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The Grapevine
Healdsburg Branch
Advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, research
December 2013 www.healdsburgaauw.com Vol.29 No.4
AAUW
Holiday Party
Sunday, December 8
4:30-7:00 p.m.
Home of Bill and Jan Garwin
377 Bridle Path
Healdsburg
Couples whose last names begin with A-O, please bring an
hors d'oeuvre to serve 12 and a bottle of wine.
Couples whose last names begin with P-Z, please bring a dessert to serve 12 and
a bottle of wine.
Singles please bring a bottle of wine to share.
Carpooling is REQUIRED! Only street parking is available. We still need two
volunteers to help direct traffic for house drop-off during the first hour of the
party. Please call Jan at 431-0240 if you can help to direct cars.
RSVP by NOVEMBER 27 to Jan Garwin at 431-0240 or email
jan.garwin@gmail.com.
January Speaker Series
Please note: There is no Speaker Series meeting in the month of December. In the new year,
Speaker Series will resume on Tuesday, January 7, at 5 p.m. in the Healdsburg High School
Library. The speaker will be Georgia Berland, Executive Officer, Sonoma County Task Force for
the Homeless, who will speak on the topic of homelessness in our county and the efforts that
are being made to bring this critical situation to an end. —Karen Danielson and Rita Minkin
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President’s Message
I can’t believe we’re
already almost into
December! The AAUW
holiday party is just
around the corner
(December 8, 4:30 p.m. at
Jan Garwin’s). Thanks to
Jan for hosting and helping
to organize it along with
Violet Nelson. I hope to see many of you there.
We will also again be collecting school supplies for
Healdsburg Elementary School (pencils, erasers,
glue sticks, whiteboard markers, highlighters, post-
it’s, stickers, etc.), which you can drop off at the
party.
I also hope you all will enjoy a peaceful and
bountiful Thanksgiving. This is a good time of year
to give thanks for all that we have to enjoy in
Healdsburg and to all our hard-working AAUW
volunteers and supporters who enable us to help
so many women and girls.
In October I was fortunate enough to participate in
the GEMS Professional Women’s Night with five
professional women (mostly members) and 15
GEMS girls plus their parents. Thanks so much to
Hala Alshahwany and Victoria Toboni for
organizing the event and for leading the whole
program. I know they took the GEMS girls to
Medtronic soon after, and I’m sure it was an
enlightening trip for all of them. (See page 4.)
Here's wishing all of you and yours a very happy
holiday with plenty of family, friends, and good
cheer!
—Sue Campbell
AAUW 2014 HOMES TOUR
Sunday, May 4, 2014
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Use Your Holiday Buying Power to Help Homes Tour!
The holiday season is a great time to let our
advertisers, sponsors, and long-time supporters
know that we appreciate them. As you do your
holiday shopping, dining, and visiting please let the
following know that you are part of AAUW and
thank them for their contribution to AAUW’s
Healdsburg Homes Tour. We are so fortunate to
have many wonderful supporters that the following
list is just a portion of our generous contributors.
We’ll have more names in the next issue.
Meanwhile, please show your appreciation to: Big
John's, Ferrari Carano Vineyards and Winery,
Healdsburg Lumber/Hudson Street Design, Saint
Dizier Design, Tallulah, Diane's Estate Jewelry,
Erickson Fine Arts Gallery, Myra Hoefer Design, Just
For You Gallery, Options, Salon Melrose, Surface
Art, Zizi, Harris Gallery, Downtown Bakery and
Creamery, Garrett’s Ace Hardware, Costeaux
French Bakery, Copperfield's Books, and Levin &
Company Booksellers. It could be a huge help to
our 2014 efforts. The Advertising and Sponsorship
team is getting organized to hit the ground running
in 2014. If you are willing to help sell ads for the
program or solicit sponsors between January 15
and March 15, then please contact Cynthia Adam
or ideas about prospective advertisers and
sponsors, please pass them along to me as
well. Thanks for your help!!!
—Cynthia Adam, Advertising and Sponsoring Chair
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Then Help Us in All the Ways You Can
Without Homes Tour we cannot fund the things in which we take so much pride: i.e. $3500
scholarships to five or six SRJC women going on to a four-year college; GEMS; PPST; Expanding
Your Horizons; the Reading Rocks books for first graders; and various Healdsburg Education
Foundation projects to which we have given at least 25% of HHT proceeds, including the
elementary school science enrichment program, keeping the high school library open after
school for homework, a music assistant for the junior high, computers for the high school, and
this year’s Pasitos program.
Not a penny of the money used for these local scholarships and educational grants comes from
your dues, as our local branch only receives $20 of the $85 dues for membership in the national
and state organizations. Until the last couple of years funding for Tech Trek came out of the
proceeds of the HHT. Since it costs $900 to send a girl to Tech Trek, we are extremely grateful
to the generous individuals and businesses who have been financing Tech Trek. This year we
will send eight girls to Stanford.
In spite of how much fun we may have in AAUW, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are
a service organization. Therefore, we need each member to participate in the Homes Tour, our
major fund raiser. Participation means both physical and financial support to the extent of
one’s ability.
Disappointingly, last year only 74 of our 156 members purchased a ticket to the 2013 HHT and a
mere handful of others made donations. For years we have expected each member to buy a
tour ticket and at least $60 worth of raffle tickets as a minimum, but we can do better, and we
are happy to accept donations. Let’s try for 100% participation in 2014!
Thank you to our loyal members who year after year buy tour and raffle tickets, generously
donate time doing multiple jobs in the months leading up to the tour, bake dozen of cookies,
and work on the day of the event. You are the backbone of AAUW’s HHT.
Happy Holidays! —Janet Hoehn and Ronnie Devitt, Co-chairs of the HHT Team
New Member Email Addresses
Scarlett Wood [email protected]
Sue Yavorsky SueYavorsky@gmail.com
New Cell Phone Number
Barbara Gruber : 707/ 696-9655
— Gail Wright
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GEMS Update
Girls Engaged in Math & Science (GEMS) program
had very busy, well-attended events in October.
The Professional Women’s Night held on October
16 was a great success, with 18 girls plus parents
and friends attending. Victoria Toboni (GEMS
Coordinator) introduced a panel of great AAUW
role models and their colleagues (Cathy C., Kathy
P., Sue C., Laura T., Diane B., Janice S., and Lavonne
N.) who came and talked to the girls about their
varied educational backgrounds and career
experiences. STEM and other fields were covered
in the presentations emphasizing the importance
of taking math and science in school. The girls
conversed with our panel, learning how academic
paths and careers were chosen, and expressed
great
enthusiasm in
exploring their
options in the
future.
Soon after
Professional
Women’s Night,
the GEMS group
of 23 girls
(grades 6-9)
visited
Medtronic Inc.
in Santa Rosa on October 25. Medtronic designs
and manufactures stents: life-saving tiny mesh
tubes that are used to open clogged arteries
through non-invasive procedures. The girls were
divided into groups with demo tables showing
them how stents are made, what their properties
are and how they are deployed in humans. The
demos were captivating and provided hands-on
exposure for these medical devices. The groups
then toured the fatigue testing lab where products
are tested to ensure their safety and durability. The
girls also visited the C-Arm lab, where they were
shown how doctors use x-rays and other machines
to figure out the patient anatomy and fit them with
the appropriate stent size. Finally, the girls got to
hold and
examine real
pigs’ and cows’
hearts; yes, it
was the real
deal and most
of the girls
loved it (only a
couple felt
squeamish and
needed to
leave the
table).
I was a little worried about the younger girls (sixth
graders) losing focus during some of the
presentations, but when carpooling home
afterwards, all four sixth graders in my car asked
me how long I worked at Medtronic, what I did
there, and what I needed to study to be able to do
my job. It was wonderful to see that they were
captivated by this technology and their curiosity
was triggered. And then, three out of four
girls said: "When I grow up, I want to work at
Medtronic". That was music to my ears!
—Hala Alshahwany, GEMS Coordinator
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Have you ever believed you were paid less
than your male counterpart? I have. When
I challenged my dean on the issue, the
answer I received was, “He has greater
need!” I won’t drag
you through the
morass of academic
politics, but I will try
to arm us, and
hopefully our
daughters, granddaughters, and nieces with
helpful AAUW resources. To search for any
of the items below, Google the key words in
bold type.
The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap
is the most comprehensive AAUW
publication on this topic. Revised twice a
year, it’s available in hardcopy from the
AAUW store and in PDF format for
downloading. The publication explains the
pay gap in the United States, how it affects
all ages, races, and education levels, and
what we as individuals can do to reduce it.
The Pay Equity Resource Kit with helpful
suggestions for programming can prepare
you for presentations to groups of students
or community organizations.
The 2013 Holiday Gift Guide for Girls of All
Ages is a great list of 16 gifts that defy
stereotypes. Organized by age, it even
includes a Barbie Doll that is a computer
engineer! The best seller is a onesie outfit
for babies that has “Future Scientist” on the
front.
An Overview of the Title VII of the Civil
Rights Bill of 1964 includes an AAUW
interpretation of the law covering
discrimination in the workplace, limitations
on filing a charge, institutions to contact
and relevant legal cases. AAUW has been
relentless in seeking legislation for women
that goes beyond this law.
Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of
Women and Men One Year after College
Graduation Executive Summary and
Recommendations is a study controlled for
factors such as the number of hours
worked, college major, occupation, and
other variables that affect earnings. It also
addresses the issue of the debt burden that
is acquired from college loans and is an eye-
opening reading for members, high school
girls, and parents.
The AAUW Salary Calculator is the most
interesting item in this bibliography. Using
the 2010 and 2011 data from the U.S.
Census Bureau American Community
Survey data, this online calculator finds the
average earnings for women and men in the
first two decades after college graduation.
The findings are based on your major and
your job. The sad story of women’s wages
as a percentage of men's wages is very
visible. Not all occupations have complete
data.
In conclusion, some hard facts: California
ranks fifth among 50 states in pay disparity
between men and women. Women fare
best in Washington DC, followed by
Nevada, Vermont, New York, and California.
Wyoming is last.
—Ann Allan, Public Policy Chair
If you are aware of any member who is ill,
has had an operation, an accident, or has
passed away, please notify Sheila Kneass so
that a card can be sent to the person or
family from AAUW. [email protected] 433-
5646
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2014 Cultural Events
The Cultural Events below are scheduled for
February through May 2014. AAUW
members and their guests will carpool from
Healdsburg with a departure time between
9 and 10 a.m. Each event will be followed
by a no-host lunch at a restaurant, (for
example, we will probably go to the
Spinnaker in Sausalito following the Georgia
O’Keefe exhibit). Our return to Healdsburg
after each event should be no later than 4
p.m. In addition to the cost of lunch and
gas contributions to drivers, there will be a
modest tour cost for each event, as noted
below, but subject to change.
Reservations: Details regarding making
reservations will be provided in the January
and subsequent Grapevines. But do note
these dates on your calendar and plan to
join us! SAVE THESE DATES!
Wednesday, February 26
Georgia O’Keefe Exhibit at the DeYoung
Museum, San Francisco ($25 for non-
members)
Wednesday, March 26
Hesse Collection of Art & Winery Tour,
Napa ($30 per person)
Wednesday, May 21
Quarryhill Botanical Garden, Glen Ellen
($15 per non-member)
—Lida Simmons and Lynda Guthrie
Committee Chairs
Lunch Bunch
Lunch Bunch at Cafe Lucia in November
Lunch Bunch Newsflash
Our next lunch date is Thursday, February
13 at Chinois Asian Bistro in Windsor. (Say
Shin-wah which is French for Chinese.) Get
set for delicious contemporary Pacific Rim
dining. Stay tuned for all the delicious
details in your January Grapevine.
—Barbara Gruber
Member News
Barbara Covello reports she is volunteering
with the Sonoma County Task Force for the
Homeless; there will be a fundraising
theater evening at the 6th Street Playhouse,
presenting Victor/Victoria, 52 West 6th
Street in Santa Rosa, on Thursday, January
9, 2014, 8 p.m. Wine, hors d’oeuvres,
dessert, and raffle will be held at 7 p.m. To
purchase tickets ($35) please email
—Barbara Covello
The Calpine Geysers Tour in October
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New Members
Scarlett Wood moved
to Cloverdale five years
ago from Hillsborough.
She retired in 2006 after
27 years as a nurse
practitioner. She
attended the University
of California, Berkeley,
and the UCSF School of
Nursing with a MS in women’s health,
specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.
Her work history includes public health
service in addition to hospitals in Redwood
City and San Francisco. “I did acute male
medicine at San Francisco General Hospital,
but after interning with the chief of
obstetrics, he hired me to stay on.”
She is a competitive tennis player, and is
regional co-captain of the US Tennis
Association coaching for players 70 and
over.
Scarlett belongs to the Montecito Racket
and Swim Club; she also enjoys AAUW’s
bridge group, one of the book clubs, as well
as meeting others at the various social
events. “I also trained as a life coach:
assisting people accomplish goals such as
improving a career, helping with weight
loss, and learning how to take action on
their own personal goals.” After graduating
in 2004 from “Quantum Coaching” she
worked with out-of-control teenagers
coming home after being in controlled
group facilities.
She recently returned from England where
she visited old family gravesites from 1600.
Her husband is retired from the FBI.
Rita Loskill moved to
Healdsburg from San
Francisco two years ago;
she has lived in the Bay
Area for 50 years. She
worked in the healthcare
administration field
where she has served in
many capacities. Most recently she retired
as executive director of the Glaucoma
Foundation, a research nonprofit in San
Francisco. Previously she managed a six-
state territory for the National Home Health
Care Service which provides home care for
Medicare, insurance companies, and
Medicaid patients. She received her BA
from St. Mary’s College in Moraga,
California.
She now is involved in several local
activities such as the Healdsburg Center for
the Arts. “I really enjoy all types of art work,
especially the many types of shows.” She
also serves on the board of directors for
Alliance.
She enjoys walking, hiking and travel,
“especially in Cuba: it was like going back in
time. Even though the people have many
ways of coping, they remain upbeat.” She
has traveled on every continent except
Antarctica.
Rita adds that she used to enjoy sewing, but
is currently looking for new areas in which
to become involved, including AAUW book
clubs, the speaker series, and walking and
hiking activities.
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Susan Yavorsky
recently retired from a
24-year teaching
career, including Fitch
Mountain School,
Healdsburg Elementary,
and R.L. Stevens
Elementary, southwest
of Santa Rosa. She received her BA in
journalistic illustration from Syracuse
University; and obtained a teaching
credential in bilingual education and ESL
from Sonoma State. In 1989 “I bought a
1950s-era house in Healdsburg because of
the two elms and hardwood floors.”
Her favorite teaching activities included
presenting Christmas plays with students
and collaborating in teacher performances.
“I’m also interested in becoming a better
bridge player, gardener, and community
member in beautiful Healdsburg.” In
addition to the various AAUW activities, she
enjoys painting with water colors, being
involved in the Healdsburg Peace Project,
the French Causerie, and photography. She
plays with the Golf League at Tayman. “I
also like playing guitar and visiting with
friends.”
She’s traveled to Krakow, Paris, Antigua,
Machu Picchu, and Scotland. “I recently
made a 25-mile hike from the Golden Gate
Bridge to all over San Francisco. This fall I
enjoyed visiting family in New England and
seeing the fall foliage.”
Her father worked for a United Nations
agency, so she has lived in areas throughout
the world including Rome, Italy; Lima, Peru;
and New York.
Carol Herring divides
her time between
Healdsburg and Geneva,
New York. “My husband
died in 2006, and since I
have children and
grandchildren in this
area, I decided to buy a
townhouse here in Healdsburg to spend
more time with them. “Winters are difficult
in upper New York State, so by dividing time
I can retain my residence and long-time
friends in New York, and enjoy family and
good weather here.”
She graduated from Cornell University in
food and nutrition in Ithaca, New York and
worked primarily on research in various
fields, including working part time for 18
years at Cornell in entomology. She was
also a research dietitian at Duke University
for six years. She has done clinical research
in kidney transplants as well.
Her interests include quilting, dyeing fabric,
and reading. “I enjoy cooking and
gardening, and look forward to AAUW
activities involving those. I also look forward
to joining a book club.” She used to paint,
and even though she’s not doing much
now, she enjoys the visual arts, as well as
weaving and spinning.
“When my husband was alive we didn’t do
a lot of traveling because of his medical
demands. I visited China earlier this year;
and since I have a sister-in-law in France, I
plan to go there frequently.”
—Gloria Norton
The Grapevine is published online each month, except in July and August. Mailed subscriptions are available for
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th
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