Annual “Souper Bowl” Food Drive

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We’ve kicked off our annual “Souper Bowl” Food Drive! Our club members and others in the community are asked to drop off supplies in a donation box in the Lobby of our Library. We aim to fill the pantry of The Center for Food Action! Hearty soups and other essential winter shelf-stable staples as well as supermarket gift cards are welcome. Dropoff is until February 11th when we will drive the donations to the Center for Food Action in Mahwah. Help us to help others! Together we can make a difference!

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Members commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the end of January. Our Book Club members read The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart and, together with other members and friends, made a trip to the Holocaust Museum and Center for Tolerance and Education on the nearby campus of Rockland Community College. We participated in a Moral Courage Workshop and toured the museum. It was sobering afternoon and a reminder to fight to end hatred of any kind, anywhere. Many thanks to Phyllis Schmaus who led our tour.

Book Group Meeting and Holiday Book Swap

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Begun on Zoom in early 2021 in the days of COVID isolation, our Club’s Book Group will be celebrating our third year of monthly book discussions as we turn the calendar page to 2024! From a small number of original readers, the group has grown to include 27 members who now meet at members’ homes! Our most recent meeting was to discuss Ann Patchett’s new book, Tom Lake. We celebrated the story of a cherry orchard family with a cherry cocktail, cherry turnovers and Cornish Pasties. Every member present brought a wrapped book to swap––and stealing went on as packages were opened! Everyone went home with a new book to read over the holidays. We look forward to another year of reading together!

Holiday Cookie Exchange

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What a delicious event! Our baking members met on on December 12th laden with dozens of their favorite cookies to exchange. It was a lovely evening compete with a holiday cocktail and conversation before we circled around the table and selected cookies to take home to share with family and friends. Many thanks to Diana Nash for hostessing this festive evening!

Holiday Dinner and Toy Drive

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On December 6th, members gathered at Delpino Restaurant to celebrate the holidays together. It was a festive evening with lots of laughter and cheer! Members contributed unwrapped toys to donate to a townwide toy drive for those in need, sponsored by our sister club, the Saddle River Valley Juniors. Working together we can make a difference!

37th Annual Poetry and Essay Contest Awards

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At our December 5th meeting we honored the winners of our 37th annual Poetry and Essay Contest. Thirteen students from grades 2 through 8 were invited to read their winning entries to an audience of club members, family members, school administrators and teachers. The Winners and Honorable Mention recipients were chosen from a field of over 200 entries. Our club is so proud of all the writers who entered in response to our topic:

What food brings up special memories for you? Tell us what that special food is, and where you were when you ate it for the first time. Was it a special occasion or an ordinary day? Does it make you remember a person or a place? Have you eaten that food since? Use your best writing strategies to make the special taste come alive for your readers.

Congratulations to the winners pictured below with Club President Alexandra Asteris, School Superintendent, Brad Siegel, and and Principals and teachers.

Friendsgiving November Meeting

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What a better way to start off our monthly meeting than with PIE! Members brought in their favorite pies, along with the recipe, to create a tasty feast. 🥧

After our official business, we kicked off some fun with engaging speed-networking rounds! It was fantastic to see everyone connecting and sharing stories, creating even stronger bonds within our community.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to extend our heartfelt wishes to all our members and their families. Your support and engagement are the key ingredients that make our community so vibrant and special.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving filled with warmth, joy, and the company of loved ones. 🍁🍽️ Cheers to the wonderful friendships we’ve built, and here’s to many more shared moments ahead! 🥂🍂

Annual Thrift Shop Workday

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Members volunteered to work at the Community Thrift Shop in Midland Park on November 14th. Working in two shifts, they tagged and hung newly donated items from the public to ready them for sale. Our club suports the Thrift Shop with our own donations as well with volunteer hours. If you’d like to donate gently used clothing or household items, bag your donations and mark them with the #39 and head to 85 Godwin Avenue (down behind the Kings Shopping Center) on a Monday morning beteween the hours of 9 and 11.