Those of you who remember my September column already know that I’m not a huge fan of starting the New Year on a random day in the middle of the winter! (There would be a certain logic to starting a new year on the solstice, but January 1? Seriously, who picked that date?) Unfortunately, despite my rants and diatribes, most of the rest of the world disagrees with me, and so at the start of January, we rolled over into a brand new year.
I only bring this up again because WFQG begins our new membership year in January. This means membership renewal forms, new officers and committee chairs, and new events and challenges for everyone to participate in!
If you haven’t renewed your membership, please do that as soon as you can. Donna Owens, our intrepid Membership chair, is getting ready to put the annual roster together, and you don’t want to be left out. Also, if you are a fully paid-up member by the January meeting, you can participate in to the Road to California challenge, and maybe help the guild win a $500 prize! (More on that elsewhere in this issue.)
Many thanks to the outgoing officers and chairs (1st VP Alison Dingeldein, 2nd VP Susan Winnie, Secretary Carol Walker, Ways & Means chair Midge Schuyler, SCCQG representative Chris Vail, Challenge chair Jane Davidson), and many thanks to those who have stepped up to fill those positions (1st VP Linda Rasmussen, 2nd VP Alison Dingledein [she didn’t get far!], Co-secretaries Irma Caldera and Wanda James, Challenge co-chairs Judi Romine and Gina Danner, and BOM co-chair Elaine Zamani [joining returning chair Maggi Gordon]). Thanks also to the board members who are continuing in their positions this year. To steal a phrase from a much better writer, the WFQG is truly an organization “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” We need the participation of all of you in order to continue to flourish.
And fortunately, the new year brings LOTS of opportunities for you to participate in LOTS of things! If you were paying close attention in the last paragraph, you noticed that we have two positions which haven’t yet been filled. We’re still looking for a Ways and Means chair and a SCCQG rep. Descriptions of the positions can be found in the bylaws section of your roster—if you think you might be interested in filling either of those slots, let me know. (I actually attended the January SCCQG meeting just before writing this column—it wasn’t arduous, it was pretty interesting, and there were snacks! Who wouldn’t want a job that includes snacks?!)
If you don’t feel ready to join the board, you can participate in any number of other activities this year. I know you may be tempted to skip the January meeting, since there’s no interesting speaker—just a business meeting—but if you don’t come, you’ll miss hearing about the new Challenge event (it’s even a secret from me!) and updates on our retreats (big news about the Winter retreat—you really don’t want to miss it). The guild has also been invited to participate in a demonstration day at the Huntington Gardens in May, and we’ve been invited back to the Stitches show in November, so we’ll be looking for people to sign up for both of those events. There are lots more ways to be active in the guild, but my word count is climbing and I don’t want the editor to yell at me—so you’ll just need to come to the meeting to hear about them!
See you there.