The Grundy Woman’s Club earned three state awards earlier this month.
The 112th Annual Convention of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Virginia was held at The Westin in Richmond, VA, May 2-5.
Over 160 women were in attendance at the state meeting, representing 66 clubs throughout the state.
With GFWC VA President Kelly Lane presiding, the convention served not only as a meeting of the dozens of GFWC-affiliated clubs located within the Commonwealth of Virginia, but also as a time of recognition of the many projects conducted by those clubs.
Several throughout the Southwestern District, of which Grundy is a part, were awarded for their work.
The Grundy club won three awards, which included:
• Best Overall Report (Large Club) in Communications & Public Relations for its varied social media presence, club website, contributions to local newspapers, and for recognizing GFWC affiliation in their public bios for those members who hold public offices.
• Best Overall Report (Large Club) in Legislation & Public Policy for serving as the catalyst for the creation of a government-supported Special Education Advisory Committee. The club is also a member of its local Chamber of Commerce and attends its monthly meetings, and clubwomen are kept abreast of legislation affecting their town, state, and nation during its own monthly meetings.
• First Place in the Website Contest.
This is the third consecutive year the Grundy club has won first in the state website contest and the second year in a row winning Best Overall Report among large clubs in Communications & Public Relations.
Additionally, a photograph by Grundy clubwoman and Arts Chairman Anna Ruth Coleman, which advanced from the Southwestern District Arts & Crafts Contest earlier in April, earned Third Place in its division at the state convention.
Three clubwomen – Club President JoBeth Wampler, Secretary Betty Shields, and Treasurer Ginger Robertson – attended the state convention to represent the local club, as well as their district.
Moreover, Shields serves GFWC Virginia as Music Chairman. Robertson and Wampler serve the Southwestern District as Treasurer and Second Vice President, respectively.
Several other clubs in the Southwestern District also received awards.
Woman’s Club of Jonesville won one award:
• Best Single Project (Small Club) in Arts for their 32nd Annual Festival in the Park, during which crafters, demonstrators, singers, and musicians shared their special skills with event-goers. Additionally, last year’s festival featured a pet show.
Pearisburg Junior Woman’s Club won two awards:
• Best Single Project (Large Club) in Arts for hosting three book drives in 2018. Collecting books from members, the community, and a local university, the club distributed the book donations to two elementary schools, the Head Start program in their area, and the veteran’s hospital in Roanoke.
• Best Single Project (Large Club) in International Outreach for funding the purchase of a water tank at the Mordeliza Academy in Nygeta Village in Kenya.
Narrows Junior Woman’s Club won two awards:
• Honorable Mention (Small Club) in Communications & Public Relations for its sponsorship of a radio program for their high school girls volleyball tournament.
• Best Single Project (Small Club) in Juniors’ Special Project: Camp Easter Seals UCP Virginia for a donation to the organization’s campership fund and staff recognition fund.
And GFWC Pennington Gap Woman’s Club won two awards:
• Best Overall Report (Small Club) in Conservation for its efforts packing over 500 sets of old Christmas mini-lights to be recycled for copper wiring and maintaining a recycling location at their local park. In addition, the club planted flowers in a local park for Earth Day, teamed up with the Boy Scouts for a ‘clean river project,’ and had old pallets moved to a park for a New Year’s Eve bonfire and marshmallow roast.
• Best Single Project (Small Club) in Juniors’ Special Program: Advocates for Children for sponsoring an Earth Day celebration for children. Those in attendance listened to music, were shown how to grow their own food, and received a sapling and instructions on how to plant and care for it.
Seven clubwomen in the Southwestern District were recognized for recruitment efforts, resulting in a seven-way tie for the title of Star Recruiter. They included: Glenna Owens (Grundy), Betty Shields (Grundy), Dr. Amanda Umlandt (Grundy), JoBeth Wampler (Grundy), Carol Brown (Pennington Gap), Charlotte Kirk (Pennington Gap), and Brenda Lindsey (Hillsville).
Brown and Lindsey earned their White Star Recruitment Pins, which recognize members who have cumulatively recruited between five and nine new members.
The convention featured several guest speakers.
Gwen Hurt, Founder and CEO of Shoe Crazy Wine, spoke of overcoming adversity through her personal experience – beginning with the frantic flight of her illiterate mother from an abusive husband, to being fired from a Fortune 300 Company for not acquiring the right “pedigree.” Her story was one of survival and strength, leading her to create her own wine label with zero experience and finding her way onto the shelves of a national distributor.
Dr. Elaine Kiziah, founder of See Change Studio, shared her nine ‘truths I’ve learned about service and self care.’ Truths included suggestions on scheduling time for self-care, such as reminders to get ready for bed, decreasing screen time, and treating one’s self with the same forgiveness and encouragement we share with others.
Stephanie Hathaway, Regional Donation Center Manager for Soles4Souls – a nonprofit ‘social enterprise that creates sustainable jobs and provides relief through the distribution of shoes and clothing around the world” – spoke of the organization’s affiliation with GFWC International. With clubwomen all around the world donating used shoes, Soles4Souls has collected 36,000 shoes from GFWC alone – 2,500 coming from GFWC clubs in Virginia alone.
The convention also hosted the Censations, an all-female a cappella group from St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, as special entertainment for the Alice Kyle Banquet, which was held Friday night, May 3.
After meetings were concluded for the night, the state’s eight districts met separately to celebrate at the district caucuses and meet with President Lane and GFWC VA Third Vice President/Director of Junior Clubs Trina Behbahani.
On Saturday morning, May 4, several clubwomen met early for a commemorative walk for March of Dimes. Two Grundy clubwomen, Wampler and Robertson, represented their club and the district in the walk.
However, that wasn’t the only opportunity clubwomen had to support projects.
To support a local school in the area that had requested toiletry items for children in need, one club in the state requested those staying in the hotel donate any unused toiletries provided complimentarily in their rooms. March of Dimes buckets were placed outside meeting rooms to allow women to insert their pocket change. And clubs were encouraged to take home to their own domestic violence shelters a host of pocketbooks stocked with essential items, which had been used for table decorations during one of the meetings. However, there were several other projects, as these three provide just a small sampling of all that GFWC state meetings have to offer and clubwomen may choose those that speak directly to their hearts.
GFWC Virginia will host the Southeastern Region Conference at the same location – The Westin in Richmond, VA – on September 26-29, when clubwomen from Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and the District of Columbia will converge for their annual meeting.
