MARY KAY FUNDRAISER

Mary Kay Cosmetics is running a campaign to raise money for abused women and children shelters throughout the United States and the world. Mary Kay is donating all of the profits from the sale of it's popular Apple Berry Creme Lipstick. Please place your order by emailing me at wgilvey@marykay.com! Order one for yourself and one to give away.

At the December meeting, there was no speaker. Instead we did a Chinese Gift Exchange that was held at Barbara Sheffield of the Bailey House.

Our November speaker was Rose Bennett. She discussed her travels throughout Israel and Palestine. She visited seven YMCA's throughout Israel and Palestine including several in the occupied territory of the West Bank. She saw political and cultural problems first hand and how the YMCA's and other organizations are helping Palestinians get jobs, training, save olive tree farms and have a safe place for families to go.

Our October speaker was Penny Sansbury who talked to the group about local ghost stories.  They discussed ghosts of days past that still inhabit local places of business and local homes they just can't leave behind.

Our September speakers were four local women authors of varying genres: Maggie Carter-deVries who recently published Amelia's Secrets; Dickie Anderson who has published her From the Porch books; Cara Curtin a local author and News Leader column writer; and Terri Ridgell local author who has published several romance novels. Each speaker will give a brief biography and then we will open it up to questions from the group.

Our August speaker was Penny Landregan from the Nassau Humane Society. She spoke to the group about the efforts of the Humane Society finding temporary foster homes for dogs and cats.

Our July  speaker was Susan Siegmund who spoke to us about Amelia Island Book Festival. This year the dates will be October 3-5. "Famous Authors" and "Authors of Lesser Fame" come from all over the country to be a part of this festival.

• Thursday Oct. 2, 2008:
    The Book Island Festival will host a Wine Auction to raise funds
• Friday, Oct. 3, 2008:
    AUTHORS in Schools all public schools in county.
    One of the missions of the Book Island Festival is to get books into the hands of the children in our community.
• Saturday, Oct. 4:
    The seminars will be free.
• There will be many events and approximately 35 guest authors this year.
• For complete information, about schedules, tickets, & advertising opportunities, please visit www.bookisland.org

Our speaker in June Christine Alznauer, who spoke to us about Gerri's Corner. They provide free services for women with cancer. This service group meets in the Methodist Church on N. 6th Street.

Our speaker in May was Master Gardener Linda Leopold, who spoke to us about our local climate, native plans, and she answered many questions from the audience.