The GFWC Arlington Woman’s Club engages in the following activities:

Arts in the Community under the supervision of Virginia Solomon, includes working with the elementary school children from two local schools for an annual Art Exhibit in which the student’s artwork is displayed for the parents and students to view. This special day for the art students includes awards and medallions for the children and a brunch for the families attending, provided by the Club.

Photography:Our Photography Chairman is Lu Coberly, is a prize-winning photographer. She is responsible for assisting members who want to learn more about taking quality pictures and for such outings as Photo Safari with eager members.

Yearbook:The Yearbook is under the Chairmanship of Sylvia Millard . The Yearbooks are updated each Club Year. There is a Committee assigned to co-chair the undertaking. This year, we are pleased to have our Yearbook available to our members and State and District Officers on line.

Scrapbook:Each year we produce a Scrapbook to capture all of the activities of the previous year. Virginia Solomon is the Chairman. Our Scrapbook won a first place at the State Convention in 2007 and also won the President’s Choice Award.

Kitchen Committee: Our Kitchen Committee is a group of members who are excellent cooks. The prepare menu’s, buy the groceries, prepare the food and serve the meals for our Sunday Luncheons, Bridge Luncheons and other special occasions. Our regular monthly Club meetings give the members a chance to show off their specialties with covered dish luncheons.

Country Cupboard: Our Country Cupboard is open for our four to five Sunday Luncheons each year. The Cupboard is stocked with home made food items and a few crafts made by our members. Favorite home made sellers are various soups, pastry items, pickles and so on, all made with love and care.

Telephone Committee: The Telephone Committee is headed up by Grace Thomas. She and her committee notify members by phone whenever there is a change or addition to our active schedules.

Opening Luncheon: Each year, at the beginning of the Club year there is an Opening Luncheon. We carry out the Club theme for the year with our decorations and food. This year the theme is Down on the Farm, in support of our State President’s Project, Heifer International. Our Past Presidents serve as greeters and we invite the other District Club members and State Officers to attend, together with our members and local supporters. This event is held in September, each year.

Decorating: Members take turns, on a voluntary basis, decorating for the monthly meetings. The décor usually has a theme related to the time of year, such as a harvest décor in November.

Community Involvement: Our members are asked to be active in the community and our Club has close associations with other service organizations in the area. Frances Padgett is one of our members who works closely with the Sheriff and the Mayor through the Senior Citizens Organization in Arlington and other agencies. We have close ties with the Fire Department, the ARC, and our city councilman who regularly visits our meetings.

Education: Our Education efforts are the responsibility of our Third Vice President, Sally Wallace. We have a close association with the elementary schools in Arlington. Each year we collect and donate hundreds of school supplies to the schools, together with art supplies for their students. We also provide educational programs at each regular Club meeting with interesting speakers and topics. For example, when out theme was Save the Honeybees last year, we invited a well-known beekeeper to be our speaker. Another month, one of our members Pam Oglesby, an expert in genealogy, gave a program.

ESO: We support a statewide program called ESO, which is an honorary reading sorority. This adds another dimension to some of our bookworms who love to read. The program recognizes members who reach certain levels by the number of books they read from a reading list that is provided. They are recognized at the State Convention for their achievements. Currently we have several members who are participating.

Scholarship Program: Our Club is especially proud of our Scholarship Program for girls, which is under the Chairmanship of Elaine Bailey. This is a Program that has been active for many years. We select two high school graduates, who are recommended by their teachers. The candidates are interviewed by a committee of members and the selections are made. One of our recent students graduated with her Doctorate in Pharmacy. Our Club had supported her since she graduated from high school.

Health & Welfare: We are fortunate to have members from many walks of life. In our club, there are four registered nurses. Vicki Gordon and Sylvia Millard are responsible, with a lot of help from the members, to bring current topics and information to the group. We recognize and support Breast Care Month in October, with special handouts and events, such as drawings for gift baskets and other Breast Care promotionals. Some items are donated by the community. And, we do special things for Heart Month, such as Red Dress pins for members.

Sewing: We have a group of women who love to sew and they make pillows and throws for cancer patients. They made drawstring Christmas bags for the ARC patients, which is a Day Care center for Adults with disabilities in our area. They filled the bags with appropriate Christmas items. All sewing needs go to these skilled seamstresses.

Hacienda Girls Ranch is a statewide project that was actually started by the FFWC. It is a home away from home, for girls who otherwise would be in less desirable circumstances. Please look at the Web Site for more details than can be shown here. It is a wonderful place for the girls. Our Club and others throughout the State, contribute to them with money and gifts at Easter and Christmas. Many of our gifts are made by the members.

Adopt-a-Roadhas been a community service project for our Club for many years. Some of our members meet once a month and remove trash and other debris from the section of road in front of the Clubhouse and for several adjacent blocks. Each member is provided with a safety vest, gloves, a bag for trash and a pick-up-stick.

Conservation:Our Club is a prize-winning club for conservation efforts. We won many awards at the State Convention for the many conservation projects we accomplished in the past year. Tree Hill is one of the most interesting places in our neighborhood. It is a preserve for some small animals and lots of nature trails. The Director of Tree Hill is Lucy Cortese, one of our Club members. We work with Tree Hill to support their annual Butterfly Festival, either monetarily or by manning a booth of refreshments. We have a plot of ground at the entrance that is maintained by our Club.

Another conservations efforts last year was a concerted effort to educate our members about the plight of honeybees and we devoted our year to various projects concerning everything from planting Honeybee Gardens to making our own (winning art) whimsical beehive decorations.

Civic Activities:  We have had many city officials, including the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections, and our city councilman as guest speakers. The lectures concerned safety, self-protection, voting issues, and local interest items in the Arlington area.

Heifer International:We have invested much time and effort into the President’s Project which is (this year) Heifer International. Several members attended the State Convention and we were able to meet the founder’s daughter, who is carrying on this wonderful organization. For more information, please look at their Web Site. Each State President serves for two years and each selects their own project. We also met the author of Beatrice’s Goat, who was a recipient of the gift of a goat from Heifer International. This one gift changed her life forever and allowed her to go to school. She is now a wonderfully accomplished young woman finishing her degree and working for the organization through her appearances.

Fundraisers:  We have several fundraisers each year to help support our many activities and commitments, such as a two-day Garage Sale each year, made with contributions by our members and friends. We host a Bridge Luncheon of up to 56 players each month – they play, we prepare and serve lunch. Sunday Dinners are open to the public and many of our area residents come after Church to enjoy the great dinners. Various other activities include fashion shows, jewelry shows, and other moneymaking events.

Newsletter:The Club members receive a monthly Newsletter, which may be viewed on this Web Site. A regular hard copy mail out is sent to all members each month and we hope to move to more e-mail Newsletters as we progress. Only a few members currently have computers, so this will be a work in progress. The Newsletter Editor is Sylvia Millard .

As you can see, there is such a variety of activities, that interested new members have a lot to choose from.