Hello Ladies!

I hope you are having a most blessed Advent season!  Fr. Steve did a fabulous job on our recent Day of Recollection to help get us ready.  It was really great to have his take on the Year of Mercy, Our Blessed Mother, and many other topics.  As expected, most of the attendees were Columbiettes, and it was really nice to spend the day with you.  Thanks to everyone who cooked!

The Christmas Bazaar was a really nice success.  I’m pretty sure the profit was similar to last year and will have those numbers at the next meeting.  I love that most of our fundraisers have a huge social component!  At every event I get to know one or two of you better, and I treasure that.  I was thinking the other day that if everyone enjoyed our church community as much as I do, the pews would be full to capacity!  I wish that kind of joy for everyone!

We will be having a Christmas Bazaar wrap up meeting on Monday, December 28^th at 6:30 at my house.  I would like to invite all members to this meeting, if you have any suggestions or discussion about the Christmas Bazaar.  I think we had a great event and I really enjoyed it, as most people seemed to do.  I realize that many more than the committee make this event fly and I think a good discussion is worthwhile.

It is my great pleasure to welcome Karen Sedgwick, our newest member brought in with a First Degree at our Third Anniversary Celebration.  We are now 58 strong!  Karen has immediately jumped in and is attempting to repair our beautiful Joan of Arc statue who has a broken hand (again).  Thanks, Karen!

E-mails and contact information change all the time.  If you need to e-mail the group, please save the most recent newsletter and hit “Reply All”.  I send out the first edition to just the members with just the latest and greatest info.  You can also send me the e-mail you wish to forward, and I can send it out for you. 

Barbara Hanes has taken the job of changing our sign in front of the Parish Center.  Thanks, Barbara!!  If you have suggestions on witty sayings to put up when we don’t need to advertise an upcoming event, please send them to her.  The sign is one way to tell the enormous drive-by traffic we have what a great parish community we are. 

The tables we purchased are in, and they are a joy to work with!! 

We will have a Columbiettes (After) Christmas Party on Wednesday, January 13^th at 6:30pm.  Please mark your calendars!  We will discuss the committee and location at the January meeting. 

I am thinking that I will create a brochure for members (new and old) to explain some of the mysteries of being a Columbiette here in Jewett City.  Some of the things I thought I would include would be:

1. What is Vicki’s Bag?

2. 10/10/40/40 split for fundraising.

3. First Degree & Major Degree

4. What the officer positions are, what do they do, and why the heck do we have two financial people?

5. The committees we have – Catholic Action, Membership, Retention, Social Welfare, etc.

6. Why are people without e-mail “adopted”?

7. What is the purpose of State and Supreme Columbiettes?  And how do they fit into our world?

8. How closely are we associated with the Knights of Columbus?

9. What is available on our website?

10. What is a travel card?

11. What is the Columbiettes Foundation?

12. Ongoing projects such as Shoe Boxes for the Homeless, Pull Tabs for Ronald McDonald House,

13. What time is our meeting and how are they run?  This would include opening and closing prayers and the basic format.

14. How we are a part of the parish and yet separate.

15. What is the Margaret Mary J. Mangan Award?

    If there is anything I have missed, please let me know!  I have realized that some of the things we take for granted are not so obvious to our new members and it would be nice to share this with them so they feel welcome and understand a bit more about our group. 

     

    Please accept my thanks for all you have done during the year!  I hope you are enjoying family and friends during this blessed Christmas season.  Our next meeting will be Monday, January 4^th at 6:30pm in the Church Hall.  Social Hour starts at 5:30.  See you there!

     

•  Maryann