May 201 7 Parker Women's Club 43 years Pearls from PWC

The Parker Women’s Club is an organization that provides an opportunity for the women of Parker to support

their city. The club offers an avenue for community service, charity and fellowship.

May 2017 Parker Women's Club

Pearls from PWC 43 years

President’s Message

As we wrap up the 43rd year of the Parker Women’s Club, I find myself reflecting

on the past year, and, what a year it was! So many previous records were broken,

not that it‘s a contest, however, it is so very rewarding to see this little Club

continue to grow as it enters ‗middle age‘! I would like to thank everyone for

playing an integral part in making this year such a great success! Each and every

member, whether active or inactive, plays a part in expanding and nurturing this

extraordinary organization.

Each day we take it upon ourselves to act within the guise of our Mission

Statement (found at the bottom of the page); it may be something as simple as

sending a card, or getting together for lunch or coffee, or, it can be something as

major as gifting our City FD & PD monies that can be used to purchase

equipment to save lives. These actions define this Club, and we all should be

proud to be a part of it!

With the monies raised from our fundraising efforts, the Board approved the

following donations –

$10,125 - Parker Fire Department

$6,500 - Scholarships allocation

$4,000 - Parker Police Department

$1,000 - Parker Helpers Start-Up

$560 - picnic table for the Parker Preserve, in memory of Tom Stone

$500 - Dallas Assist the Officer Foundation

$200 - In-Sync Exotics

I would like to thank the 2016-2017 Board of Directors - Marilyn Kittrell, Le Ann Turrentine, Tammy

Jones, Sharon Brucato, Vicky Barrera-White and Debbie Crutcher; the appointed Officers – Carol Denio,

Chris Lucich, and Linda Nelson; the Activity Chairpersons – Gayle Glosser, Cindy Frost, Jennifer Barnaby,

Susie Pohl, Melinda Marshall, Sandy Waites, and Pat Waggoner. There have been MANY, MANY

VOLUNTEERS help to make this year a successful and memorable one - a special THANKS to you all!!

I am beyond honored to have served as your President these past two years. I very much look forward to

watching (and being a part of) the continued growth and success of this Club! Stacy Patrick

Highlights

Page 1

President‘s

Message

Page 2

Programs

Page 3

Board of Directors

Pages 4 - 10

Officer Reports

Pages 11 - 16

Activity Chair

Reports

PARKER WOMEN'S CLUB

P.O. Box 1361

Allen, TX 75013 [email protected]

Page 2 Pearls from PWC

The Parker Women’s Club is a 501(c)3 organization that provides an opportunity for the women of Parker to

support their city. The club offers an avenue for community service, charity and fellowship.

Programs

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone for Parker Women's Club. It was a year full of fun,

fundraising, friendships, and future planning. FANTASTIC would be a good way to summarize it!

We began as we do every year with a welcome back meeting to kick things off and then the next month

headed to The Dallas Arboretum to see the Pumpkin Villages's huge display of over 75,000 pumpkins! We

jumped right into November with a Fall Fashion Show/Luncheon & Silent Auction where we had a great

time, managed to raise a tidy sum for the club, and enjoyed an awesome lunch provided by the ladies at

Victory Church. As tradition holds, we had a festive social gathering in December where it was all about fun

& games! Dream Petals Floral provided our great program in January with the always popular raffle of

Dianne Sheridan's beautiful designs which benefited the Club’s fundraising and sent several lucky members

home as winners. A new event in February was a hit for couples and guests as we hosted a Whiskey Tasting

for the first time! Sounds difficult to keep up - right?!?!

The Club's 2nd Annual "Winning O' the Green" Fundraiser was another success and made the largest

contribution to our Club's fundraising efforts. The St. Patrick's Day theme, live music and festive

atmosphere have proven to be a recipe for success which our club will continue to improve and build upon

for continued success and enjoyment! With our big event behind us, in April the Club slowed down a bit

with a field trip to In Sync Exotics where we learned of this Non-Profit's pledge to care for and rescue

abused and neglected exotic felines. It was quite an education and the felines were beautiful! A worthy

cause so close to home in Wylie, TX. As May approached our Scholarship Committee was busy considering

the applicants and awarded 3 worthy students a total of $6,500 in Scholarships!

What an honor it is to be part of this Club! Because of YOU, our hardworking and devoted members, our

community support, and loyal donors, we were able to give back to our community including the Parker Fire

Dept, Parker Police Dept, Scholarships and special service projects a total of over $23,000! That should

make you all feel PROUD because as we always say - "It takes a Village" and you my dear friends are the

VILLAGE!

As our year ends and the Club breaks for the summer, please remember to encourage your Parker friends

and neighbors to join us next fall and support our future endeavors. We are looking forward to another

succesful year of giving back to our community, and I will have the honor of leading you in that charge as

your new President! As it will be a tall order to fill Past President, Stacy Patrick's shoes, I hope you will all

lend your continued support. Stacy will be missed, but she will continue to play a vital role in our Club's

fundraising efforts as we all strive together for our Club's continued success! Thank you so much for

allowing me to play a role in this special organization. I look forward to seeing you around our lovely Parker

community and am excited to start anew in September! Please feel free to reach out to me if you have ideas

for our Club. I'd love to hear from you! C: 214-412-7303 / E: [email protected]

Marilyn Kittrell

mailto:[email protected]




2016 – 2017 Officers

2017 – 2018 Officers

Carolyn Brown, Secretary

Vicky Barrera-White, Secretary

Stacy Patrick, President

Tammy Jones, VP Membership

Le Ann Turrentine, VP Fundraising

Marilyn Kittrell, VP Programs

Sharon Brucato, VP Outreach

Marilyn Kittrell, President

Tammy Jones, VP Membership

Sharon Brucato, VP Outreach

Debbie Crutcher, Treasurer

Carol Denio, Parliamentarian

Carol Denio, Parliamentarian

Nancy Vermeer, Treasurer

Roxanne Bogdan, VP Programs

Lorrie Brenner, VP Fundraising




May General Membership Meeting

Our final meeting of the year was held at the home of Marty Anderson on May 18th. What a wonderful

night it was! First, the food!! Many of the 25 members and 7 guests commented on what a lovely, and tasty,

spread of food was offered by co-hostesses Jane Marshall, Kathy Ledzius, Pat Waggoner, and Barbara

Smith, after each guest was so courteously greeted by Fran Lewis and Carol Denio.

After the short business meeting, Stacy Patrick gave a heartfelt thank you to the outgoing Board members

and welcomed the incoming Board. We saved the best for last, as Linda Nelson continued the second part

of the program with the presentation of the Scholarship Awards. Stacy Patrick




April General Membership Meeting

April's General Meeting was held at In Sync Exotics. What an awesome facility established in 1998 right next

door in Wylie, Texas! I had no idea this was so nearby and what an amazing service they provide. As we

toured the facility and gazed upon the beautiful felines, it's hard to imagine someone would abuse or

neglect them. This 501(c)(3) Non-Profit relies strictly upon donations to support their rescue and care efforts

of these exotics. If you haven't visited their facility, please make the short trip and consider supporting this

worthy cause. Visit their Website for more details and ways to help, donate, or

volunteer: http://www.insyncexotics.org/. Marilyn Kittrell

Membership

I am pleased to announce that we finished the 2016-2017 membership year with a

record number of members! We had 28 new members join, 118 renewals, for a

grand total of (drum roll please) 146 members!! Please help us break the 150

barrier next year! Keep an eye out in your mailbox early August for membership

forms for the 2017-2018 year. Tammy Jones

Treasurer Report

The current balance in our Treasury is $12,735.58. Major upcoming disbursements are $6,500

for our scholarship awards and $1,000 to help launch Parker Helpers. The remaining balance

will roll into our next fiscal year that begins June 1. Debbie Crutcher




PWC Scholarship

The PWC Scholarship Selection Committee (Chair: Linda

Nelson, Members: Chris Lucich, Annette Stone, and Peggy

Threadgill) reviewed qualifying applicants and evaluated

GPA, class rank, strength of character references from

counselors, teachers, and administrators, as well as adult

citizens of Parker and selected 3 finalists.

The 2017 scholarships were awarded at the May General Membership meeting to Jessica Elliott, Steven

Elliott and Gigi Tartaglino.

The Scholarship Committee presented a great program recapping how we have come a long way from the

first $200 scholarship. Since 2003, PWC has awarded 28 scholarships totaling $44,400. It was a treat to

meet the recipients and their parents and hear their plans as they embark upon their new adventures. They

were encouraged to remember where it all began in Parker, TX! Linda Nelson

Jessica will graduate from Magnolia Academy (home school) and will attend SMU focusing on Biological

Sciences and Fine Arts. Her future plan to be a physician is complemented by her dedication to Ballet with

40+ performances on a national level as well as numerous medals / awards as a classical pianist. She has

already completed college coursework and actively serves the community at numerous non profits.

Gigi will graduate from Plano East Senior High and plans to attend Texas Christian University focusing on

Biochemistry. In addition to advanced placement classes, she is a member of National Honor Society and

actively serves the community through mission activities locally and abroad as well as a volunteer at local

schools, hospitals and UNICEF.

Steven will graduate from Magnolia Academy (home school) and will attend Harvard focusing on the field of

Electrical Engineering. In addition to having college courses at Collin County and SMU already behind him,

he is also a robotics designer (patent pending), recipient of numerous science and engineering awards, a

classical pianist and a cross-country runner.

Jessica and Peggy Gigi and Annette Steven and Chris Jessica, Steven, and Gigi

Annette, Chris, Linda, and Peggy




Historian Report

What an amazing year we have had!! I have pictures

galore and am wondering how to put as many as

possible into the Historical Book of PWC

2016/2017! We have had many events; coffees,

meetings, craft days, lunch bunches, dominoes, bridge,

young moms, etc. I will endeavor to get it all in and I

just know it will be grand. Thank you, everyone who

sent in photos. I promise to do better next year at any

event I am at (yes, doing this again! woo hoo) See

you in September for the first meeting of the new

2017/2018 year, where I will start amassing photos. Chris Lucich

Fundraising Update

The following is a summary of the monies raised through our fundraising efforts –

Contributions (Annual Drive) - $11,405

Dream Petals Florist Program Raffle - $545

Back The Blue Ribbon & Decal Sales - $798

Silent Auction - $3,415

Reverse Raffle - $7,906

Directory/Cookbook Sales - $200

General Donations - $75

GRAND TOTAL - $24,344

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped and supported these efforts! It all would not have happened

without YOU!




Contributions

PWC was granted its 501(c)3 status as a tax deductible charitable organization in 2011. These tax-deductible

contributions help fund community projects and activities throughout the year, such as holiday gifts for

needy Parker families, college scholarships for deserving Parker High School Seniors and financial donations

to the Parker Volunteer Fire Department.

A whole-hearted “Thank You” goes out to all of the contributors for your generous donations this past

year. With a record $11,405 donated, from 55 Parker residents, the PWC was able to provide over

$10,000 to the Parker Fire Department, allocate a notable amount to the scholarship fund, and support

other city and community needs.

Lone Star Resident ($1,000 or more): John & Debbie Chisolm; Mary Templeton

Bluebonnet Resident ($500 to $999): Michael Godfrey- In Memory of Linda Godfrey; Shea

Family-In Memory of Glenn Justice

Pecan Resident ($250 to $499): Jane & Z Marshall; Rick Palmer-Innovative Auto Works; The

Patricks; Richard & Sherri Russell; Jamie & Le Ann Turrentine; Ralph & Kay White-In Memory of

M. Brown and C. White

Mockingbird Resident ($100 to $249): Nancy Bednarz; Cynthia Chisholm; Patti & Joe Cordina;

Maggie Craddock; Genie Hammel-In Memory of David Hammel; Kimberly Hinshaw; Phyllis

Houx; Mike & Marilyn Kittrell; Ron & Andy McCollum; Elvis & Linda Nelson; Keith & Lee Pettle;

Don & Cindy Powell; Don & Mary Anne Seale; The Stachiw Family; Nancy Vermeer; Dr. Ron

White & Vicky Barrera-White; Jesse & Terry Wilson

Good Neighbor ($50 to $99): Sheryl Baird; Kristi Boylan; Kathy Harvey; The Kenefick Family;

Fran & Hugh Lewis; Leonard & Betty Stanislav; Tom & Annette Stone

Friend of PWC ($25 to $49): Gail & Vijay Lewis; William & Jean Noland; Rita Sutaria; Jim

Thorpe- In Memory of Vicki Thorpe

Anonymous Donations: 17 donations totaling $4,515




Outreach

Acts of Kindness

It has been an honor to represent the Parker Women’s Club through its Acts of Kindness program to

reach out to 38 residents this year experiencing illness, surgery, hospitalization, or the loss of a loved one.

As Parker grows, it becomes even more important to provide personal outreach. Toward this end, next

year‘s Acts of Kindness program will include handmade greeting cards that will be easily identifiable as

notes of encouragement from the Parker Women’s Club. These cards will be created during the summer

and will bear the Parker Women’s Club bluebonnet logo on its cover, along with a handwritten,

personalized note inside each card.

Please continue to contact [email protected] with the names of neighbors or family

members in need of encouragement or a helping hand.

Angel Wings Program

The Parker Women’s Club’s holiday assistance program received a new name this year, changing from

the Angel Tree Program to the Angel Wings Program. The reason was practical: it would be easier to read

gift requests if they were presented on a flat surface. So glittery, hand-cut angel wings were substituted

for the tree, and requested items were described on shimmery feathers.

Parker residents donated generously to the Angel Wings Program, enabling three struggling Parker

families to receive essential household goods, clothing and toys by Christmas. Parker Women’s Club

members wrapped the 101 gift items, and then representatives from PWC, Parker PD, Parker FD and city

council helped deliver these gifts along with two new twin beds, $740 in gift cards, $550 in checks, plus

one earmarked college fund donation.

The angel wings display will be further refined in time for viewing at city hall this November and

December. Your display recommendations are welcome. It is not too soon to nominate struggling

families, couples or individuals as recipients of the upcoming Angel Wings Project via

[email protected].






New Outreach Programs

PWC’s Outreach program is expanding with the objective of launching services that can be managed by

outside individuals, organizations or city departments. New programs will include:

Parker Helpers: Parker will soon have its own volunteer handyman squad! Eighteen men and one

woman have signed up as charter members of Parker Helpers. This team will complete training with

Plain-O-Helpers and then work together once a week for a few hours to assist Parker residents aged 50+

with minor home maintenance and repairs that are not conveniently offered by service providers.

Donations will fund the program, and the Parker Women’s Club has earmarked $1,000.00 toward the

purchase of initial materials.

If you would like to join this team or donate building materials at any point, please e-mail

[email protected], and your information will be forwarded to Parker Helpers.

Personal Safety Seminars: In the fall, Parker PD will host one or more safety seminars for residents.

Topics will include how to avoid Internet, mail and phone scams; common habits that jeopardize personal

safety; how to stay safe in a parking garage; and facts about kidnapping. Please e-mail additional safety

topics that interest you via [email protected].

Fire Safety Seminars: Parker FD has approved a list of topics to be presented at one or more

community fire safety seminars, but a timeframe has not been set for these seminars. Topics will include:

How to safeguard against fires

How to develop an evacuation plan

How to assist a senior who has fallen

How to tell the difference between angina and a heart attack

Where to place and how to maintain smoke alarms

How to put out a gas fire and an electrical fire

How to pump water to homes far from fire hydrants

Security gate code policy

A list of services the fire department offers

Which department to call in various emergency situations

A hands-on CPR class

Parker Tech Squad: PWC is currently coordinating recruitment of volunteers to help Parker seniors

needing in-person assistance to operate cellphones and PCs. Ideal volunteers include tech-savvy students

desiring community service hours, and high-tech companies seeking additional opportunities for

community outreach.

Please send your Outreach emails to [email protected]. Sharon Brucato




Bridge Club

In April, we played at the home of Carol Denio. We feasted on salads for lunch: macaroni, broccoli and lime

gelatin. Tasty! For dessert we had orange-coconut pound cake with ice cream. First place was taken by

Cindy Frost, second place Carla Stephens, the traveling prize went home with Mary Anne Seale. The

pictures show what a crazy and fun day we enjoyed. In May, we will be hosted by Eleanor Evans on May 23.

Behind these doors the most fun is going on every fourth Tuesday of each month. Slams are ‗bid and made‘,

sometimes slams are ‗made and not bid‘. Games are ‗bid and made‘, sometimes games are ‗made and not

bid‘. No matter the outcome with cards in your hand, the best part of these games is the friendships that

have been made and cherished.

This group has been together for about fourteen years. We had a rocky start as it took two years of begging

to get ladies to commit, as they all were afraid they didn't play well enough for a "Bridge Club".

We have had a year of great food and lots of laughter and oh yes some cards were played behind these

doors. Sandy Waites




Coffee Ladies

A big "thank you" to Lisa Ricketts for opening

her beautiful home to us for the April Ladies'

Coffee. She had a lovely Spring theme table set

with some delicious fruit and tasty breads. We

had eight ladies who fit perfectly around her

kitchen table talking up a storm!

May 25th brings us to Eleanor Evans home at

3507 Hogge Drive at 10 a.m. This will be our

last coffee of the year, so I do hope we see

more ladies stopping by for a visit.

We meet every 4th Thursday morning of the month at 10 a.m. for coffee, munchies and fun conversation at a

Parker Woman's Club member's home. Please consider "hosting" next year!

I would like to thank all the Ladies who hosted the "Ladies' Coffee" this past season, because without you,

we would not be able to have our little gettogethers.

Wishing everyone a wonderful summer and I will see you all in the Fall. Susie Pohl

Bunco

The Bunco Group met this month at Connie

Kielman’s home. Our winners were: Most Buncos -

Connie Kielman; Most Wins - Travis Ann Dorough;

Last Bunco - Cindy Frost; Most Baby Buncos - Stacy

Patrick; Most Losses – Marilyn Kittrell; and The Pot -

Tammy Jones.

And again two of our subs won!

We will be rolling dice through the summer, so if you

don‘t have your name on our sub list, it‘s not too late.

Cindy Frost




April Cake Pops Class at Cake Carousel in Richardson

Back the Blue Bow making to support our

police in September

December Sugar Scrub

Bars

October Card Making for Outreach

February Dream

Catchers

Crafts

It's been so much fun this year getting together with fun people and making so many different types of

crafts! We have helped with fundraising when we made the blue and black bows to support our Parker

Police. We have helped PWC Outreach when we hand made cards to send out. We have made crafts for

ourselves as well as to give as gifts for friends and family. We even had a ―field trip‖ to Cake Carousel for a

Cake Pop Class on April 19th. We learned so many tips and tricks. Check out the photos of the many types of

balls/pops that we made! Thank you to everyone who joined the fun in crafting this year!

Jennifer Barnaby




Young Mom’s

Oh the fun we have had and continue to plan! We enjoyed pool parties in the

Summer, pumpkin carving and decorating in the Fall, ornament and cookie

decorating in the Winter and backyard and preserve meet-ups through the

beautiful Spring. It has been wonderful seeing the children of all ages play and

grow together. We are thrilled that little by little we welcome new Parker

moms to our growing group. We always agree that Parker is one heck of a

place to be raising our children together!

As many of you know my family is growing by one in July. I need to take a couple things off of my plate and

one of them will be organizing these meet ups. If you have an interest in chairing this group, please let me

know. It really is simple. It is basically making sure that we meet up every other month (Feb, April, June,

August, Oct and Dec) with very simple and casual events. You will also ensure that as a sub group of the

Parker Women's Club, that our attendees have paid their $30 annual dues. I will obviously be around to

support, but after 2 years of heading up this group would like to pass the baton to someone fresh and not

as sleep deprived as I anticipate being!!

Please contact me at [email protected] or 913-269-9834 if you have any questions or have an

interest in taking over the planning of the meet-ups!!

Melinda Marshall




The Parker Page Turners

The Parker Women’s Club offers a book club again! We

launched in October and named ourselves the Parker Page

Turners. From November through May, we read seven

books totaling 3,270 pages—mostly historical nonfiction—

plus one political fiction and one murder-mystery.

Through these seven books, Parker Page Turners were

transported by land, air and sea to states east of the Mississippi, to Germany several times, to France and

Russia twice, plus there was a quick trip to Norway. Readers learned about several historical events from a

fresh perspective: Thomas Jefferson‘s life from his daughter‘s point of view; Charles Lindbergh from his

wife‘s vantage point; Nazi Germany from the U.S. ambassador‘s standpoint; the bombing of Saint-Malo

through the eyes of a blind French girl and a young German radio operator; and the siege of Leningrad from

an art-history perspective. Our fictional selections touched on loss, dysfunctional relationships, love,

betrayal, politics, the benefits of video-game playing, Norwegian ghost stories, and how to murder a spouse

and substitute a look-alike.

The next meeting of the Parker Page Turners takes place June 7 to talk about The Rape of Nanking. Then

participants will spend the summer reading Hamilton: The Revolution before meeting again on September

6. There will be a rousing discussion October 4 as we forecast Donald Trump‘s presidential strategy after

reading The Art of the Deal.

Please join us and recommend books you would like to read from November through May. You will find the

group engaging and our monthly discussions life-enhancing.

Gayle Glosser, Book Club Chairperson and Sharon Brucato, Discussion Leader

Dottie Dames

The last Dottie Dames Mexican Train Dominoes of the year as held at the home of Chris Lucich on Thursday,

May 11. This group will resume play in September. Pat Waggoner




Lunch Bunch

Our last lunch bunch for the year met at The

Bavarian Grill in Plano. It was a new culinary

experience for some. The food was wonderful and

the small, but fun group had a great time.

This year we covered the globe with a wide variety

of restaurants. We had Oriental, Mexican, Seafood,

Good ole Southern, German and "Lady Tearoom"

fare.

Hope everyone enjoyed the food and the fun

getting together to visit and catch up with friends and neighbors.

See you in the Fall. Cindy Frost

Did You Know????

That you can help support worthy causes in our area by using your Kroger or Tom Thumb card when you

shop? PWC is looking into how we can benefit from this program. But until then, another great way to

show your support for PWC is to select In-Sync Exotics. We visited their facility last month, and they provide

a great service by providing a home for abused large cats. You can log into your Kroger account online,

click on community, and sign up for rewards. The account number for In-Sync is 82145. Kroger will donate a

portion of all receipts collected to In-Sync on a quarterly basis. Tom Thumb is not set up online, but you

can ask for a Good Neighbor Program form at the store, or print one out from Tom Thumb's website. The

code to help In-Sync is 10706. Tammy Jones

Documents

May 201 7 Parker Women's Club 43 years Pearls from PWC