March Meeting Events

Our March meeting provided us with an opportunity to learn more about the new Mt. Washington Valley Adult Day Center with guest speakers Tammy Drew and Julie Van Dyne.  The Mt. Washington Valley Adult Day Center is a 14,000 square foot facility the provides senior care services in a comfortable home-like setting. Some of the services offered are:

• a common room for group activities and socializing
• a kitchen and dining room for lunch and snacks
• Hair salon
• Art room
• gardens

Julie, a former Altrusan, currently provides nursing services at the Day Center.  We are excited to support their programs with a donation.

We also enjoyed the special event of the initiation of  Dreaner Sanford as a new member of Altrusa of Carroll County.  She was introduced to all by her sponsor, Peg Poirier.  Welcome Dreaner!

New Member and Guest Speakers

Nancy welcoming our guests, Barbara Reilly and Melanie Shaw of Sand Dollar Foundation.

Cathy Sholtanis welcomes Anne to our Club.

On February 4th Altrusa of Carroll County members met and welcomed our newest member, Anne McKenna.  Anne has been helping our group pack food for End 68-Hours of Hunger and is now officially an Altrusan!

We also welcomed as guest speakers Melanie Shaw and Barbara Reilly of The Sand Dollar Foundation. Introduced by Nancy Spaulding, Melanie, founder of the new non-profit, explained how the organization seeks to help those battling cancer obtain support of alternative therapies.

Pond Hockey Tournament to benefit the Laura Foundation

Saturday was a full day with many Altrusa members volunteering on the ice selling food at the Pond Hockey Tournament at King Pine in Madison.  Every year, the Laura Foundation for Autism and Epilepsy hosts this event as a major fundraiser and raised $80,000 on the one day event.  Wow, was it busy!  There were 84 hockey teams, both boys and girls teams, competing on the ice from all over the country, with a team from Atlanta, Georgia!  We spoke with the father who was the coach of the Atlanta team, and he shared that he grew up in Buffalo, NY always skating on ponds.  Now that he and his family live in Atlanta, he said, this was a great opportunity for the kids to experience skating outdoors on the pond.  We watched the kids trudge down the hill from the parking lot, and when one boy arrived at the edge of the glistening pond he stopped and exclaimed, "This is the best day of my life!"  Unfortunately, the second day of the Tournament, Sunday, was canceled due to warm weather and too much water on the ice.

Lisa, Ruth and Kathy setting up the breakfast food.

Banner outside the tent crediting all the supporters of the event.

Welcome New Members!

On Tuesday, January 7th, Altrusa of Carroll County welcomed 2 new members, Betty Schneider and Betsy Spencer, to our Club. During the warm induction ceremony, Betsy was introduced by Cathy Baybutt and Betty, known for her wonderful baking at the Swedish Bakery, was introduced by Peg Poirier.

A Great Party with DCYF

On Saturday, December 14th, Altrusa of Carroll County in collaboration with DCYF hosted a fun Christmas party for all the foster families and their children living in Carroll County.  We had lots of goodies, snacks, desserts, hot chocolate and coffee for the 30+ children and their parents - about 60 attendees in all.  Activities were available, including cookie decorating and Lego building, books were given to all children, and an author and illustrator came to share their new Christmas story.  But best of all was the arrival of Santa Claus, with a twinkle in his eye and his merry "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

Altrusa Christmas Party

Many thanks to Lorraine who so kindly opened her home and hosted our Altrusa Christmas Party.  It was fun enjoying delicious food and good conversation with dear friends.  We have also replaced our Yankee Swap with gifts to charities near and dear to our hearts and this year we collected donations to Connect-A-Pet New England in Albany and to the Way Station in North Conway.  Connect-A-Pet is a dog rescue which works to match dogs with families in the area, and the Way Station is a day resource center for the homeless.  We also put together cookie trays for the residents and staff of the 3 nursing homes in Carroll County and which were delivered the next day.  Sharing and giving is the joy of the season!

Sorting and packing cookies

Delivering 4 trays of cookies to Mineral Springs.

Helping the Conway Village Congregational Church

On Thursday, November 21st, a group from Carroll County Altrusa helped the members of the Conway Village Congregational Church by busing tables and selling items as part of the Holiday Fair run by the church.  Some of us wore 2 hats - as church members and Altrusans - and enjoyed a delicious dinner!