By Betty Jane Gardiner, State Women's Activities Director
APRIL 2008 --
I often speak of how much we ask of you in support of our contests and projects and how great you all are at coming through with your support.
Now we are calling for your involvement in the things we are doing in preparation for hosting the National Grange Convention this November. Can you handle another challenge? Bet you can!!!
In May there will be a Roast Beef Dinner to raise funds for the event. We will again have a craft sale and we hope you will want to donate an item or two. Any one of us on the State Committee will be happy to accept anything you’d care to make.
At the Session there will be Christmas trees to be decorated for giving to hospitals and children’s homes. Handmade items are needed for the trees and we will welcome your help with the ornaments.
Our bigger undertaking will be to make and fill small gift bags to be given to everyone at the Celebration (closing) Banquet of the session. We will need 500 bags, but, thankfully, we will be helped in this endeavor by New York and the other New England states in our region. We are planning to make 100 bags in Connecticut. Several of our people are making the bags while others have promised nice little gifts to fill them. We will need more small handmade gifts. We hope they will be nice things and that people will remember that the bags will be given to men and women! We will hope to have enough items to put three to five things into each bag. If you are willing to help with this project any one of our committee will be happy to give you ideas and suggestions of what to make.
Our main concern is to be sure we won’t “short change” our regular CWA projects (Foster families, Covenant to Care, and the country store at the Big E) while making these special things for November - but knowing you all as we do, we don’t think we will have to worry about that!
Each of the host states will have charge of 5 tables and 50 favors for the opening night Host Banquet. We won’t have to ask for help on our tables as your state committee will take care of all of it.
Just think how easy it will be next year when we can go back to doing our regular projects.
We thank you for all you are doing - and will be doing between now and November! We know your needles will be humming- so keep singing as you work because this year “The Melody Lingers On!”
