A

.

Let Joan LaSalle know if you have

information changes for Yearbook

or items for correspondence. Call

814-285- or email

@gmail.com

May Meeting:

We will not hold our regular

meeting due to the Current

Covid 19 outbreak

Look for an email invitation

to an online ZOOM meeting

May 12, 2020

6:30pm-7:30pm

Visit BPW PA Website for the latest updates on events, info on upcoming events and the latest Newsletters from the State and other district and local clubs: https://bpwpa.wildapricot.org

Like us on Facebook! Visit the Bedford Business and Professional Women’s Face book page and invite others to Like our page Inside: Birthdays, Bedford Club news, Pg 2-3; State & District News, Community Events, Pg 4; Additional email for Alice Paul Institute info and Zoom meeting. If you cannot open or did not receive contact Joan LaSalle: jlasalle929@gmail.com, 814-285-6610

A message from our President, Joan LaSalle

Happy Mother’s Day

Well, we all have or had a mother here on Earth. Some of us are taking care of our mothers- especially in this time of a pandemic, and some of us are separated from our mothers. For me, mine left this Earth when she was only 52 years old, after losing a hard fought battle with cancer. I miss her, especially on Mother’s Day. If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother, make sure to call or stop to see her. My mother was a good person who fought many battles. My earliest memory of Mom’s battles when I was 6 and my sister was 3 months old. She went to the hospital with postpartum depression, and it was the 60s when there was no compassion and little understanding. After 2 years and 2 more babies, she was so busy that she didn’t have time to do much besides care for children, wash diapers and take care of the house. But something was wrong all this time, and I never really understood until I was older. I never realized the sacrifices Mom made for us. I did not realize, until I witnessed for myself (at age 14), that she was physically abused. I never asked, but suspect that she stayed because she wanted us to have a good life and thought that was what she needed to do. Cancer came a year later to take bring on a new battle, one that she fought for 8 years. I am honored to have supported her during that time. Although she missed out on most of our adult lives, she inspired all her children to never give up and fight for what we believe in. I am so proud of our club for supporting Your Safe Haven as our part of the BPW State project this year, and our members for taking a stand for all women and for turning their own lives around. We have been hearing “We are All in This Together” a lot lately, and after we win the battle against Covid 19, these words will still have great meaning. As BPW, we are Women helping Women, we are all in this together. Happy Mothers Day,

Joan

Here’s to strong women, May we know them, May we be them, May we raise them --Unknown

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May Birthdays Courtney Leidig May 20 Jeannie Plummer May 25

Bedford Club News

Club member Sharon Houck has passed everything in school and is now a

Doctor of Naturopathy. Congratulations Sharon, and best wishes as you embark

on the next adventure!

Club member Peggy Nave shared these pictures from her February wedding.

Congratulations Peggy and Lucas Steinbrenner

More Bedford Club News

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Scholarship Committee Update: We had 24 senior scholarship applications. As usual they are all very great applicant. We had no non-traditional applicants and no BPW member applicants. The applications are now on the computers of our judges: Donna Miller, Nancy Mellott, Lura Shaffer, Leigh Shank and Leigh Wilson Price. In checking with Treasurer Faith and President Joan it was decided to award 3- $1000.00 scholarships. We realize this is not our normal award but with not being able to hold our Spring Bingo and possibly not having Fall Foliage Festival, we had to be conservative this year. Thank you to Rita Bush who heads this committee, and to the judges and Jeannie Plummer who sends out and receives the applications. Also – big thank you to everyone who helped at the gob sales this past fall and to those who helped with planning for the Spring Bingo. We are all in this together and we will be back! We are looking at alternate fundraisers, and appreciate any and all ideas.

MAY DAYS ARE PAY DAYS - Dues for 2020-2021 are now due and can be sent to

our treasurer Faith. Dues are $30 for the year and that includes State, district and

local dues. Please send your check to Faith:

Faith Zembower 130 Seifert Street

Bedford, PA 15522

How are you doing during this time of Stay at Home? While some go to work, others

telecommute, or just stay home because they work in businesses that are shut down. No

large gatherings means cancellations or virtual meetings.

Checked in with Laura Whetstone and asked how Maura was doing. Maura is our member

who lives in Arizona and is an Occupational Therapist for the school district. Maura is able to

work together with the teachers to help the children with their therapy sessions- she does this

for two schools in Tuscon. She felt by working through the teachers she would not overload

the children. She is connecting with her other job (she supervises 2 people who see children

ether by telepathy or in person). Maura’s duty is to review their work and recommend a

treatment plan for the children.

Church – Livestreamed, TV or mine on like Facebook Live… Today my pastor said “It’s OK to

Not Be OK…. We try to grit our teeth and get through, maybe get bitter and ask Why is this

happening to me?... We do not need to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.”

STATE AND DISTRICT NEWS

The District meeting scheduled for April 25, 2020 at Martinsburg was cancelled due to Covid 19. Nominations for district officers were submitted and voted on via email. District Officers for 2020-2021 are District Director, Cathy Collins, Cresson BPW; Asst Director, Ella McElwee, Bedford, BPW; Recording Secretary, Katie Fink, Bedford BOW; and Treasure, Nancy Robinson ,Altoona BPW. Laura Whetstone (Bedford BPW) agreed to continue as Corresponding Secretary and Emily Holgash (Windber BPW) agreed to continue as Parliamentarian

Celebrations for 90th anniversary of the district and Altoona local and 85th anniversary for Tyrone that were scheduled for the spring meeting will be held at fall district meeting. Awards will for Best Newsletter and District Director’s Award will be presented, and officers will be installed. Irene Landis, a 65 year member from District 11, Souderton/Telford local fell and broke her hip and wrist a few weeks ago. Irene has been recognized as the longest member of BPW at the State convention for years. A card was sent on behalf of our club, but it would be nice to cheer her up by sending cards: Irene Landes 383 W Chestnut Street, Souderton PA 18964 Our state convention which was scheduled for June has been cancelled. Plans are to hold portions via ZOOM are underway. Refunds are being processed and President Dawn has asked all who registered to consider donation a portion of their refund to the foundation (since raffle at convention did not get to happen) local clubs to consider sending the amount that would have been used for basket donations to the foundation We will discuss local club donation at our regular meeting this Tuesday (Meeting via ZOOM). Legislative: Do you know how to contact your legislators? Did you know you can email them directly from their website? PA House – Rep. Jesse Topper, http://www.reptopper.com/ PA Senate – Sen. Wayne Langerholc, http://www.senatorlangerholc.com/ US House of Representatives – Rep. John Joyce, https://johnjoyce.house.gov/ US Senate – Sen. Pat Toomey, https://www.toomey.senate.gov/ US Senate – Sen. Robert P Casey, https://www.casey.senate.gov/

In Our Community: The Chamber is hosting activities virtually and you can find information at the facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/BedfordCountyChamberofPA/....... check out their fb cover photo: