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Canadian Women’s Club of Chicago Newsletter
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
If September 17th is any indication, it’s going to be a great year. We had a wonderful turnout, and a wonderful time, at our first luncheon meeting of the year. Robin Allison served double duty, as both our hostess and one of the Programme/Hospitality chairs who organized this fun (and filling!) event. A huge thank you to her and Mirella Caputo for all the effort planning the luncheon and pulling it off. And thank you to all our members who provided the wonderful food from Canadian recipes. It was a fabulous spread! Many members stepped forward to help with serving and cleaning up, which was greatly appreciated.
A highlight of the afternoon was the chance to wish a happy 98th birthday to one of our founding members, Ruth Johnston. She amazes us all! Ruth blew out the candles on a scrumptious cake baked by Robin, and professionally decorated with maple leaves by her friend Cheryl Brady.
While I’m saying “thank you”, I also want to acknowledge Jan Dengis and Lucie Dumas for putting together and distributing the first newsletter of the year last month. I hope you all took the time to read it, as you will this one. They’ll provide lots of useful information each month. Look for information from Lucie about choosing whether to receive the newsletter and invitation by mail or email for the remainder of the year. Printing costs are one of our largest expenses each year, and we could realize substantial savings if a portion of our newsletters can be delivered to you electronically.
I hope you’ll be able to join us for October’s luncheon meeting. Margaret Warren has arranged a presentation about the role of the Quebec Delegation in Chicago, which we’ll enjoy in a beautiful setting along the waterfront with spectacular views. Thanks to Bev Paonessa for inviting us to her party room once again. - Michelle Gillis, President
Newsletter Deadline
The deadline for submitting articles to be included in the November newsletter is October 29th, 2008. All articles should be emailed to Jan Dengis. Please put CWC on the subject line. Any questions, please call Jan.
MEMBER NEWS
Paula and Tom welcome a new grandson. Seth Allan Lawrence was born on August 22nd at 8:32 pm in Edmonton, Alberta. He was 19 inches long and weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. Seth was born just 3 weeks before his brother and sister turned 2.
Christopher Reid Drouet Doolin graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame du Lac, on May 18, 2008.
Jan and Mike Dengis celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Cydney to Seth Giddings of Humboldt, Iowa, on August 16th in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The newlyweds are living in Cedar Rapids.
Ruth Johnston celebrated her 98th birthday on September 12th. Ruth’s daughter, Heather from Albuquerque, was in town for the weekend to share in the birthday festivities.
Good wishes to Vicki Fraser for a speedy recovery after fracturing her shoulder.
(Name withheld) 6th grandchild was baptized Sunday, September 28th. Cassandra Joy was born February 14th to (name withheld)'s son, Kelly and his wife, Leslie Cameron. Big sisters Madeleine and Morgan are delighted with their live doll.
Birthday wishes for October go to Norah Johnson on October 4th and Neelum Aggarwal on October 31st.
Membership Report
As of the September deadline, most of the members from last year have renewed their membership. Thank you to you all for taking the time to fill in the forms, write cheques and get it all back to me. We also welcome two new members to our group, giving us a total membership of 67 at the beginning of the year. The addresses for new members, Tracy Lawrence-Black and Kathy Skagerberg will be included in the new directory.
The CWCC 2008/2009 Membership Directory will be available at the October meeting. - Janet Walker, 2008-09 Membership Chair
CANADIAN NEWS
Would you like to Vote in the Canadian
Election?
For more
information on eligibility criteria and how to register and vote by special
mail-in ballot, go to the Elections Canada Web site at
http://www.elections.ca/
and click the icon « I’m Mailing My Vote!», or call Elections Canada at
1-800-463-6868 (toll-free in Canada and the United States), or visit the
Canadian Consulate. MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Book Club Our first book of the new season is SISTERS OF THE WILDERNESS by Charlotte Gray. Everyone is welcome even if you haven’t read the book. Join us on October 8th @ 10:30 at (withheld) for a light lunch and a lively discussion. Call Jan Dengis if you’d like to attend.
Canadian Event Calendar
CLUB NEWS
Programme and Hospitality Thanks to all who turned out for our potluck luncheon in September. Some of you likely noticed that we did not have an organized programme. This won’t be the normal course of events. It was such a lovely day, and there were so many lively conversations going on that we decided to forgo the getting to know you activity—it seemed like that was already in full swing! Thanks to all who helped in the kitchen cleaning up- it was a huge help! The Programme committee would like to plan to have a few more home meetings, this year. To that end, if you would be willing to consider being our hostess and could accommodate anywhere from 20-30 people sometime in 2009, please contact Robin. Hope to see you at the October meeting! - Robin Allison
Projects Bring some extra money and plan on shopping at the October luncheon in Bev’s party room because CWCC has items for sale. There are still some of the very popular Canadian Maggie Pins available for $15.00, as well as Christmas tree Christmas cards for $8.00, Christmas tree note cards for $5.00, maple leaf note cards for $5.00, the CWCC’s own Favourite Favorites Cookbook for $9.00, cow note cards for $7.00, Canadian Christmas tree colouring books and pens for $1.00. The Christmas tree cards are representative of the tree the club decorates at the Museum of Science and Industry each November. - Bev Paonessa
Philanthropy Canadians, as a whole, are very charitable and our club is no exception. CWCC strives “to support local and international philanthropic organizations” as stated on the first page of our directory. Thank you for your generous donations last year. The outgoing Board decided to send a special donation to the McCormick Foundation to help Neighbors In Need 2008. Our donation was matched by 50% to support disaster relief of the spring Mid-west flooding of five states. All administrative costs are paid by the Foundation so that all donated funds directly assist flood victims and their families.
A collection in honour of Vivi Marten’s son, Michael was collected at the September meeting and a donation has been made to the American Cancer Society.
Special Events Committee: GRANT PARK WALKING TOUR Grant Park is affectionately called Chicago’s “front yard” and presents spectacular views of the city’s skyline as well as beautiful gardens, manicured lawns, towering elm trees, sculptures, monuments and cultural institutions. Named in honour of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, Grant Park encompasses 319 acres of parkland and features many bicycle, jogging and walking paths. With this knowledge the idea of taking a walking tour of Grant Park was born.
On Tuesday, September 23rd, a group of six, consisting of Jan Dengis, Bev Paonessa, Carol Taylor, Gail Thompson, Janet Walker and Susanna Doolin, set off to explore, enjoy and discover the many treasures that Grant Park has to offer. It was a glorious day when our group met at the “Bean” in Millennium Park. We walked the entire confines of the park stopping every now and then along the way to admire the various sculptures, monuments and gardens at the Art Institute, Congress Plaza, South Grant Park and the Museum Campus. We zigzagged into the interior of the park to get a closer look at the lifelike bronze figure of Abraham Lincoln and admired the enormity of the bronze equestrian monument of civil war hero John Logan as it stands on a hill overlooking the city. We trekked all the way to Roosevelt Road to get a glimpse of the “Agora” – an art exhibit of 106-cast iron, headless figures donated by the Polish community – but it was well worth it.
Our Canadian connection came when we arrived at the Museum Campus. Just in front of the Field Museum lies a totem pole entitled “Big Beaver”, commissioned by the Women’s Board of the Field Museum to commemorate the opening of the Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples exhibit in 1982. The totem tells the legend of Canadian artist, Norman Tait’s ancestors of the Nisga’a Tsimshian tribe and how they came to adopt the beaver as their clan symbol.
On the way back we strolled along the lakefront to observe the boats in Monroe Harbor, then back to the park to see that roses were still in bloom in the Daniel O. Flaherty Rose Gardens, and finally crossed over the meandering BP Bridge back to Millennium Park. Our walk may have come to an end, but our spirits were buoyed by the sights we had seen and the knowledge we had acquired. We had covered a lot of ground in our two-hour walk – well over four miles – and we were certainly ready for lunch, a sit down and a cold glass of water! - Susanna Doolin
The Canadian Christmas Tree –
A History The annual Christmas Around the World exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry began in 1942 as a salute to the American allies involved in World War II. The first year, one large live tree was provided and each night a different ethnic group redecorated this tree, and the next day was dedicated to that country. In subsequent years each of those countries was provided its own live tree to decorate. It was such a popular exhibit with Chicagoans, that it became a traditional family holiday outing which has continued for generations.
When artificial trees were introduced, the duration of the annual exhibit was extended from before Thanksgiving until the end of the first weekend in January. In December, it is a popular school field trip destination.
Over the years, the museum has increased the number of Christmas trees for any ethnic group in Chicago interested in annual participation. Some groups display a creche and nativity scene. In the mid-1990's, MSI renamed the exhibit to include ethnic groups of other religions. It became "The Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light Exhibit."
In 1984, Jill Hill and her husband John, who was Canadian deputy Consul General, attended a Christmas reception at MSI for the Consular Corps of Chicago. She was surprised that the large Canadian population of Chicago was not represented. Early in 1985, she asked (name withheld), the then Vice-President of the Canadian Women's Club of Chicago, if she could entice the club to support an entry. Armed with a collection of water-colour pictures, of proposed ornaments, by club member and artist Carol Kopf, (name withheld) met at MSI with Bernice Martin, Director of Operations. Surprise!! Bernice was herself an ex-patriot Canadian and stated: "Clearly, Canada does not have a Canadian Christmas tree." She assured her that, "There will be a clearly Canadian Christmas Tree!"
Bernice met with the museum's board of directors and got their approval to include Canada with the proviso that the entry was under her personal supervision. At the time, half of the trees were 16' high and the other half 12' high, with groups alternating heights each year. We were instructed to have 750 ornaments in our inventory before the date that information was submitted for the exhibit's publicity. Other instructions included that the ornaments not look like a 'commercial collection' -- this was, after all, an exhibit of ethnic displays. The year after our initial tree entry, thankfully the museum standardized all trees to 12 feet.
Immediately the club was in complete support of the large project. Vicki Fraser agreed to co-chair the committee. The Consulate, Quebec and Ontario Government Offices, plus Chicago branches of Canadian companies and banks, donated seed money. The club held 'white-elephant sales' to raise money. The CWCC Board voted that hence-forth, $1.00 of each club members' dues would be set aside annually for the ornament collection and its upkeep.
- (Name withheld)
As we all know, costs continue to rise. Paper and postage are no different. For the 2007-2008 financial year, the CWCC Newsletter costs were nearly $700. That includes the material and the postage, but not the copies, and , of course, not the work voluntarily done by our members. We expect that the budget will be higher this year as paper and mailing costs are increasing regularly. Currently we are able to produce copies at no cost, but we do not know how long this will continue.
Please contact Lucie Dumas via phone or email and let her know if you'd be ok with receiving the monthly newsletter via email.
Thank you very much for your input.
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