November Newsletter

Laughter is the Best Medicine -

Audrey Hepburn I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.

Abraham Lincoln With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.

Peter Ustinov  I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the world.

Scott Adams The best things in life are silly.

E.E. Cummings The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

While our organization is one of great importance and composed of ideologies I adore, what I like most about it is the friendship we share with one another.  As those of you who attended October’s Meeting found out I believe in the power of laughter.  It strengthens bonds, improves health, and makes me happy.  For those of you who were unable to attend we celebrated our Lifetime Members and Past Presidents.  Afterwards we played games and chatted the night away.  I have received many emails of appreciation and gratitude regarding the meeting and its success.  But I want to thank you, because WCM’s success is a result of each one of you. 

October Newsletter

Just recently I returned from a trip to Dallas, Texas.  I had gone there to meet up with old college roommates. I couldn’t help but marvel that after all this time apart, visiting only once a year and very little telephone contact how easy it was to fall back into friendship with these girls.

I know that people with high levels of social interaction live longer than their peers.  It was especially interesting to me to learn that in your “golden years” this is even more important, ranking second, among factors that make people consider if they have a good life.

It makes me feel even better about my decision to participate in Women’s Club of Manheim.  Through it I have gained many friendships I would not have established otherwise—my insights have been deepened, my point of view expanded. 

Many of you have been residents of Manheim all of your life, some of you have not.  Many of you know one another and travel in similar social circles and others may not.  But one thing we all share is a need to have friendships and expand our social relationships. 

Digital communication and online social networking are not substitutes for this level of connecting and friendship.  Studies show that those who socialize online only, despite their level of online communication are still more lonely than their counterparts. 

So I implore you to go to each meeting this year.  Find a new face, or someone you know a little less and sit down and talk to them.  You never know you may just make a new friend and expand your life another year.  It can’t hurt. right?

September Newsletter

I have often considered the love a mother has for her children.  It is the greatest most encompassing love I have ever encountered.  Likewise it is the most intense emotion I have ever felt.  Many professionals in the field of parenting have debated the origins of this love and whether it comes instinctively or it is developed over time.  I am one who believes it is a little bit of both. 

My relationship with this community, Manheim, has mirrored a similar path.  While my husband and I looked for an area in which we wanted to move and settle down in, we couldn’t help but be instantly drawn to Manheim with it’s charming one way streets along the square and historic brick buildings,  the small town feeling of everyone knowing your name and saying hello as you pass them on the street.

But just like the instant love I felt for my babies has grown with each shared encounter so does my love for our community grow.  For every period of morning sickness, for each hour awake at night, and while holding a sad child as they cry over a scraped knee or hurt feelings I have felt more invested and likewise more in love with each of my children.  Each hour I have invested in my children has paid itself of in dividends.

And this is my promise to each of you this year. The more you give of yourself to this community the more you will love it.  For each moment you choose to spend in helping it grow the more you will love what it turns out to be. 

So far I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from the members of Women’s Club.  Many have volunteered to help in any way and a few have asked to be on specific assignments.  The “chair” positions are quickly filling up and committees are being made.  To those who have found a spot to serve this year I say thank you, I know that you will not regret it.

July's Newsletter

The Average Human Heart 

The average human heart is between 9 and 11 ounces.  In an average woman’s life span the heart will pump more than 2.5 billion times.  One side of the heart accepts deoxygenated blood and the other side fills the blood with oxygen and continues to pump it back out to the body.  Making the heart responsible for pumping blood as well as oxygen throughout the entire body. In all animals the heart beats relatively continuous and when stopped life ceases to exist.  With these characteristics in mind it is no surprise that the heart is one of the most important organs of the body. 

And I can’t help but unarguably agree.  Women are not only hard working and constant in their efforts but necessary. 

Additionally I feel like women are the heart of any community.  The heart is an interconnected meshwork of cells with many layers and chambers that work together.  And although you can survive with limited function your best work is done when all elements work together.  And when women work together I feel like our efforts are exponentially more effective.

But for all the physiological factors that make up the heart and give it its importance I feel like we can’t forget about the emotional impact the heart has had throughout the ages. “Nurturing seems to be a part of the spiritual heritage given to women.” said Bradley Foster.  It is that nurturing within the walls and roof of a house that make it a home.  And likewise I am hoping it is with that same nurturing that we change Manheim into something more special.  Because of this vision I have chosen as my motto for term as president to be:

Women’s Club of Manheim - the heart of our town.