L E AG U E LINES NEWSLETTER
The Junior League of Greater Lakeland, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The Junior League is exclusively educational and charitable.
LEAGUE LINES STAFF Katie Blondell • Ginny Burris • Katherine Fitzwater Carley James • Maggie Ross • Brittany Sale
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT Callie Miller 2018-2019
A strong plan for the year The League has a long history of fulfilling our mission – to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women, and improve our community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. March 2018 marked 85 years of cultivating leaders to collectively address the needs of our community. Certainly a worthy celebration!
Our members are our most valuable asset. You are a dynamic beautiful group of women who have personal, professional, and civic aspirations that challenge the status-quo each day. This has proven true for an exceptional Provisional Class. At the start of this year, we learned an impressive statistic: 100% worked outside of the home. This statistic gives credence to the League’s focus on mentoring, skill-building, and inspiring our member’s volunteer resumes. Our members have a strong desire to make a meaningful and measurable impact in an area of critical need for our community. Thus, we will start the 2018-19 year with two Community Impact Summits. These summits will invite community stakeholders and nonprofit partners to participate in a focused discussion on the current state of two areas of
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT (CONT.) interest: children’s literacy and school readiness, and women’s wellness. The Junior League is a wonderful incubator of ideas and these Summits will provide an opportunity to engage with our community to seek solutions to areas of great need. In order to be well positioned to respond to current and future needs of our community, the League has elected to host a number of new fundraising opportunities. Please save the date for Thrift Sale on September 29th! Throughout the summer, we will be collecting your gently loved and new items to sell during Thrift Sale. In addition, we will be hosting our inaugural Woman of the Year nomination and award luncheon. Nominations will be accepted throughout the Fall with the luncheon hosted in early Spring 2019. Mark your calendar and plan to join us for these two events, along with Fashion Show this Fall, the ProAm Party in March, a number of Sip & Shop’s, Family Nights, and other great League events. We look forward to bringing visibility and excitement to how the League is stewarding the Community’s money to best meet critical needs.
Again, I remain honored and truly excited for the opportunity to partner with each of you to lead the League for the coming two years. What a privilege! With great admiration,
Callie
COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Community Outreach Committee has been able to impact our community this year by providing volunteers and resources to nonprofits including the Achievement Academy, Girls Inc., Interact Alliance, Learning Resource Center, Tri County Human Services, Inc., VISTE and the YMCA. The Community Outreach committee and CRPD are exploring a potential collaboration with Girls, Inc. to develop a Young Women’s Workshop Series. This quarterly workshop series for Girls, Inc. would address various wellness concerns facing preteens, teens and young women today. The program is projected to launch next year. We will have more information in the coming months.
STEMAPALOOZA AT FLORIDA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
WORLD OF READING THE ANNUAL WORLD OF READING FESTIVAL WAS HELD AT BARNETT FAMILY PARK ON SATURDAY, APRIL 21. The free community event focused on family literacy, wellness and interactive learning. Polk County families enjoyed free face painting, live music, games, crafts, snacks and up to 3 free books per child. A.H. Taylor, author of “The Color Machine” and Renee Adams, author of 14 “Two Facts and a Fib” books, were there to sign their books. Both authors took time to provide book readings throughout the day. World of Reading is a beloved event by our community. A special thank you to Emily Paladino, World of Reading Chair, and the entire committee for another successful community event.
READY TO READ THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF A GRANT FROM THE GIVEWELL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, READY TO READ WAS ABLE TO HOST TWO EVENTS THIS YEAR. Our spring Ready to Read event was held at Griffin Elementary. League volunteers served a delicious meal prepared by First United Methodist Church, and distributed books to each child in attendance. The Ready to Read committee also provided the school with additional books so that students not in attendance could receive a book. As a gift to the school the Ready to Read committee is purchasing $5,000 worth of materials for the school media center. These materials will provide a much needed update to the school’s library collections. Additionally these materials will insure that the League has provided access to quality reading materials for future students at Griffin Elementary.
SPECIAL EVENTS
SIP & SHOP - TOP BUTTONS
SIP & SHOP - GAINES JEWLERS
STEMAPALOOZA AT FLORIDA POLYTECHNIC
SUSTA I NER SPRING TEA Thank you to our hostesses Marcy Mutz-Wickenkamp!
SPRING HOUSE PARTIES Thank you to our hostesses Ashley Link and Libby Chappell, Katherine and Lu Fitzwater, Lauren Feaster and Gina Saunders, Katherine and Caroline Schichtel!
SUSTAINER SPOTLIGHT:
ALICE KOEHLE You could easily think that a volunteer dynamo like Alice Koehler would give more to a community organization than she would receive. She’s certainly given a wide range of service to the Junior League of Greater Lakeland. She’s distributed thousands of books at four RIF schools. When our federal RIF funding was cut, she helped develop the plan on how we could continue our long-term program. She’s chaired Ready to Read, CR/PD, and served on the Board as Community Vice President. She turned the defunct Community Advisory Board into a vibrant Community Think Tank. She’s crafted articles for League Lines, written grants, and contributed to League fundraisers. Alice continues to provide leadership and service as a Sustaining Advisor for CR/PD and Ready to Read. She loves to think strategically and helps active members adapt the League to current community conditions. Alice has an impressive background that prepared her for serving the Junior League. A Florida Southern graduate with an MBA degree, Alice’s foundation gave her tools that benefited our organization. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tongo, West Africa, for more than 2 years, Alice proved she is willing to commit time and energy to improving lives of others. Alice has formal training in community development, specifically in Girls Education and Empowerment and how women and girls affect the economics and overall health of their communities. Ten years ago, she came to our League, already a trained volunteer, able to provide effective action and leadership. She was even serving through her profession as a Program Manager at the Learning Resource Center, an organization
ER established by the Junior League. So why would such a capable community service professional even need to join the Junior League? What could she possibly hope to gain? In talking with Alice, she credits the League with helping her grow in leadership and providing continued opportunities for community connection. She calls the Junior League “the greatest Learning Lab there is. It is the safest place to learn to run a project, create (and follow) a budget, manage a business, design a campaign, recruit volunteers, market an idea, raise money, disagree and gain consensus.” Alice says the League gave her confidence to lead and a network of support to help her to continue to develop. And let’s not forget the friendships that you make through your service. “In the League, we are constantly surrounded by mothers, mentors, sisters, colleagues, peers, and cheerleaders – all wanting us to succeed.” Alice encourages members and potential members to take advantage of all that the Junior League has to offer. She stresses that the League exists, not solely to do good work in the community, but to build the leaders who will continue making a difference beyond their active years. Alice is now the Chief Development Officer at Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine where she leverages the skills she honed in the League and continues to make our community a better place for all.
EASY, BREEZY SUMMER ENTERTAINING from the kitchen of Doris Lyons With summer time and beach trips upon us, we turned to Past President, Doris Lyons, for some of her warm weather favorites. These recipes call for easy to find ingredients, so they are perfect for effortless entertaining at a vacation home. Grab your friends and family, your favorite bottle of wine, and create an uncomplicated, yet delicious meal that will end up being one of your favorite vacation memories. Shrimp Dip • 3/4 cup cocktail sauce • 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce • 1 tbs. Finely chopped onion • 1/2 - 3/4 lb. chopped boiled shrimp • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened • 1 tsp. Lemon juice Mix all ingredients except shrimp with mixer or whisk until smooth. Add shrimp, stir. Chill. Serve with Tostito chips.
Watermelon Feta Salad • 4 oz. feta cheese • 2 lb. watermelon, cut in bite size cubes • 8 oz. grape tomatoes • 3 tbs. olive oil • 2 tsp. White balsamic vinegar • 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt • 3 cups arugula • 1 cup thinly sliced purple onion Whisk oil, vinegar, and salt set aside. Cut grape tomatoes in half. Place arugula, onions and tomatoes in salad bowl. Add oil and vinegar mixture; toss to coat. Add crumbled feta, watermelon. Toss and serve. Serves 4-6 Super Grouper • 1/2 cup butter, melted • 2 tbs. lemon juice • 1/4 tsp. Garlic salt • 1/2 tsp. Dried parsley • 1/8 tsp. Paprika
mix requirement) • 12 oz. cool whip • 14 oz. strawberries cut in half • 12 oz. blueberries • 1 whole angel food cake torn into piece • Optional: amaretto Mix vanilla pudding according to box using condensed and regular milk mixture. Mix until rather thick then fold in 8 oz. cool whip and save rest for topping.Rinse berries, allow to dry.
• 1/4 tsp. White pepper • 2 lbs. grouper fillet • 2 tbs. mayonnaise • 1/8 tsp. Paprika Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine melted butter and lemon juice in small bowl. Brush 2 tbs. of mixture on piece of foil on broiler pan. - Mix together garlic salt, parsley, paprika and white pepper. Sprinkle spice mixture on both sides of fillet. - Bake fillet until meat flakes about 10 minutes. - Brush fillet again with lemon mixture and spread mayonnaise on fillet. Broil until mayonnaise is heated. Sprinkle with paprika and serve. 4th of July Fruit Trifle • 1 lg.(6 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix • 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (plus enough regular milk for pudding
In trifle bowl layer everything 3 times. Start with angel food cake, just tear pieces right into bowl. ( I sprinkle with amaretto) then 1/3 pudding, followed by fruit. Repeat a couple times. Top with cool whip and decorate top with strawberries and blueberries. Sometimes I add peaches in layers but not on top.
FUNDING UPDATE
As we close out this year, we are reminded of the impact our organization has had in our community through our philanthropic outreach. From our successful community outreach programs supporting local nonprofits to our signature fundraising events, we have raised the funds necessary to positively impact children’s literacy in our community. Thank you for entrusting the League to be good stewards of your finances so that we can make a positive impact in our community. Sustaining Members, thank you for your ongoing support of our Annual Appeal. Each year, you give generously to the League and we thank you for that support. This year, we have asked our membership to consider ‘Rounding up for Reading’ when renewing their membership. You may have seen this request on your Spring Banquet invitation as an option available on jlgl.org. It’s simply a catchy appeal to give generously above your membership renewal as a commitment to our mission. No amount is too small, we are thankful for your gift of $5, $25 or $50; every gift is funneled directly to our community programs. The 2018-19 Funding Committee is hard at work to ensure another successful year. Please let us know if you’d like more information about our Annual Appeal, Partnership Levels or fundraisers for the year.
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MEMBERSHIP NOTES May Corresponding Report • 26 Provisionals • 118 Active Members • 352 Sustaining Members • 38 Sustaining Members Emeritus Welcome to our 2017-2018 Transfer Members Active Members: • Ashley Barnett (Junior League of Atlanta) • Lisa Bryan (Junior League of Tampa) • Lauren Lloyd (Junior League of Manatee County) • Bridget Newsum (Junior League of Gainesville) • Janel Plowright (Junior League of Fort Lauderdale) • Katherine Sultenfuss (Junior League of Tampa) Sustaining Members: • Jinx Chaney (Junior League of New Orleans) Congratulations to • Erin DeWitt and John Swartz for the birth of their son, Emory David Swartz, on 12/14/2017. • Holly Kidwell and her husband for the birth of their son, James “Bo” Henry Kidwell Jr., on 1/11/18. • Lauren and Joshua Huffman on the birth of their daughter, Collins Reese Huffman, on 1/31/18. • Allison Becton and her husband on the birth of their daughter, Sutton Elizabeth Becton on 2/13/18. • Mallory and Tom Putnam on the birth of their son, Thomas Boswell Putnam on 2/14/18.
• Jenny and Ryan Scully on the birth of their son, Charles Thomas. In Memory • Provisional Susan Delephimne • Sustaining Member Elizabeth Townsend Jacobs
If you have member news you would like us to share in future newsletters, please email news@jlgl.org.
PO BOX 8797 | LAKELAND, FL 33806 863.682.2112 | JLGL.ORG |
To rent the historic Sorosis Building for your next event, visit JuniorLeagueSorosisBuilding.com or email us at rentals@jlgl.org.
thrift sale Save the date! Taking donations now.