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THE VIEW
FROM SAN RAMON Volume 35, Number 3 November 2018
Local Scholarship
Silent Auction Gala
Thursday, November 29 7:00–8:30 PM
San Ramon Community Center Terrace Room
Start Holiday Shopping Early!
Enjoy Snacks & Beverages!
Visit with Friends!
(See page 4 for details)
AAUW MISSION AND DIVERSITY STATEMENTS
American Association of University Women advances gender equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy. In
principle and in practice, AAUW values and seeks an inclusive membership, workforce, leadership team, and board of directors. There shall
be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, geographical
location, national origin, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.
2
2018–2019 Board
PRESIDENT
Millie Kessler
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Millie Kessler
CO-PRESIDENTS ELECT
Chris Burchik Lucy Weed
CO-VICE PRESIDENTS, PROGRAM
Linda Mendonsa Sabina Zafar
CO-VICE PRESIDENTS, MEMBERSHIP
Betsy Hoffmann Margo James Alice Miller
VICE PRESIDENT, THE FUND
Pat Kelly
CO-VICE PRESIDENTS, LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP
Julie Gin Susan Walker-Christensen
VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE
Claire Mailhiot
CO-RECORDING SECRETARIES
Judy Bracken Pam Bugbee
AAUW San Ramon Information
Websites: Branch website: www.sanramon-ca.aauw.net Webmaster: Isabel Lau ([email protected]) Association website: www.aauw.org CA State website: www.aauw-ca.org CCC IBC website: ccc-ibc-ca.aauw.net
Branch mailing address: P.O. Box 336, San Ramon, CA 94583
Branch e-mail address: [email protected]
Facebook: San Ramon University Women/AAUW
Appointed Officers
ART & WIND FESTIVAL
Janet Williams
COMMUNICATION
Isabel Lau
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Lois Kamoroff
HOSPITALITY/FELLOWSHIP
Betsy Hoffmann
NEWSLETTER
Marsha Froines Carol Lombardi
PUBLIC POLICY
Cindy Alpert
TECH TREK
OPEN
TELEPHONE TREE
Renee Coles Lois Kamoroff
3
Co-President Elect’s Message
It’s hard to believe we are heading into the busy holiday
season already! Now is a good time to reflect and be
thankful for the gifts of family and friends.
On a more serious note, make sure you vote on
November 6. The candidate forums held in the past few
weeks and the Propositions Review co-sponsored by the
League of Women Voters and the Danville-Alamo-Walnut
Creek branch will help us to make informed choices
during this critical election year.
The Northern California FUND Luncheon was held on
October 7 at the Crow Canyon Country Club, and several
of our members attended. We enjoyed a delicious lunch
and were introduced to five Fellowship and Grant
recipients, four of whom were from Berkeley and one
from Davis. Their chosen fields ranged from Physics,
Architecture and Design, and Environmental Engineering
to a STEM-centered community project for girls. Each
recipient inspired us with her story of challenges, courage,
support, and success. Our donations to FUND contributed
to their accomplishments, and they expressed deep
gratitude to AAUW for helping them to achieve their
goals. Thanks to our FUND committee and all branch
members who generously contribute each year.
Our Scholarship Committee is preparing for our biggest
fundraiser of the year, the Silent Auction Gala! Mark
your calendars—November 29 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at
the San Ramon Community Center. Come and bring a
friend or two and enjoy this festive, fun event! Local
businesses have generously donated over 100 items for us
to bid on. Beautiful theme baskets contributed by our
Special Interest Groups and individual members are also
ready to be raffled off! Every dollar we raise supports our
scholarship program for local high school girls and former
foster youth. Join us for a lively evening and support a
great cause! See you on Thursday, November 29!
There are several fun and interesting programs planned for
the year. Coming up next month is our Potluck Holiday
Party. Be sure to check the newsletter for date and time.
We continue to keep Millie and her family in our thoughts
and prayers during this difficult time.
Chris Burchik
Co-President-Elect with Lucy Weed
AAUW Fund
Thanks to Your Generosity,
the Funding Continues!
For the 2018–2019 academic year, 250 women and
community projects serving women and girls will receive
$3.9 million from AAUW. This level of funding for
women’s education and projects has a tremendous impact
on women and their communities by expanding women’s
potential and supporting their future promise.
By easing the pressure of financing academic and
community work, AAUW’s awards help women tackle the
growing burden of student debt and focus their efforts on
the task at hand: developing the skills and experience they
need to excel in their fields and lead innovative
community projects to empower women and girls.
Pat Kelly
Vice President, AAUW Fund
VOTE!
4
Program
Local Scholarship
Silent Auction Gala
Thursday, November 29 7:00–8:30 PM
San Ramon Community Center Terrace Room
12501 Alcosta Blvd., San Ramon
Start Holiday Shopping Early!
Enjoy Snacks & Beverages!
Visit with Friends!
This event is our Local Scholarship committee’s major
fundraiser to provide monies for the scholarships our
branch awards to graduating female seniors from San
Ramon high schools and young women in the Renaissance
Scholars program for former foster children attending
CSU East Bay. We need your support!
If you have any questions about this event, you can
contact either Julie Gin or Susan Walker-Christensen.
Hope to See You There!
Save the Date!
Sunday, December 9
5:00–7:00 PM
Holiday Potluck Party
for
Members
Prospective Members
Significant Others
Host: Sabina Zafar
Bring Your Favorite
Holiday Dish To Share!
Look for the E-vite invitation in early November to
RSVP for the party and sign up for a dish to bring! For
people who don’t use E-vite, please RSVP by
December 6 to Sabina or Linda.
For questions, contact either
Sabina Zafar or Linda Mendonsa
Linda Mendonsa and Sabina Zafar
Co-Vice Presidents, Program
5
Public Policy
AAUW-CA 2018 Legislative Year Update
The content for this article was provided by Archana
Maniar, AAUW CA Public Policy Committee.
If you’ve been tracking AAUW California legislation in
the last few years, you’ll note the number of bills related
to closing the gender pay gap. We’ve made tremendous
headway since 2015 working with the Stronger California
coalition. The Fair Pay Act—SB 358 (2015), SB 1063
(2016)—has been improved, and California now limits the
use of one’s prior salary to establish a new salary. Just this
year, an additional refinement was made with AB 2282
(Eggman) so there is no doubt that an employer cannot
inquire or use one’s prior salary. There are still other areas
to be addressed, including pay data transparency, so that
employers and the public can better understand a
company’s pay practices. Unfortunately, our co-sponsored
bill on this issue—SB 1284 (Jackson)—was stalled in the
legislative process this year.
Momentum on the equal pay bills was assisted by the
#MeToo movement and awareness that sexual harassment
is fueled by disproportionate power dynamics, as is the
gender pay gap. Many bills made it to the governor’s desk,
with mixed results. Most important, Governor Brown
signed SB 1300 (Jackson), a bill addressing discrimination
and harassment in the workplace—also known as the “no
free grope” bill.
Our work is not done. To quote a former governor, “We’ll
be back” to work with the new governor to accomplish all
that needs to be done to make California a bastion of
equity and fairness for women.
For a full list of our bills in 2018, go to our website.
Update on Non-Profit Status of AAUW of California
A hearing was held on September 25 on the matter of
AAUW of California converting from a Mutual Benefit
Corporation to a Public Benefit Corporation. This
conversion was approved, and it will be final after the
lawyer files some papers for us.
Stay tuned for more information. Let’s all celebrate our
persistence! Nevertheless, we persisted!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cindy Alpert
Public Policy
Happy November Birthdays Harry Sachs 11/10 Carol Calloway 11/16 Pauline Nolte 11/16 Cheryl Thomas 11/17 Linda Louie 11/21
6
Local Scholarship
Silent Auction Gala! Thursday, November 29
7:00–8:30 PM
We look forward to seeing everyone at the Silent Auction
Gala on at the San Ramon Community Center Terrace
Room. This is our major fundraiser to raise scholarship
funds for local high school students and Renaissance
Scholars at CSU East Bay.
Over 100 great items have been donated to our auction
from Tri-Valley businesses from San Ramon, Danville,
Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore. Look for the list of
donated items that will be sent via e-mail before the
auction for your perusal. You can plan ahead to bid on
items you're interested in. A few items include gift
certificates to Yersen Gelato Cakes, Pacific Catch, Piatti's
Ristorante, Brass Door, Esin Bar & Grille, Los Panchos,
Three Brothers, Faz in Pleasanton, Danville Chocolates,
Forbes Mill Restaurant, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Trader Joe's,
Dublin Bowl, four hours of organizing by Joy Perkins of
Omnibus Organizing, Buckhorn Grill, a golf outing for
four at Bridges, Katy's Korner, a wine-tasting party for
eight at Page Mill Winery, and much more.
Any member who brings a friend/guest will receive six
tickets for the theme baskets. The drawings for the theme
baskets will begin at 7:30 PM. Come at 7:00 to look at the
beautiful baskets donated by the interest groups, AAUW
members, and friends as well as all of the other auction
items. It will be a fun evening! Bring a friend or two with
you and, of course, your checkbook!
There will be a table with some nice hostess gifts for the
holidays. Victoria Bissell, one of our members, will be
selling her beautiful sets of natural stone jewelry. Loranne
Weir will also be selling her bracelets. All proceeds will
be donated to Local Scholarship.
We’ll be featuring delicious baked goods from local
bakeries.
Enjoy light appetizers, desserts, coffee, and sparkling cider
while you bid. Wine will be available for purchase.
Themed Baskets Reminder
The Silent Auction Gala is coming soon on November 29.
As you know, this event is the main fundraiser for our
high school and Renaissance scholarship programs, so
your support is very important. We need gift baskets that
can be raffled off that night. You can put your basket
together as part of a group, with a friend or two, or
individually—your choice! You can also donate individual
items that we can combine into one of the baskets.
Regardless of how you choose to help, your participation
is most appreciated... Thank you!
Please let one of us know if you plan to donate a basket
for the event. Baskets should be delivered to us BY
Tuesday, November 13 OR we can arrange to pick up
your creation.
Loranne Weir
Susan Walker-Christensen
Julie Gin
Co-Vice-President, Local Scholarship with
Susan Walker-Christensen
Local Scholarship Committee Members:
Sally Blackwell, Pam Bugbee, Pat Campbell,
Anna Fehrenbach, Dayna Hannum, Millie Kessler,
Sally Scholl, and Loranne Weir
7
Membership
Membership Matters
When you receive your updated AAUW San Ramon
Branch Directory, please check your personal listing and
verify that all information is correct. Be sure to contact
Margo James with any changes or corrections so that we
can keep you updated on all of our wonderful programs
and events.
In November, the AAUW national organization purges the
records of all expired memberships from the database, and
those names will be removed from our branch directory
and all mailing lists (such as newsletter and special
interest groups) as well, so please keep this in mind if you
have not yet renewed.
If you have not recently visited the Member Benefits page
of the AAUW website, it is worth a look:
http://www.aauw.org/membership/benefits/
All purchases support AAUW’s vital work.
We are thankful for your continued support of the AAUW
mission and the San Ramon Branch. We look forward to
seeing you November 29 at the annual Silent Auction Gala
supporting our scholarships. We also look forward to
seeing current and prospective members, spouses, and
significant others on December 9 for the Holiday Party.
We especially hope that our new members will join us so
that we can all get to know each other better.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Membership Team.
Alice Miller
Co-Vice President with
Margo James and Betsy Hoffmann
Member Spotlight
Elaine Graves
Birthplace and other places I’ve lived: I was born and
grew up in Burlingame, California. Post-college, I lived in
Belmont, California until moving to San Ramon in 1988.
Education: Bachelor of Science degree in Business
Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from San
Diego State University in 1980.
Spouse: Gary Graves
Children: Lauren Graves, age 29, lives in San Francisco.
Andrew Graves, age 26, lives in Oakland.
Significant Mentor or Hero: My brother Dan, who has
spent his adult life as a pastor in the Fruitvale District in
Oakland helping South East Asian immigrants adapt to
their new country. He works tirelessly for social justice for
all in Oakland as well. He is committed to making a
difference in his local area and is passionate toward
helping people with more needs than his own.
Current and Previous Employment: I work as an
independent contractor for two freight brokerage
companies and have done so for the last 18 years. Prior to
that, I worked as a business consultant in the
microcomputer industry.
Current Interests and Pastimes: I am an avid hiker and
downhill skier and always seek opportunities to pursue
these interests.
I love different cultures and foods and travel often both
within the U.S. and internationally. Next year, I am
planning to visit Japan and Croatia.
Member Spotlight continued on next page
8
Membership, continued
Locally, I enjoy going to ClubSport to take stretch, yoga,
and Zumba classes and also go often to concerts, movies,
and live performances of all kinds. I enjoy reading,
cooking, gardening, and spending time with family and
friends.
Memorable Experiences/Adventures/Accomplishments:
Climbing Mount Whitney was a memorable
accomplishment several years ago. Last year, I hiked from
the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim in
one day. I plan an annual endurance hike with a group of
friends so we can continue to push ourselves mentally and
physically.
When I was 13, I was a long distance runner and ran my
first 26.2-mile marathon in Petaluma in the freezing rain.
The high school cross country coach at Burlingame High
in 1972 knew of my distance running and asked me to join
the boys’ team prior to my freshman year as there was no
such thing as girls’ cross country running. I accepted, and
it was the first year in California history that girls were
allowed to run on boys’ teams. The handful of girls that
ran in California that year started the trend for girls to run
cross country in high school.
Traveling to China, Russia, and Thailand are some of my
most memorable adventures. Also, spending four months
after college graduation with my younger sister traveling
by train in Europe created my travel bug for life.
Something that might surprise people: I savor my time
being a couch potato and watching reality TV shows like
America’s Got Talent and World of Dance.
Pleasant Hill-Martinez A.A.U.W.
Presents
Betty Reid Soskin
Wednesday, November 7 at 2:00 PM
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 1601 Mary Drive
Pleasant Hill, CA 94553
Admission: Free
Betty Reid Soskin presents a fascinating
and riveting description of her 97 years
beginning with her childhood in New
Orleans to her adult life in the East Bay,
including becoming a famous National Park
Ranger at the Rosie the Riveter NHS.
Betty also calmly and honestly depicts
life at its best and its hardest for an
African-American Creole from the 1920s
to now. Don’t miss it!
(Her autobiography, Sign My Name to Freedom,
will be available for purchase.)
For questions, please contact either
Harriett Burt or Nancy Hobert
9
Interest Groups
GAME NIGHT
First Saturdays
Saturday, November 3; 7:00 PM *Note special time*
Host: Fran Bartholomew
Kindly RSVP to Fran.
Have questions? Contact
Lucy Weed
LUNCH BUNCH
First Tuesdays
Tuesday, November 6; 11:30 AM
This group meets for a friendly lunch with fellow
members. We talk about anything and everything while
dining on delicious food and always get separate checks.
This month, we’re dining at
Imperial Delight 867-2888
290 Market Place, San Ramon
Be sure to notify Marsha on the prior Sunday if you will
attend. To join the e-mail reminder list, also contact:
Marsha Froines
CHINESE MAH JONG
First Tuesdays and Third Thursdays
Tuesday, November 6; 7:00 PM
Julie Gin
Thursday, November 15; 7:00 PM
Chris White
Kindly RSVP to the host.
If you have questions about this group, contact
Linda Louie
Interest Groups
WALKING GROUP
Saturday, November 10; 9:00 AM
Meet at the Bollinger Park and Ride at 9:00 AM to carpool
to Windemere Tassajara trailhead for an unpaved trail out-
and-back. Gentle slopes; 3 miles. Let us know you are
coming, and we will look for you.
Diane Griffiths
Lois Kamoroff
DAYTIME READERS
Second Mondays
Monday, November 12; 1:00–3:00 PM
We’ll discuss The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Host: Jane Young
For questions about the Daytime Book Group, please
contact Margo James.
THE NIGHT BOOK GROUP
Third Monday
Monday, November 19; 7:00 PM
Chris Burchik will review Before We Were Yours by Lisa
Wingate.
Host: Fran Bartholomew
Questions? Contact Cheri Ng
BRIDGE
Third Tuesdays
Tuesday, November 20; 7:00–10:00 PM
Host: Chris White
RSVP required: Contact host as soon as possible to let
hostess know if you are playing or not.
Questions? Contact Chris White
10
Interest Groups
FOURTH FRIDAY FLICKS (FFF)
Friday, November 30 *Fifth Friday*
Organizer: Mary Venkat
Watch for date, location, and time.
The monthly Organizer will send out a notice to those on
the e-mail list with movie information. If you would like
to receive these e-mails, please, contact
Chris White
Interest Groups
TRAVEL GROUP
Save the Date
Saturday, January 19, 2019; 7:30 PM
Our middle presentation will feature Isabel Lau showing
us the recent trip she and her husband Danny took to
Switzerland. After enjoying their presentation of Italy
previously, we know that this presentation will beautifully
illustrate the glories of the Swiss Confederation.
Host: Anne Hayden
Travel Group programs are open to AAUW members,
their spouses, friends, and significant others. We'd love to
see you at our events this year! Because refreshments are
served at our events, please respond positively to the
event's hostess if you can attend.
Renae Buckser
Anne Hayden
11
NOVEMBER 2018
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 7:00 PM
Special Time
Game Night
Fran
Bartholomew
4 5 6:00 PM
Board Meeting
Cindy Alpert
6
Election Day:
Vote!
7 8 9 10 9:00 AM
Walking
Group
Diane Griffiths
11:30 AM
Lunch Bunch
Marsha
Froines
7:00 PM
Mah Jong
Julie Gin
11 12 1:00 PM
Daytime
Readers
Jane Young
13 14 15
Newsletter
Deadline
16 17
7:00 PM
Mah Jong
Chris White
18 19 7:00 PM
Night Book
Group
Fran
Bartholomew
20 7:00 PM
Bridge
Chris White
21 22
Thanksgiving
23
24
25 26 27 7:00 PM
IBC Meeting
Cindy Alpert
28 29 7:00 PM
Silent Auction
Gala
Julie Gin
30
Special Date
Friday Flicks
Mary Venkat
SNIPPETS
If you have a Snippet item (family events, career changes, etc.) that you would like to share with branch members, please
contact Marsha Froines. This column depends on member contributions.
Save the Dates
December 9: Holiday Potluck Party; RSVP by December 6
January 19: Travel Group presents Switzerland