February 8, 2020 WINTER FUNDRAISER LUNCHEON was a huge success with the Pelican Players presenting their new Comedy play “Make ’em Laugh”.
Fhe set of linked skits and songs generated plenty of laughter from all men and women in the audience. Thank you Banquet Masters for the elegant meals! Thank you to all members. guests and the entire Pelican Players Staff!
Our main presenter, Maureen Patrick, a living history interpreter, author, and scholar, portrayed the experiences and history of the American Red Cross helping the British before America’s entry into World War II.
Maureen was followed by Brigadier General Colin Howgill from Sun City Center, recounting how much the American Red Cross deployment of food, clothing, and other essential made a difference to the British during World War II. Maureen also brought with her pictures of actual Red Cross deployments and examples of the prisoner of war boxes and uniform.
The Banquet Masters buffet of carved steamship round of beef, crab stuffed sole, mashed potatoes and peas and carrots contributed to the British connection of the them.
And we had four lucky attendees who won a $100 Visa card, a basket of wine, a basket of food or a basket of books. It was a fun and informative day.
For more pictures of the event, click here.
Our first regular meeting of the 2019-2020 season was inspiring. Our own member Mary Ann Worthington discussed her research on the life of Beate Sirota Gordon. Ms. Sirota Gordon was instrumental in bringing civil rights to Japanese women after World War II through her work on the Japanese constitution “As the Only Woman in the Room” (which is the title of her autobiography). She also brought Japanese arts to America. It is amazing what one person can accomplish. Following Mary Ann’s presentation, we had a good discussion of where gender rights and responsibilities are, and are not, in today’s USA.
For those who want to read the biography of Beate Sirota Gordon for more details, see the link to the book in the new books tab of our website, here. Kudos to Mary Ann for bringing the biography of this great woman to our attention.
Even though many of our snowbirds were not back in town yet, we had a full house due to about a dozen guests participating in the event -free admission for all guests and 1/2 price national membership for anyone who joined at the event.
Florida ratified the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution of May 13, 1969. 16 of us, including 3 guests, celebrated the occasion with a luncheon. We discussed the history of the suffrage movement in Florida, and had some fun with games and a SWAG bag highlighting the year 1969.
An excellent source for more information on the Florida suffrage movement and its leaders is the Winter 1995-1996 issue of The Forum, published by the Florida Humanities Council. You can download it by clicking on this link: https://floridahumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Vol_18_No_3_Winter_1995-1996.pdf
June, 2019 Tech Trek Camps
This year we sent three campers from Beth Shields Middle School to two different Tech Trek Camps. See full article about this year’s camps under About Us – STEM
Madison and Jenedith attended the new Stetson University Camp. Alicia attended the Florida Atlantic Camp, with some pictures of her experience below.
The following is an excerpt from a thank-you note from one of the campers regarding her camp experience:
Thank you so much for choosing me to go to Tech Trek. I’ve already had so much fun and I’m working hard. I have a total of two days left and I made so many friends already. Which is really not common for me, I’m very introverted. When I heard about this camp I wasn’t so interested but my friends insisted, and I loved it. Thank you so much!