OLA
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Women’s Book Club
Builds Community and Friendships
ven the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop our OLA Women’s Book Club from meeting. The members gathered, rain or shine, masked and socially distanced, on Mary Anne Campos’ front lawn to share their thoughts on the current book, and most importantly, to share fellowship. Now, the club meets at 10 a.m. on the second Monday of each month in Room 3 of Affinito Hall. The OLA Women’s Book Club began in 2016 when Mary Anne retired and wanted to become more active in our parish. She had always wanted to start a book club close to home, so with Father’s permission, she placed an announcement in the bulletin. “Twenty women responded, and we held our first meeting in November 2016, ” Mary Anne says. “It has been a great way to stay in touch during the pandemic, and we were grateful to be able to continue meeting.” Currently, there are between 20 to 25 members on the roster, with attendance varying between 10 to 12 members. The members range in age from 50 to 90 years young. Earlier this summer the club was reading A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler. Earlier this summer, the Women’s Book Club read A Spool of “We democratically choose the books by voting on Blue Thread, written by Anne Tyler. titles nominated by the members,” Mary Anne says. “We rate each book on a scale from one to ten, and the facilichoose six books at a time.” The books range across a variety of genres that encour- tator leads the discussion that includes background inforage discussion. The topics are not limited to religious or mation that she has researched, including facts about the spiritual themes. Examples of books read are, Red Notice: author and guided questions to begin the discussion. “We try to relate the books to what’s happening today,” A True Story of High Finance by Bill Browder, The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa, and Let Us Dream Mary Anne says. “The discussion is lively, very open, and by Pope Francis. The meeting is led by a facilitator. The members feel free to express their feelings. The meetings arrangement is if you nominated the book, you usually initially were held in the evening, but since most of the volunteer to be the facilitator. Each meeting opens with a members are retired, the meetings were rescheduled for prayer, followed by a discussion on the book. The members mornings.” continued on back cover
“The book club is an example of community building beyond the church walls, and building community strengthens our faith.” — Mary Anne Campos 7
