NEWSLETTER Snows Women’s Auxiliary November 2014

Snows Women’s Auxiliary– Formed November of 2012

We are a service and social organization existing so that the women of Our Lady of Snows Catholic Church can be involved with assisting others while enjoying social activities.

Officers:

Co. Pres: Leslie Patti Ph. 530-219-4503 Co. Pres: Mary Francis Ph. 329-5802 Vice Pres: Tahnee Ramirez Rec. Sec.: Jean Russitano Corres. Sec: Anji Pearson Treasurer: Veronica Chauvel Trustees: Donna Kelly Deb Peacock Elizabeth Snyder

SWA November, 2014 Newsletter Co-President’s Article: This is the time of year when we give thanks for all the things that we are thankful for. I am thankful for all the hard work everyone has put into our club to make it a success. Without everyone’s participation we would have never been able to do the things we did to increase our financial account, in order to give back to our parish. Through the partnership with the Knights of Columbus, we had a successful rummage sale this last summer. Everyone who participated in the Fall Festival had fun and the baked goods that individuals made or brought were wonderful. The children loved the fact that we had so many baked goods that everyone was a winner. Not sure, however, if the parents liked it! We were able to sell a few cookbooks at the Fall Festival and the overall sales of the cookbook are going great. Our first annual fashion show was a big success thanks to all of our members who sold tickets. Hopefully we will want to do it again. At our October meeting we had a new member join, welcome to Kat Fivlestad. Gifts of the Heart were given out to those members who assisted in the Ironman Race preparations and the Fall Festival. We elected new officers by acclamation. Your 2015 SWA Officers are: President – Jean Sokol, Vice President – Cindy McLaughlin, Secretary – Mary Francis, Treasurer – Susann Boley. Thank you all for volunteering to hold these positions. We have some great social activities coming up. Tahnee Ramirez and her committee are planning the Christmas Tea Party for December. Notices have already been sent out. This sounds like a fun event and hopefully we will have a great turnout. One of our members Sandra Gerhardt, a professional sous chef, has volunteered to host cooking classes. These classes will start no earlier than January 2015. Keep a lookout for emails from Sandra regarding these classes. I’m not much of a cook but I may attend the classes – you always need someone to keep the wine flowing. As we move into the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas I would like to leave you with a poem, I found on the internet, as a reminder to stop and take a moment to give thanks for the gift of Christ at Christmas.

Pause and Give Thanks

Wherever you find yourself today, whether filled with joy or wrapped in pain,

Remember to pause a moment and give thanks. For no other event in our history and time,

Can change our lives like the birth of Christ – so divine. His love never failing and His Presence always near

The greatest wonder in Heaven on Christmas did appear. God’s gift full of grace that brings life, love, and hope,

Can be unwrapped by us all - changing life’s scope. For when we invite His life into our hearts,

No love is greater than that He imparts. So wherever you find yourself today, Remember to pause and give thanks,

For He is the Truth and the Way! --© 2007 – Carolyn Lynn Schwartz

Peace be with you, Mary Francis

Snows Women's Auxiliary Mission Statement:

Promote sociability among members and fellowship among the church’s congregation.

Promote charitable service to the church with activities each year, such as but not limited to, money for Christmas cheer, scholarships, help to needy families, donation of clothing, food for the poor and needy, and any other such activity approved by the members.

Assist in promoting and supporting the members of Snows Women’s Auxiliary and the Knights of Columbus, Council Number 4997.

Calendar of Up-Coming and Proposed Events On-going - Knitting Group meets every other Tuesday in Parish Ctr. 10:00-1:00 Nov 4 - SWA Meeting- Tuesday Night Meet in the Parish Center. Social Half Hour is 6:30–7:00. Meeting is 7:00-8:00. Bring a sweet or savory treat. Dec 7 – Christmas Tea Party (no Meeting) Sunday, 1:30 – 4. More details to follow November and December – Keep your eye out for requests for help from the Parish such as assistance with a possible Thanksgiving basket give away, help decorate the Church or for whatever else they may need during the holidays.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the November edition of the newsletter. November is one step closer to the big Christmas Holiday Season. But that’s no excuse to forget to relish the great Thanksgiving that America celebrates each year. Time to Give Thanks for the many blessings and enjoy a Turkey dinner with family and friends. In this issue we are spotlighting the 1st annual Fashion Show at the Atlantis on October 5, 2014. I was lucky to be a part of such a fun afternoon. We had fun plus earned a little extra for our kitty. You may have heard that in January, I am going to take over the position of Vice-President. My main function will be to assist our new President, Jean Sokol wherever she needs me. In case you haven’t met us yet, pictures of all of the new Board members will be in this newsletter. Since I am assuming a new position within the Group, the invitation is out there for someone to take over as Editor of this newsletter. We believe that the newsletter is crucial to sharing the important news of this organization. The newsletter does not have to be kept in this form. It can be made simpler and easier as long as it informs. So let me know if any of you out there are pressed to express.

Cindy McLaughlin, Newsletter Editor

Email: c.cmclaughlin@charter.net

B

Perhaps these pagan customs remained at first more

out of superstition and later, more out of fun.

Nevertheless, All Saints Day clearly arose from a

genuine Christian devotion.

Along with the Feast of All Saints developed the Feast of

All Souls. The Church has consistently encouraged the

offering of prayers and Mass for the souls of the faithful

departed in Purgatory. At the time of their death, these

souls are not perfectly cleansed of venial sin or have not

atoned for past transgressions, and thereby are

deprived of the Beatific Vision. The faithful on earth can

assist these souls in Purgatory in attaining the Beatific

Vision through their prayers, good works and the

offering of Mass.

All Souls Day as well as All Saints Day are rooted in

Christian belief and arose in this life of the Church

through a healthy spirituality, despite some pagan

trappings that may have survived and have remained

attached to their celebration.

November 2nd:

With the spread of

Christianity and the establishment of All Saints Day, some pagan

customs remained in the English speaking world like All Hallows Eve or

Halloween.

All Saints and All Souls Day

Pilgrim Edward Winslow drew the following portrait of this first Pilgrims' Thanksgiving: Our harvest being gathered in, our Governor sent four men on Fouling [bird hunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had

gathered the first fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much foul as . . . served the company almost a week. . . . Many of the Indians [came] amongst us and their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought. . . BY THE

GOODNESS OF GOD WE ARE . . . FAR FROM WANT.

Our Very First Thanksgiving:

T

1st Annual SWA Fashion Show The Atlantis Events Poster guides the way for the guests of the SWA 1st annual Fashion Show. The SWA was pleased to welcome over 170 people to this Fashion Affair. Besides the Fashion Show itself, this afternoon of fun showcased local vendors, raffle prize drawings, good food and lots of visiting. It turned out to be a profitable fundraiser for the SWA. It is hopeful that the Fashion Show will become a tradition every year.

Jobs We Did: It took many helpful hands to run the show. Both members and non-members pitched in. Members Marge, Gayle, Elizabeth sell raffle tickets. Mary Francis lets guests pick the winning raffle ticket. Jean is the Mistress of Ceremonies. Madeline and Mary sit at the registration table. Thank you to our Non Members-Don Cortez for selling tickets. And to Jaime (Cortez) Ingram and Corrie (Cortez) Gita for handing out the raffle prizes.

Raffle Prizes 21 different raffle prizes were put forth for eager bidding bidders. There were many items donated by corporate donors along with several individuals who either put together a basket or hand crafted an item. The SWA gives thanks to all who were so generous with their giving. A list of the corporate donors are shown below. Please give them your business whenever possible.

2014 SWA Fashion Show The Fashions were provided by Soma, Chico’s and White House Black Market. The moderator for the Fashion Show was Tari Kleven who works for Chico’s. The models were invited to come to the individual stores to pick out their own favorite outfits to wear-ranging from casual to fancy. Top row from L to R: Susan Opyrchal, Ella Jean Southfield, Elizabeth Snyder and Madeleine Zunino. Bottom row from L to R: Carol Burr, Mary Flores, Michelle Sullivan (Cathy Johnson’s daughter) and Cathy Johnson Not pictured – Model Tahnee Ramirez

Our Corporate Donors:

Thank you to our Vendors:

Not in picture order:

Accessorize

Kristy McKay

Christine Gill

Pat Brochtrup and Group

Carole Cranfield with Tahnee Ramirez

Lottie Wilson

Thank you to the SWA Fashion Show Committee-

Mary Francis, Sharon Cortez, Jean Russitano, Mary Boles, Gayle Carlson, Ella Jean Southfield, Elizabeth Snyder, Cathy Johnson, Cindy McLaughlin, Madeline Prina and Lynette Prina-Duclos

SWA 2015 Officers:

From Left to Right: Jean Sokol-President Cindy McLaughlin-Vice Pres. Susan Boley-Treasurer Mary Francis-Secretary

ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF OUR GROUP- The Knights of Columbus were asked to do a pancake breakfast for the Down Syndrome Walk held at the Reno High School track. With the help from a few SWA members Sharon Cortez, Mary Francis and Cindy McLaughlin, they managed to get up before the crack of dawn to start cooking. But just a few hours later, they had a hot breakfast of pancakes and sausage on the table for all the walkers, their family, friends and the event volunteers. The event is held every year to raise awareness that adults and children with downs syndrome should not be looked at any differently than others. Their supporters walked the track with them and many were in matching team costumes. The Reno High Football team and the Cheerleaders were there to support also

Over an eight-month period up to May this year, researchers at the University of

Arizona analyzed more than three million food-related posts made by American

tweeters, and found that not only did the importance of each daily meal differ

across the country (the Midwest goes for breakfast; the West Coast likes dinner),

they were also able to identify the most popular food-related words in each state:

flan, for instance, in North Dakota, capers in Oregon, potatoes (not wholly

surprisingly) in Idaho.

The diversity of favorite foods across the 50 states is striking. There are a couple of

recurrent dishes – sauerkraut is the most popular food hashtag in both Wisconsin

and Nevada, succotash a hit in Missouri and Rhode Island, and a vast swath of grits

through the Southern states (as well as token northern appearances in Michigan and

Pennsylvania and the disputed state of Maryland) is broken only by Mississippi’s

fondness for tangerines. But there were still plenty of curveballs. How to fathom

the popularity of the durian in Maine or the guava in DC? Why does Wyoming go a

bundle for watercress, Iowa for cloves, or Alaska for tarragon?