Christmas spirit, fun and sevice all in one!

 Two recent events provided our local communities with fun and treats. Our annual December meeting was our Christmas celebration social held at a member's home. As is tradition cookies were brought and then divided into trays which were then delivered to local community workers; fire, police, DPW etc.  as a thank you for their service. A few days later our annual DCYF foster family party was held complete with Santa, face painting, games,  hand knitted hats, beanie babies,and books. Tis the season for giving.

 

Cafe Noel sharing our talents

 The varied talents of our club's crafters were on full display at the Madison Elementary Cafe Noel craft fair- jams, hand knit items, towels, etched glassware and some very clever ornaments and magnets were showcased. Folks visiting the fair also learned about Altrusa and our club activities. Thanks to all the crafting elves for a successful event.

Trivia! In what year did Altrusa become an international organization?

 That was not one of the questions at Tuckerman's Brewing Company on Dec 5th- but there were lots of trivia teams (11) competing for the number one spot. Our club was well represented at this Dine to Donate event. Folks learned about our various projects and many ways in which our Altrusa club helps to make communities in Carroll County a better place. Thanks to all who came and supported our club.

New Members and Learning about Conway Library Park Extension

 We initiated 2 new members and officially welcomed Judi who was initiated last month. ( She received he name tag and pin this month. Ginny Nossiff, the treasurer of the friends of Conway Library shared the plans to expand outdoor opportunities at the Library with a park extension.

Halloween fun and fundrasing for the Laura Foundation

 The two Halloween events that our club supported were a big success.  At Trunk or Treat Ellen Caputo wdistributed  books supplied by our Club. Ellen runs a literacy program Once Upon A Story Hour and has appeared all over the valley entertaining children and sharing her love for reading.

 

 

The second event supported the The Laura Foundation. Halloweentown held near King Pine was a great success raising nearly $40,000 to support the progams at the foundation. As you can see we really like dressing for the occasion. 

           

Service Dogs, Story Teller and New Members Welcomed

 Our October meeting was full of wonderful guests. Nettie and Jinx of Little Angel Service Dogs taught us all about how dogs are trained to become service dogs for a variety of needs; from the ability to recognize when someone will have a seizure to giving comfort to those with anxiety disorders- these dogs provide much needed service to their owners. Training begins right at 8 weeks and continues until the dogs are matched and for some time beyond.

Jinx and Nettie

We were then invited to learn about Ellen Caputo's mission to bring reading alive and encourage kids to read! Having just come from an event as Harry Potter character Professor McGonagall Ellen told us about her non profit Once Upon a Storyhour. Ellen has shared her love of books at over 100 events in the Mt Washington Valley; from preschools and libraries to the Adult Day Center. We were happy to provide Ellen with the funds to distribute over 200 books at the upcoming Trunk or Treat at Burke Field in Madison. 

"Professor McGonagall"

 

We welcomed 3 new members to our club- Judi, Kristie and Cathy. We are so excited to have them join us and welcome their energy and new ideas!

New Members, their sponsors and the Membership Committee

Fall into service

Fall is a great time to get involved in the many service opportunities available in Mount Washington Valley. Check out some of the way our Altrusans serve our communities.

Gibson Lunch Service with a Smile

Prepping for the work of the Fall- Halloweentown, Gibson Lunches, End 68 Hours of Hunger Bags

We also installed Cindy as Secretary and Jess as our VP and welcomed a few guests.

Cindy will be the keeper of the notes !

Jess as VP Very important role to join Nancy and Beth as team leaders.

Collaborating with local organizations to make a difference in our communities

 One of our strengths is partnering with various local organizations to support their mission. A few of the organizations we helped were: Rotary Clean the Kanc,Gibson lunch service,Supplies for Revolving Closet

Packing food bags for End 68 Hours of Hunger 

It's always a pleasure to see how we can serve our communities.

 Cleaning the Kanc with the Rotary! Beautiful Day!

Serving lunch at Gibson is fun!

Small but powerful crew packing bags.

About 150 bags a week!

New Officers and Adult Day Center

 Our last 2 meetings we met off site. Normally meetings are held at the Madison library but to switch things up, in May we visited Adult Day Center in Conway and in June we met at North Conway Community Center.

According to The Mount Washington Valley Adult Day Center website it is "a facility specially designed to provide care services to older adults in a comfortable, home-like setting."

We learned about the various services provided.  At the Community center we installed new officers and board members, socialized and shared a delicious buffet dinner.

A rare occasion where we get a group photo!

Lynn Coyle gave a wonderful synopsis of all the services provided by the Adult day Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you board and officers for offering to serve- Missing Jess our VP and Cindy our Secretary

Books Books Books!! Get your summer read for kids and adults.

 There are multiple ways in which our club supports literacy. We provide books for the Hannaford book bin in North Conway and in our latest adventure we connected with the Altrusa Club in Portland MainePortland Gives Books to gather 40 new books for children ages Preschool to Middle school.  Our books from Portland will be available for free on August 21 at  Trail's End Intervale Cone for a Cause. 

Martha Gross of Portland Club - A great selection of books!

So many good choices- Be sure to get your summer read at Hannaford's North Conway. Each month a different non profit benefits from your donations. 

Reading is Fundamental!

 One of our favorite literacy projects is our baby book bags. We partner with the Cook Memorial and Freedom libraries to provide newborns and their families with a handcrafted bag which contains books and information about the importance of reading as soon as children are born. We hope this inspires families to get into the habit of reading daily to their newborns which will lead to a life time of exploration and love of books. 

Lots of cutting before lots of sewing to construct the bags.

Members of our Club present books for the baby book bags.

Service with a Smile

 Altrusans love to serve their community. We always do it with a smile. Here are a few of our members participating in 2 of our ongoing projects; End 68 Hours of Hunger and serving lunch at the The Gibson Senior Center The number of bags packed for End 68 hours of hunger has increased over the last several months. Food prices as well have increased and so our club gave a $2000 donation to help fill the shelves for packing. 

With several new members initiated comes new ideas! It is exciting to think about helping Rotary to Clean the Kanc in June, hosting a fun day at Constitution Park in Ossippee, and partnering with Window Dressers to assist with making pine frame window inserts that would result in lower heating costs. All of these plans will be discussed at the March meeting, Tuesday March 5 @ 5:30 at the Madison Library.

$ 2000.00 will help stock the shelves. Altrusa members with Mandy McDonald, the program coordinator.

Mardi Gras festivities at the Gibson Center