President’s Message

Greetings! What great weather we have been having – cool nights and warm days, until we were slammed by tornadoes!! I hope that each of you and your families are all safe, sound and healthy.

I went to the Onslow County Farmer’s Market last week. What a great place! The market is open on Saturday’s from 8-1:00 at the Onslow County Complex on Hwy. 258; and on Thursdays they are behind Dick’s Sporting Goods on Western Blvd. Extension. You can find farm fresh produce, plants, crafts. And it is only going to get bigger and better as the season progresses. Go out and support our local farms and businesses.

Looking forward to seeing you next week. Connie has offered her home for our meeting. We will be working on the branch archives and, hopefully, brainstorming on topics for programs and projects for the coming year.

– JoAnn Hall

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OUR NEXT MEETING: April 25 (Monday), 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Branch Archives Day. We will sift through our branch archives and determine what is of value and what is not. Pictures will be organized/put in albums, etc. The last time we organized our archives we enjoyed the camaraderie and discovered interesting tidbits about our branch that we had long forgotten. Meet at Connie’s, 107 Epworth Drive (Aldersgate). Refreshments provided.

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REMINDER: Our branch website is available 24 hours a day with our branch newsletters, current and past, and the latest information on what we are doing. So if you accidentally erase this e-mail, don’t worry. We are still here! Go to www.jacksonville.aauwnc.org .

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MARCH MEETING RECAP: We had a wonderful program in March – Collette Boyd, Executive Director, Onslow Literacy Council, gave us an overview of the valuable work done by Onslow Literacy Council tutors. The council provides adult based education for those whose literacy skills are non-existent or so lacking as to make daily life extremely difficult. Statistically, 12% of Onslow County adults cannot read…(according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy).

Collette was asked what we, as members of AAUW, can do. The Council gratefully accepts donations of books such as texts; dictionaries; classics – think Tom Sawyer, etc.; and history books. Monetary donations are also accepted. And last but not least, sign up to be a literacy tutor. For more information, go to www.onslowliteracy.zxq.net .

Our branch decided to take immediate action to collect the types of books listed above. Please bring your donations to the next meeting on April 25 so that Connie can deliver them to the Council. Thanks in advance! (Be sure to look for our picture in the Scrapbook section of the Sunday Daily News in the next week or two showing our meeting with Collette.)

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CALENDAR

April 25, 3:30 p.m. – Branch Archives Day at Connie’s, 107 Epworth Dr. Refreshments provided. Remember to bring your book donations for the Onslow Literacy Council!

May – Regular meeting and elections; location and date TBA.

June – August – Summer hiatus

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Connie Gamble Ochse, Editor

*Advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research.*