Family

WANTED

One hard-working person to join the State Family Activities Committee for Region B.

Must be willing to go about in that region to represent us and work with the needs of people in that region. The job is open to any male or female who would like to take on this challenge. The only requirement is: be willing to work with the existing committee members and director and have some fun as well.

Contact Ginny Mangel at 724-285-3324.

Welcome to our little bit of south western PA. Spring is now on the calendar and you should all be looking at the green instead of the white stuff. Meanwhile, if you still have some cool evenings or days, take a little bit of that time and try to do some of the craft contest items for this year. I have been working on mine and should have them done by the time I have to cut grass.

Now on with the state projects the Family Activities Committee is hosting for this year. The first is the ABC Quilts for the children. These quilts need to be made of new fabric, washed and be at least 40 inches square. You can make them bigger if you wish,but no smaller. They need to be of material with children’s designs or keeping the children in mind. You can use any combination of prints and solids to make them.

We are asking for 200 of them to come to the annual Family Festival in July. Then they will be dispersed from there and volunteers will take them to their areas and present them to the Childrens' Hospitals in areas all over the state. They are only to come to the Family Festival. Should there be any made and brought to State Session we will deal with them, but we would like to see the response at the Family Festival. As stated, we are hoping for 200 but will take more if they arrive. Please help us out on this state-wide project.

Our second state project for 2008 is the making of "Dignity Shirts" for breast cancer patients. For these we are asking for at least 200 of them to show up at the STATE SESSION. We are going to make contact with centers in the Lancaster area to see if they will take them. We also may have a few other places that will help us out as well. These shirts are to be made from McCall’s pattern #3253. You can secure this pattern from a local fabric store or you can go on line at www.mccallspattern.com Once you have a pattern, please help others out in your Community Granges and friends by sharing the pattern with them. As long as I can remember, we used to cut out patterns from the local newspaper and share them with others. I hope that you will do this and help everyone save on the cost of patterns.

The shirts are to be made from new fabric, they must be washed and pressed and then packaged separately with the size written on the ziploc bag. When we give them out, they must be clean and ready to wear. We also ask that you use soft velcro up each side and also up the front. This allows easy access to the treatment area without being totally exposed. Keep in mind that not all treatment centers allow you complete privacy, so let’s help patients keep some dignity by doing these shirts. The patterns do run a bit large, so judge whatever size you would like. Remember, people do come in different sizes.

Select a fabric that is not real thin, and also not really warm. A good cotton fabric is sufficient. When completely done with your shirt, please double check to make sure that there are no straight pins left in it. There can be no metal of any kind on this shirt. When thinking of fabric, we are asking that pink be the main color. However, we will take what we get. I am looking forward to seeing the varieties show up at State Session. I am sure they will be put to good use.

We are planning to design a pink ribbon message to go with each shirt as it is given to a patient. We also suggest a plan to make these if you have a number of people that are going to work on the project. Get together as a group. Have your fabric washed before you get to the work project. Have some cut out the patterns, some do pinning, some sewing, some pressing, and some folding to put them into the bag. A gallon sized ziploc bag is great. Use the generic brand, not the freezer kind. As we stitch each one, I hope you take a moment to think of these patients and say a prayer for each shirt and the person who will wear it. After all, this is a disease each woman thinks of in her life, with the hope that she may never get it.

Recently Greene County held a FA meeting for all of the FA chairmen of each Subordinate and the Pomona chairmen. Approximately 10 people showed up as Elaine Nilon, Region E director attended to help them “get on track” with the contests, projects and programs of the state FA department. This truly was a great time as we shared lunch and many great ideas. It also was an eye opening meeting for those who had no idea what their job was. Now they are more comfortable in meeting the challenge.

Now you can go on and use the recipes that she inserted. A couple of them are for the contests this year. No need to say who submitted the recipes.

Well, as I sit here and do this article, again it is snowing, blowing and cold. It had better clear up soon because my calendar says that spring is coming and soon.

FA PACKETS: did you get yours for the Subordinate or Pomona Grange where you are chairman? If not, it is not too late to let me, the State Director know. I can get it sent out to you right away. However, this is because not all of the names were reported to the state office, therefore your name is not on that list, and no packet was sent. So…I need your help to get things right before 2009 comes upon us.

This year we know that elections in Subordinate and Pomona Granges will show some changes. These changes need reported on the form the Secretary will have that needs to be filled out and sent into the state office. This needs done by September as requested by the state office. This is the information which will be needed to print the Directory for the next two years. Please be sure that this information gets in. It has been a real challenge for 6 years in getting everyone on the list and keeping it current…but we cannot do it without your help. This is where it becomes the job of the elected Master to make sure that the appointments have been made, and the Secretary has the information to submit on the form.

We all sit back and wonder why people are not made aware of things happening. Well, look into the mirror and ask, am I part of that problem. With the elections this fall at the State Session, we will have new officers, so let’s help them get off to a good start with a complete listing of home officers and committee chairmen appointments. We cannot expect the state office to do the work of the local and county Granges in reporting who your committee appointments are. You must inform them. Please help!!!!!!!!

Above are pictures of last year's Directors of the Year awards. These are the result of completed and judged Annual Reports from the Pomona and Subordinate Family Activities Chairman. This completed report earns you a certificate for your efforts if completed. This year at State Session, we are going to display the Annual Reports in some fashion so people can read through them and see what other Granges do. Once they are sent in to me, they are then judged by Grangers and friends, which earn you the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place on your Certificate of Merit. The amount of information shared is what is judged. All information must be on the report, and it must be completely filled out. You can enclose photos of your work, but this is not required. Please be sure that you explain where it is asked so the judges know exactly what you did and where your fund-raising money went. This fund-raiser should be used for a community awareness program or project.
This article is to call your attention to this opportunity for each and every Family Activities Chairman. Many reports come in, but not completed. This will disqualify your report. So this year I would like you to put some more effort into completing the form's all 10 questions so you have a chance to win this honor. The activities are not difficult and completing the form is easy as well. I suggest that you make another copy of the report and as you do your activities, make notes on that copy so you can put it onto the original report and mail it in. The packet of information you received has a sheet in it that walks you through the completion steps. This is not a tasking job, so we hope that you will make every effort to complete the report and give yourself a chance at this honor.

Fraternally yours,

Ginny Mangel
FA State Director