2014 Gathering

First:   Happy St. Maughold's Day to you all.   St. Maughold is the patron saint of the Isle of Man, one of the Celtic nations.   Actually his feast day was Sunday the 27th.   

Second:  The 2014 Gathering was a great success.   Betty did a super job with her planning.  The Hampton provided us with a meeting room for all of Friday and Saturday so that we could leave everything set up and locked up.  The employees at the Hampton were so welcoming.

Friday was the board meeting, followed by registration and a Wine And Cheese reception.   We had that time to reacquaint, meet new members and preview all of the raffle baskets.    Jan Bieschke then facilitated the Gathering ceremony for us before we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo.   (The food there is to die for.)   Upon returning to the hotel, Zoe Keithley, a poet/author, read a poem or two and parts of her book,  The Calling of Mother Adelli.  From the preview, I recommend it.    


And this was JUST Friday.

Saturday Morning brought the general meeting.   After the committee reports, we had the nomination and election of  four new members to the board.  Felicia Rosland-Reindl,  Maureen Garry,  Paula Harrold and Jan Bourke chose accept nomination and were ratified by the membership.  The new board
had a short meeting after lunch to determine the executive committee.   Janet Bieschke was chosen and chose to be our new president, Joan Kramer is the new Vice President.    Betty Gavitt and Rosemary Baumann are staying in their positions of Secretary and Treasurer.   Thank you all for your willingness to serve CWI as the executive committee along with Deb O'Grady our past president.   Also, a big thanks to  all the other members of the board, old and new, for coming forward to advise and keep us on track as we go into the future.

We finished the morning activities with a talk by Frank Crowley, curator at the IAHC, Chicago, about the Book of Kells.   He is marvelous.   Look him up on the net to read some of his insights.   (It was better in person.)

After lunch we had the raffle, followed by a talk by Mary Wagner, author of Running in Stilettos , called "It's Never Too Late to Make Mid-Course Corrections".  Her live and dramatic changes.   A lawyer, author and photographic artist, she is just plain fun.

Finally we had a choice for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I myself went to a wine tasting shop and then stayed the evening at the hotel with a round table discussion of anything we wanted to share.   The "On the Town" option was to see CATS.   I had seen it before and chose the talk fest.   Those who went to CATS loved it as I knew they would.   It is a pleasure to experience.   I personally loved watching the actors "being cats."  This theater in the round even had "cats" roving the aisles. 

The next morning we had our Scattering ceremony and then went to church and/or just headed home.   Felicia, Debbie and I got back to Sheboygan County about 2:30PM having had easy driving both ways.   God was good and kept the rain away.  

So.  Pictures will follow.   I hope more of you can come next year.    LuAnn Cleary-Benninghaus and I have taken on the chair of the Gathering Committee so you will be hearing a lot as next year comes in to view.

Third:  Our next Sheboygan County meeting is the book discussion.   We are meeting on Saturday May 17th at the UCC, 1405 S. Hwy 67 in Plymouth from 1PM to 3PM.    We are discussing Patrick Taylor's book An Irish Country Doctor,   which is the first in a fascinating series.   Please come, even if you have not read the book.   You might like to borrow a copy after the discussion and can also be in on the choice of our next book. 

June 16 will bring our forth annual Bloomsday celebration, joining world wide James Joyce enthusiasts in our little corner of the world.   Paul Hanson and I are planning a 24 hour reading.    Bloomsday is a Monday this year.   I have requested and Tim Ebenreiter has said that we can use the Ebco ArtSpace Center.    I would like to ask some our members to possibly be one of the readers?   Our official CWI meeting time  will be between 6PM and 10PM.  (I would like  you to tell me what time would be best.)   I am planning on having snacks at the center during the hours of 6PM to 9PM.  Hopefully, we can provide?   Paul and I are contacting the schools and theater companies to find readers.  We,  the Sheboygan County CWI, are mainly giving our name to the event, but I hope that you find it as exciting as I do.

That is all for now folks.

Any questions, email me or call at 920-512-5345

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert