December is a month for giving and WOW did you give generously! We had 50 ladies, (and 1 gentleman) at our Holiday Luncheon at Woody’s Del Mesa.  There were four Raffle Items that raised $735 for our Scholarship Fund. You also gave $620 and 2 overflowing barrels of food and dry goods to the Monterey Food Bank.  I’m so proud to be part of a club that truly supports our community. Many thanks to everyone who participated.

The event was also fun, festive and full of surprises.  The club offered a champagne toast to all attendees as a thank you for being at our luncheons.  Desiree Gillingham donated 2 seashell festooned Christmas wreaths for a random drawing.  June Dawson and Jean Lovell were the lucky winners. Raffle baskets were donated by Deb Langley and Kitten Carter. Conne Sutherland and Christine Chew took them home.

Sherie Dodsworth and Judy Tschirgi put together two mystery boxes for the Raffle, as well. Katia Barret won a Mark Schlegel sculpture and Donna Hardy collected soap, lotion and Lulu’s chocolates. Finally, Sherie led us in a sing-along 12 Days of Christmas. (Hint – practice for next year!)

As always, we thank and very much appreciate Conne Sutherland for arranging a terrific meal, in a beautiful location and at a reasonable cost.  She also organized the Food Bank drive and Chief Elf, Katie Read assisted.

Desiree Gillingham’s Member Profiles continue to delight as we get to know each other better.  We have 143 members and, I hope, a load of engaging thumbnails yet to come!

 

Happy Holidays to everyone. 
Fondly,

Brenda

Four wonderful speakers provided us with fantastic accounts of their different approaches to healing.  All are related through integrated approaches to mental health, nutrition and physical health.  Most of their approaches take the view that the bodies own electro-magnetic energy can be directed toward achieving a better balanced flow through the body. 
Mary Saxton of Healing Partners of the Central Coast brings compassionate care through Healing Touch to cancer patients to manage challenging side effects of their treatment.  They bring a heart-centered  focus and intention to their practice.  Mary ran an interactive session where we all attempted to detect the energy within us.
Jani Quirinale, of the Abdominal Detox Center described how her many techniques, including Qi Gong, myofascial release and abdominal message can help align bioenergy forces.  
Jen De Villiers, of StudioCV described some key training principles for healthy aging and injury prevention for those after 50+.  One example was a gradual approach to maintaining and building muscle through weight training that doesn't require extreme weight lifting.
Angela Graham, described how trauma (PTSD) can be treated through a whole body approach.  She talke about working with First Responders through her non-profit "The S.I.R.E.N. Project".  It helps First Responders deal with mental health issues through the use of mindfulness practices and entheogenic therapies (therapies with guided use of psychoactive drugs). She told us how true healing must also include proper nutrition to help the body heal from years of chronic stress, sleep deprivation and exposure to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. These modalities have many benefits for everyone, not just First Responders.