve the status of women, and to promote human rights, public education, social justice, and peace.” A little further down we see that coast-to-coast, an average of $1M is raised annually. Fundraising is just a part of the service our club provides (think: volunteer hours to run our club and serve the community) however I believe we have the capacity to elevate that national average.

Stay tuned! The Makers Market was a bit of a test and there is a new big event brewing for this year. It should generate name recognition for CFUW St. Catharines while leveraging on community partnerships so that our club can do more than its share of that $1M.