The Newsletter for the North Fulton Business & Professional Women

April 2006 - Vol. II, No. 12

President's Note

   Isn't spring wonderful?! I truly enjoy Georgia in the spring time. As an amateur gardener, I love to dig in the dirt and plant are herbs, which I use in salads and cooking. I plant many different kinds of mints and lavenders, of which I thoroughly enjoy the fragrances.

   UPDATES! will become my full responsibility starting with the May 2006 issue. GULP! It has been a pleasure working with Earlene Roden as our editor. She is the sole reason for our BPW/GA State 2005 Newsletter Award. She will be submitting UPDATES! again this year for award consideration. We really can't thank her enough for creating and maintaining our amazing informational newsletter.

   Hopefully, I'll be capable enough to fill her shoes as ably as she. I'll be looking to our members to help me carry on Earlene's fine work and to continue to build UPDATES! as a voice for NFBPW.

Warm regards,

Editor's Note

We are coming to the end of another successful year for North Fulton BPW. Thanks to everyone who has helped to make such a great year, especially our strong 2005-2006 Leadership Team lead by our Officers and committee chairs and members. A Great Big Thanks to each of them. We have another set of Great Leadership Team to lead us next year. We are looking forward to their talents and a Big Congratulations to each of them. Remember it takes all of us working together. Give them our help and support when necessary.

It has been a pleasure for me to serve as your editor of the “UPDATES” for the past two years and it is time to pass this one to someone else. Please welcome Peggy Titus-Hall as your Editor starting with the May Newsletter. Please give her your support in this job.

I am planning to attend the BPW/GA State Conference April 28-29 at the Crown Plaza, 6345 Powers Ferry Road NW in Atlanta. I have a room reserved if anyone would like to share. I leaving by noon or so on Friday for the Pre-Conference Board of Directors Meeting and staying until after the Sunday Post Board Meeting.

Let me encourage everyone who can to attend all or part of the meeting especially since it is so close for us. All members in good standing who pay the conference fee will have a vote during both business sessions and elections of officers on Saturday. There will be a cut off Saturday two hours before the election of officers. The complete call was sent to all members by President Peggy Titus-Hall as well as linked to the March Newsletter. Any one who has questions or needs information, please let me know.

Sorry I have missed so many of the meetings but sometimes I don’t know until the last minute with my health problems.

Legislative Update

With the 2006 elections just a little over five months away, I encourage all BPW members to know who is running for local, state, and federal offices. One of the quickest ways to accomplish this task is to link to view the POLITICS1 Web site. Start getting to know your candidates early so you can learn where they actually stand on issues that are important to YOU!

Equal Pay Day - April 25

   Every year in April, BPW/USA and hundreds of other organizations--women’s, civil rights, labor, and community--team up with the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) for a national day of action promoting fair pay: Equal Pay Day. Pay equity continues to be an issue of economic justice for women and minorities in America.

   April symbolizes the month when women’s wages catch up to men’s wages from the previous year.  To help end wage inequities, the NCPE, a nonprofit organization working exclusively to achieve pay equity in America, coordinates this annual day of action. [Read more...]

Important and Notable Dates

March 30 – GNESA Piece by Piece Reception/Fundraiser

April 1 - Spelman LEADS and BPA/GA will host "WOMENomics: Making Money, Creating Wealth"

April 6 – NFBPW Regular meeting, Integrity Bank, Alpharetta, 6 p.m. (Meeting details)

April 25 - Equal Pay Day

April 28-30 – BPW/GA State Conference, The Crown Plaza, 6345 Powers Ferry Road, N.W., Atlanta. Rooms will be $87.

May 4 - NFBPW Officer Installation at OughtaBee's Restaurant, Alpharetta (see details below)

July 19-22 – BPW/USA National Conference, Adam’s Mark Hotel, Dallas, Texas

Member Spotlight - Rita Bauer

   Rita Bauer refers to herself and her husband as super-atomic-powered geeks who love history and science. Born and raised in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis, Rita is the youngest of 10 (yes, 10) children. As NFBPW Legislative Chair, 2005-2006 Secretary, and 2006-2007 President-Elect, Rita is a great asset to NFBPW.
   Rita is a geologist. She got her Bachelor's degree at Western Illinois University and her Master's degree at University of Missouri-Columbia, where she met her husband, Chris, who is also a Geologist. After graduating, Rita and Chris kept in touch while leapfrogging across the country for jobs and/or more education (for Chris). They went from Missouri and Illinois, to New York (Chris), to Kentucky (Rita then Chris) before finally landing in Louisiana where they were married. From Louisiana, fate took them to Boston and then to their current location in Marietta. Rita works as an environmental consultant for The RETEC Group, Inc. and Chris works as a research chemist at Kemira Chemicals.
   Rita was a typical "non-active" suburbanite until about four years ago, when she began hearing and seeing things in her workplace that made her realize that, if she was going to move up in the corporate world, she needed some training and some connections. Her research into women's organizations led her to BPW. And it was at one of her first BPW events (Womenomics 2004) that she met Idella Moore, founder and Executive Director of 4ERA, a single-issue, non-partisan coalition of organizations and individuals working toward the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The issues and attitudes of these two organizations (and a good bit of burn-out in the workplace) fueled Rita's passions and started her on her current path of political discovery, education, and activism. BPW and 4ERA have shown Rita that anything is possible for a motivated, educated, and inspired woman (but it sure is easier if she is well funded!).

April Program - Sexual Violence & Women in Georgia

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month--a month to realize the prevalence and effects of sexual violence and a month to make a difference. The Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault (GNESA) asks the citizens of Georgia to become involved in their communities and help make April 2006 the beginning of the end of sexual violence. Delbra Thomas, Executive Director of GNESA, will speak at our April 6 NFBPW meeting.

This year, the Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault is planning a statewide campaign event entitled “Jeans for Justice” on April 6, 2006. This event stems from a 1999 rape case in which an Italian court overturned the rape case of a victim who was wearing jeans on grounds that it is physically impossible for a person to remove another person’s jeans against her will. During this month, we want to raise public awareness to the fact that what a person wears is not an excuse for sexual assault. Click the GNESA logo above to view their Web site. Read more about the GNESA Jeans 4 Justice Program.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Prayer Requests

Please continue your prayers for Mary and John Bennett
BPW/GA Present Elect Glenda Hinton's husband, Frank is out of ICU and doing better. Please remember Glenda and Frank in your prayers.

UPDATES! Submissions

Submission deadline for the May UPDATES! is April 15. Please send information to coachpeg@peoplegrowthllc.com.

Peg will be requesting information from all NFBPW committee chairs on a monthly basis. Please plan to submit a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) about your committee activities.

Foundation

NFBPW 2006-2007 Officer Installation - Some New and Exciting on May 4!

Mark your calendars! Join us for an exciting new twist for our installation dinner. We'll be having a cooking class on Thursday, May 4, at OughtbaBee's Restaurant, 5192 McGinnis Ferry Road, Alpharetta 30005.

OughtaBee’s presents cooking classes that are a fun way to learn the basics of culinary arts. Join us for cooking and dinner, as well as the installation of our new officers--giving us a wonderful jumpstart for 2006-2007!

The cost for this will be $30-$35 per person based on the menu. It should be great fun and allow lots of interaction. More details to follow. Stay tuned!

Treasurer's Report

Our balance for BPW IS $1051.84 as of March 10, 2006.

Membership Committee Report

We now have 19 members per the BPW/USA membership roster.

Rita Gray

March 2, 2006, Meeting Minutes
 

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by President, Peg Titus-Hall, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. BPW-GA President-Elect Glenda Hinton invited everyone to attend the Georgia meeting to be held April 28, 2006. Cathy Woods gave a wonderful presentation about “Home ownership as a financial investment” and answered many questions concerning buying and owning a home.

Our business meeting began with dispensing with the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, which were unavailable. Officer/Chair reports followed:

The Nominating Committee announced the candidates for the new year as follows:

Voting ballots were collected and the candidates were elected.

It was decided that we would donate $25 towards the outgoing State President’s gift.

We need members to volunteer to help on our various committees for the new year.

Debbie Sundal recommended we have our May installation meeting at Oughtabee’s and will be securing more information in that regard.

Rita Gray announced that we will host the Northern District Meeting in September and the Fall Board Meeting in November. Denise Cothern volunteered to check out various hotels and their facilities.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. There were twelve in attendance.

Respectfully submitted,