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OCTOBER 1

Lunch at Earthbound Farm

Speaker: Teri Scarlett

Members Reserve Here Soon

A Message from our President

Dear Members,
Your Boards have been very active this summer. This is what we’ve been up to:

The annual Fiesta was a great success. This year we staffed a CVWC recruiting booth and signed up 7 new members and 1 solid “soon.” One new member has agreed to join the scholarship committee. Deb Langley did a tremendous amount of work to run a silent auction over the 2-day event. Many thanks Deb! See more from her below.

Heidi Sebok and Conne Sutherland have been hard at work developing a social schedule for our entire year! See the Events Calendar on the home page. Thanks to Judy Tschirgi for keeping our website events calendar up to date.

Continued

A Terrific Kick-off to Our 2025-2026 Year

Lovely weather and and even lovelier setting at Sherie Dodsworth's Carmel Valley home made for a wonderful September Member Reception, and a great start for our new year. With appetizers galore, wine, soda and cool end-of-summer breezes, around 30 of our members enjoyed socializing and getting to know a number of newer members. We thank Sherie for her great hospitality, and Brenda, Conne and Deb for helping with set-up.

A Festive and Successful Fiesta

August 2-3, the CVWC and Foundation participated in the CV Kiwanis' Fiesta in the Park. We had two booths to recruit membership and to raise money for the Foundation through a continuation of our silent auction. The silent auction/membership drive was a GREAT Success. With the help of enthusiastic members (Renee Wagner, Gale Paul, Conne Sutherland, Linda Smutz, Linda Davey, Brenda Davia and Deb Langley) we were able to increase our membership by seven people over the two days. The silent auction brought in $1,265 and Deb Langley donated funds from basket sales to bring the total up to $1,500. There were a variety of items to bid on from adventures such as sailing, e-bikes, and airplane rides. Baskets ranged in themes from junior chefs, beauty bowls to chicken lover themed baskets. Mark your calendar for next year's Fiesta, always held the first weekend in August.

A Thank-you to our Hoedown Volunteers

On a glorious Sunday afternoon in June, we gathered at the White Oaks Club House to celebrate our members (and several significant others) who volunteered to help with our very successful 2nd Annual Hoedown fundraiser in April. With Conne Sutherland's excellent "pupus" and drinks, some donated wine and other appetizers, we relaxed and celebrated the great causes we can support when friendship and hard work combine to produce great results.

Thank you to everyone who helped in every way to make the Hoedown so successful!!

Wednesday, June 4 Luncheon -We celebrated our
Scholars and Non-Profit Grantees

Our June luncheon is always a delight. Held in the lovely garden of Los Laureles Lodge, with delicious food, umbrellas, and a gorgeous day, we celebrated the scholars and nonprofits who were recipients of our 2025 grants. The Foundation was able to grant $21,000 in tuition scholarships to 8 Carmel Valley area scholars and $11,000 in unrestricted grants to local nonprofits that serve Carmel Valley residents. We are thrilled to be able to provide this much support and thank all of our members and the community at large who supported our fund-raising efforts.

The Community Allocations Committee (June Dawson, Chair, plus members Linda Davey, Marilyn Kajs-Wyllie and Judi Zaches) selected the following nonprofits to receive grants: Alliance on Aging, Carmel Valley Community Youth Center, Carmel Valley Historical Society, Community Human Services, Friends of Cachagua Children's Center, Friends of Carmel Valley Library and the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center.

The Scholarship Committee (Nancy Endriz, Chair, plus members Sherrie Dodsworth, Linda Smutz and Deb Langley) selected 8 recipients for tuition scholarships, 4 new scholars: Flor Martinez Blanco, Ruby Myrold, Charlee Riddle, and Danielle Coustette, and four awardees from past years who completed their first years at school successfully: Azucena Martinez, Lesslie de la Rosa, Adrienne Ranansky, and Siri Panetta.

In addition to the celebration, our membership voted in new Club Officers for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and thanked outgoing officers Helayne Williams and Melissa Sterling. Incoming Officers are: Brenda Davis, President; Heidi Sebok, 1st VP Programs; Conne Sutherland, 2nd VP Venues; Deb Langley, 3rd VP Membership; June Dawson, Secretary; and Sherie Dodsworth, Treasurer.

Beauty, Wellness and Gin!!! May 22 Event

Members joined our own Kitten Carter for a delightful event exploring the essence and beneficial properties of La France Gin. Kitten explained it is a California distilled gin (available at Total Wine) crafted specifically for women infused with botanicals known for their revitalizing properties. And what could possibly be more revitalizing than socializing with your club friends and sipping gin? These members definitely look like they had a good time. And Conne's amazing "pupus" added to the festivities, naturally.

Not a "Who-done-it" but "A How She Did It"! - May 7 Luncheon

Our May 7 luncheon speaker at Turn 12 Bar & Grill in Monterey provided us with a story with as many turns and twists as the Laguna Seca raceway. Barbara Rae-Venter is a multi-talented entrepreneur with a background as a biologist, professor, cancer researcher, lawyer, and ultimately a DNA sleuth. She pioneered using existing DNA identification technologies in combination with genealogical mapping in an entirely new application of forensic investigation. Starting with her first case to help identify a young woman who had been kidnapped as an infant, she was then recruited to help identify the perpetrator known as the Golden State Killer, a serial rapist and murderer. Law enforcement had spent over 20 years searching for the man; Barbara was able to identify him in 63 days. She has since gone on to found a non-profit, Firebird Forensics Group, to assist in solving cold cases. Should you be interested, be sure to have a DNA sample and contact her at firebirdforensics.org

We Wined and Unwound - April 24 was "lovely"

Close to 20 members and guests had a "lovely" interactive talk with member Cheryl Harbour as she led us through a discussion about the nature of love: how it's portrayed in culture, expressed differently by our partners, and desired by us. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time, suitable for springtime where everyone's thoughts turn to this topic.

And thanks to Conne Sutherland for creating and setting a gorgeous appetizer table for us. We all enjoyed chatting, nibbling and sipping some fine wine after contemplating the many facets of love.

2nd Annual Hoedown - What a hootenanny!

Our 2nd Annual Hoedown was stupendous!!!

Many thanks to all our members
who worked so hard to
organize and run it, and all
who came and partied!!!

Thank you Hoedown Sponsors!

Thank you Hoedown Donors

March Luncheon - a "Classic" Luncheon with Bruce Forman

What a wonderful March Luncheon we had at Hacienda Carmel, with a lovely buffet luncheon of tomato soup, croissant sandwiches, fruit salad and caesar salad with cookies. But the real treat was a performance by Bruce Forman, internationally renowned jazz guitarist, who played several beautiful pieces and then was joined by his gifted singer-wife Pamela Forman. Together they performed a delightful rendition of "Benny's from Heaven". Bruce provided us with some of his history. He has been playing since his teens, with the greats such as Ray Brown and Bobby Hutchinson, and for years at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He's produced soundtracks for movies, including for Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. He serves as an educator and artist in residence at USC's Studio/Jazz Department. And besides all his accolades for jazz, he invented a new music genre, "Cowbop" -- sort of a countrified jazz sound. He and "Pinto Pammy" demonstrated a selection for us as well. All in all, an incredible performance.

We thank Helayne and Conne for arranging this special event. And thanks to Deb for providing the wonderful raffle basket. We raised $346 for the Foundation!!!

Valentines Celebration - a Heart-felt Club Party

It was a spectacular Valentines Day Party hosted on February 12 by Cynthia and Emily Alexis at their beautiful home in Carmel Valley. They had decorated inside and outside with flowers, balloons, ornaments and handicrafts. Their table was already overflowing with baked goodies before members started showing up with appetizers and desserts to add to the bounty. A lovely bar was set with local rosé, champagne, sauvignon blanc, sparkling cider and sparkling waters. Our members relaxed, chatted, imbibed and nibbled away while the rain held off. It was such a special evening and we thank the Alexises so much for hosting. We also thank Conne Sutherland for helping to organize such a crowd-pleaser. Hearts off to everyone!

Understanding Alzheimer's and 10 Warning Signs - 1/27 and 2/10 Events

Our first two sessions on Alzheimers dementia have been very informative. Barbara Rhoades, an RN with the Alzheimer's Association, spoke with us over Zoom on January 27. She gave us a general overview of the disease, and we learned that it is also referred to as Diabetes Type 3, as aside from age, diabetes is the single biggest risk factor for Alzheimers. We also learned that with our country's demographics we can expect a big surge in those experiencing the disease. The Alzheimers Association has a wealth of resources for families dealing with this devastating disease.

On February 10, Dr. Peter Heublein met with us in person to discuss the 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimers. He was careful to distinguish ordinary signs of aging from the persistent and frequent symptoms of Alzheimers. These signs can include memory loss (inability to find words), loss of executive functioning (inability to solve a problem like finding your keys when you lose them), loss of financial or numeracy ability, loss of spatial awareness, and inability to follow a sequence of steps. Interestingly, Dr. Heublein said that it only takes exhibiting 2 of these symptoms to determine a high probability of onset of Alzheimers.

The good news is that while there is no cure for Alzheimers disease, there are many life style changes that people can take to delay its onset by years. And that will be the topic of our next zoom session on 2/24.

Jan. 18 - We Joined Joe at the Gym - What fun!

Saturday morning, January 18, members Brenda Davis, June Dawson, Pat. Gray, Linda Smutz, Jan Praisner, Conne Sutherland, Jean Hurd, Judy Tschirgi, and Judy's husband Steve bravely stepped onto the giant mat at Ragnarak Athletics. Joe immediately made us comfortable with his affable manner and assurances that all movements can be done at an appropriate level by someone of any ability. And then we were off: warming up, learning the "Turkish Get-up" to get up off the ground, squatting to get our quads engaged and even learning to sit and walk better. The hour flew by and we hardly had time to practice all our new found skills. We'll see how our muscles feel tomorrow....

December Holiday Luncheon - A Joyful Occasion

Our annual Holiday Luncheon, this year once again at Woody's at Del Mesa, was a feast for the senses. Fifty-nine members and guests attended, and dined on vegetable hors d'oeurvres, squash soup, salad with fish or chicken and a baked apple dessert. Lovely holiday music accompanied the meal. As usual Woody's was decorated beautifully. We had three select (and very popular) vendors for a little light shopping: Quail & Olive, Old World Linens and JSM Organics (the lovely wreaths).

Our lucky raffle winners were Jane Consani, Mary George and Diana Morrow.

Many thanks to Conne Sutherland for arranging such a fabulous event, Deb Langley for our raffle gifts, and Cynthia Rivera and Sally King for registration.

November 6 - A "Genius" Lunch

A spectacular outdoor setting and a spectacular fall day awaited the 45 members and guests at Earthbound Farmstand Pavilion for our November luncheon. We had a lovely buffet luncheon set amidst pumpkins, flowers and greenery. Patricia Qualls, local artist, gallery owner, former psychologist and wall street financier and even a farm-hand, was our guest speaker. Patricia spoke on "Honoring our Genius" whatever that might be, and wherever one might find a creative outlet. She urged us all to be curious and open to new experiences, and even to look to our past to find activities we may have "given up" (piano in your youth???) to find a creative outlet that allows our genius to flow. She related this to her own creative journey and how she came to artistic expression relatively late in life after a very analytic approach. She noted it's never too late to start, and gently pushed us all to start our own exploration.

Thanks to Deb Langley for the two lovely baskets. We raised $195 for the Foundation with ticket purchases. Thank you members!!!

Aging Well - Part 2 - November 18 12:00 noon Zoom Call

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Our second zoom presentation in our Aging Well series will be with Christine Dawson, Senior Vice President of Philanthropic Giving at the Community Foundation for Monterey County. CFMC is well known for supporting nonprofits like us, but they also provide customized support to individuals, families and businesses in bequest, legacy and estate planning. Christine will cover their unique approach through personalized plans for giving with a focus on creating the greatest good for Monterey County.

To join the zoom call or find out how to participate in person, please contact Judy Tschirgi by EMAIL

Two Fun and Informative October Events

First "Aging Well" Zoom Presentation - 10/17
Alliance on Aging with John McPherson

Pumpkin Decor Event - 10/19

Our first of four sessions on Aging Well was a fun and informative event. We had 15 paricipants, mostly on Zoom and all went smoothly. John McPherson was an excellent speaker and the Alliance is a very impressive organization. They offer a myriad of free services for seniors in Monterey County. We encourage you to visit their site and learn how they might be able to help you, your loved ones or senior friends with taxes, Medicare choices, legal services and so much more. They also partner with numerous organizations who can help with transportation services and other important senior services.

Stay tuned for details about our next session!

What do 6 people and 12 pumpkins add up to on a gorgeous autumn morning? A fun-filled Pumpkin Decor "Instructional Event", of course. It was held at Conne Sutherland’s house on her beautiful patio. Six of us enjoyed coffee and pumpkin bread, (of course), while we created some beautiful, fall floral arrangements. A delightful morning for all involved.

October 2 Luncheon was a Musical Delight

Our first luncheon of the year was a delightful, and well-attended, affair. Nicola Reilly, President and CEO of the Monterey Symphony not only regaled us with stories of her fascinating life, but played several pieces on the violin with her long time piano accompanist. Nicola started life in a musical family and while thinking she wanted to play bass violin, realized at age 6 that violin was perhaps more appropriate for her petite size. With a vision of conquering the world in short order she became an accomplished musician, helped reorganize some government services, worked at a start-up, worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded two women's musical groups and then began the long arduous climb up the ladder of Arts Administration through numerous musical organizations including the Seattle Chamber Music Society and the Carmel Bach Festival, ultimately landing at the Monterey Symphony where she's been since 2016. They are lucky, indeed to have found this energetic, creative, resourceful leader who emphasizes partnership with other arts leaders in the region. Be sure to check out the schedule of events at MontereySymphony.org

Thanks to Helayne Williams for arranging for Nicola to speak and perform.

And Many Thanks to Conne Sutherland for obtaining the Hacienda Carmel venue with piano and for arranging for the lovely buffet luncheon.

Sept. 11 - Aloha Meet 'n Greet - some serious mana

The "Aloha" spirit was flowing at Conne
Sutherland's amidst the lei's and colorful
outfits as our members enjoyed pupus,
wine, and each other.

A little over 30 members gathered to
kick off our 76th year as a club and
start a fun-filled year of luncheons,
educational events, social gatherings,
and our second annual Hoedown
in April. We look forward to seeing
you all over the next 9 months.

Carmel Valley Fiesta 2024

The CVWClub and Foundation were well represented at the Kiwanis 2024 Carmel Valley Fiesta in the Community Park. We got our name out to the community, recruited some new members, and even sold one of our cool aprons we were wearing!!! (They were from the BBQ Cook-off from several years ago).

Deb Langley's Silent Auction she ran to benefit our organization was a big success. And Deb donated 2/3 of her proceeds which amounted to $2000 to the Foundation. So AWESOME!!! Thank you Deb.

Wednesday, June 5 Luncheon -We celebrated our
Scholars and Non-Profit Grantees