 Picture this, a teenage girl who lives on a horse ranch in the
early 1960's. That girl is sitting nervously in the principal's
office of the local high school because she has this very
unusual request to make about her class schedule. She wants to
take shop class this year instead of home economics. She has
some very valid reasons-the skills taught in shop class would be
so much more useful for her, especially since she is a full-time
employee of the riding stable that supports her family. No
surprise, she spent the year wasting her time in the "girl"
class. That girl was very excited to hear about the project
currently in the works at "Habitat for Humanity". Following the
example of their international parent organization they are
promoting the involvement of women in the construction of
Habitat houses by planning their first Women Build. Heather
Meyer, Board Chairman, said the response has been overwhelming
to join the crew that boasts, "We do our own nails with our own
hammers". The work will begin this summer on a five bedroom
house south of Brainerd for a single mother with five children.
Heather, and her assistant, Sertoman Cheryal Hills, were quick
to point out that men were not excluded from this project but
welcomed as instructors. Cheryal said, "Construction sites can
be very intimidating for women but gives them an opportunity to
volunteer their time and acquire a lifelong learning
experience." Cheryal is helping with the publicity and funding
part of the project also. Their fundraisers include "Ask for the
Money", Krispy Kreme Donuts, and an exciting Mother's Day
Brunch. Another new Sertoman, Diane Ulmenn at Its About Thyme
Catering, will be in charge of the menu. Pack up the whole
family on May 11th and come to the Nisswa Lutheran Church of the
Cross from 9:30 a.m. to1:30 p.m. with adults paying $20 and
children under the age of ten admitted for $8. Their last
fundraiser is part of the seminars being conducted to help
women develop the skills they need to work on this project.
Several playhouses are being built and one will be on display at
the CNI Show. The houses sell for $1,260 each and according to
Heather and Cheryal are very cute and well worth the money. The
last part of the program presented us with some facts about
Habitat for Humanity. All of the work and much of the material
is donated. However the houses do end up costing on the average
about $45,000 to build. The house is not given to the recipient
who must go through an application and approval process. Instead
it is sold to them with a negotiable 10% down payment and a 20
year 0 percent interest mortgage. That is backed up by a
second mortgage that is usually not collected to insure that the
home is not sold since its value doubles immediately. The
biggest problem the Habitat people have is obtaining the
necessary land in the Brainerd area. Fortunately, for the Women
Build Project, the recipient's father donated the property.
Habitat for Humanity accepts donation of houses
but usually does not remodel. Instead they resell to finance new
building. In the case of homes to be moved, they will either
resell them or demolish them for materials. Heather was very
proud of the fact that Habitat for Humanity has built 40 homes
in the Brainerd area since 1990 which currently house 175 adults
and children. They closed on six houses in 2002 and already are
up to three in 2003. |
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| Announcements |
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March 13 - Orientation of new members, Sawmill Inn, Noon.
RSVP Kevin Goedker |
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March 22 - Women's Expo 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at National
Guard Armory. Admission is free |
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Prayers go out this week for Paul Koering's mother who is not well
and for Mike Howard who is home recovering from a serious
automobile accident last week. Mike has a broken hand and ankle
and is looking for a committee to help him coordinate pipe and
drape since he will be recuperating for some time. Julia Sullivan
volunteered and we certainly could use more help. Mike could use
some cheering up-phone at 829-4381 or email him at design@brainerd.net. |
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Thanks Julia Sullivan for donating your last week's winnings to
Shoes for Haiti. Thanks Dave Clausen and Reed Campbell for being
our substitute Sergeants today |
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Remember to get your database UPDATES into Pam this week. Call her
at 829-7761 or email her at eglponys@brainerd.net |
 Orientation was held at the Sawmill with eight new members
attending. Welcome and say hello to these people at the meetings.
Row 1 (l-r) Michelle Sjobloom, Wendy Johnson, Jean Marshon Row 2
Eric Edwards, Jeremy Horn, Rob Johnson, Steve Hanson and Ryan
Hokanson. Other new members accepted at the last board meeting
included Mark Puschinsky and Dianne Ulmenn. |
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FAS: Paul Gropper won his FAS money this week. Kevin Donnay did
not. |
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| Ticket
Winner |
| Dave Claussen |
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| Pot-O-Gold
Winner |
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Would have been Terry Curtis |
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| Attendance |
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| Greeter
Schedule |
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Remember: Greeters (Be sure to take care of your duties
that include meeting people at the door and getting the ticket
money counted and divided with half going to Tami to give away
and half to Diane for the social committee's budget). As greeter you have several duties. You need to
arrive about 10 minutes early. It is your job to greet people,
help them find their badges and sell them a ticket if they wish
to participate. The money collected must be divided by the
Greeters equally--half goes to the Club Treasurer (Diane Rook
Johnson) and half goes to the Club President along with the
bucket of tickets. Be there
by 11:45 and call somebody if you can't. Call Jeff Birks @
820-5544 if you can't make it.
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| March 12 |
Brian Kirkpatrick, Paul Koering, Deb
Kohan |
| March 19 |
George Kohan, Mark Korte, Jeff Kozitzka |
| March 26th |
Larry Kruse Janie Lapka, Peggy Leas |
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| Notes |
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Now would be a good time to stop and think about all the hard-working members who make our club work. We almost lost
one last week and probably have not appreciated the hard work Mike
Howard has done to make Pipe and Drape work these last few years.
The Heritage Essay Contest goes on every year and has been the
responsibility of Bruce Heilman. Pam Sachs continues to write the
newsletter and Bob Sherman continues to post it to the webpage and
notify us every week when it is published. Steve Augustinack finds
time in his busy schedule for work on technical matters. Our
officers get up early in the morning and stay late to attend
meetings and orientations, prepare minutes, and organize agendas,
line up fundraisers and numerous other tasks. Our treasurer has to
balance books, collect money, pay bills, and send out fee
statements. Committee members meet on their own time to distribute
money and plan special events. Take a minute the next time you
have a chance and thank the many hard-working Sertomans who make
our club work now and who have done so in the past. If you are a
new member, consider getting involvedsince all of our committees
are always looking for new members. |
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Find a Sawbuck Corner: Call 829-7761
The FAS Program was designed to encourage people to read the newsletter. Even those who attend the meeting can benefit from reviewing the announcements etc. If you find the letters FAS followed by your name, you must call the number provided and just leave a message that you called and attend the next meeting to collect your money. Simple--however 90% of the people never respond. |
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Photos Photos Everywhere New photos go up almost every week on our new MSN Community homepage. This community is for the club, easy to join and gives you the opportunity to add edit or delete any photos that are posted as well as leave messages for fellow Sertomans. It is a good way to thank someone for doing a good job or give them some positive feedback for a big event in their life. If you wish to view the current photographs or check out the new online directory go to:
http://communities.msn.com/BrainerdNoonSertoma/_whatsnew.msnw
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Pipe and Drape |
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2002 Pipe and Drape Schedule |
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