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Women’s Club hosts workshop

By Staff | Apr 20, 2012

Chronicle photo by Toni Milbourne Shown, from left, are Geege Wilcox, Elinor Jones, Dortohy James and Freda Trail, officers of Shepherdstown Women's Club which hosted the GFWC Eastern District Spring Workshop.

Members of the Eastern District General Federation of Womens Clubs (GFWC) converged on Shepherdstown Saturday as the local club played host to the organization’s Spring Workshop.

During the meeting, members from Romney, Moorefield, Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs and Shepherdstown participated in workshops dealing with effective leadership, parliamentary procedures and how to increase membership.

Geege Wilcox, president of the Shepherdstown club, shared that the local members meet the third Friday of each month at Trinity Episcopal Church. The club is always seeking new members and Wilcox encourages any woman who may be interested to contact her at 304-876-1608. Currently the membership stands at approximately 12-14, she shared.

The local club, Wilcox shared, has “adopted” police K-9 dog “Turk” as one of their community projects. They also plant flowers at the train station and schedule guest speakers at their meetings. They recently hosted Jennifer Maggio, public information officer with the Jefferson County Office of Homeland Security, who provided tips on how to handle emergencies that could arise in the county.

During Saturday’s district meeting, the Shepherdstown club provided not only a location but lunch and gifts to each attending member.

District President Marianne Bayer, a member of the Harpers Ferry Woman’s Club, presided over the meeting and shared information about district and national events.

Attendees learned that this year’s State President Carol Allen has chosen Camp Kno-Koma in Anthony, W. Va., a juvenile diabetes camp, as her special project.

The camp serves children with diabetes in and around the state of West Virginia, providing adventure, education and friendship. Open to children ages 7 to 15, the camp teaches the children how to handle their diabetes as well as provides an enjoyable camp experience.

Clubs may choose to donate funds raised throughout the year to sponsor a child at the camp.

Katie Palmer, of the Martinsburg Club, presented a lesson on leadership and what makes a good leader. She provided information to club presidents to take back to their home locations to help them in mentoring to club members.

Additional workshops were held on parliamentary procedures and Robert’s Rules of Order. Susanne Schmidt, incoming president of the Harpers Ferry Women’s Club, taught about what is proper and what is not in running a meeting.

Marnee Beck, of the Berkeley Springs Club, offered ideas on how to generate additional membership and opened the floor to those who had suggestions.

Members of the GFWC district gather not only for the spring meeting, but for a fall meeting as well. Participants will also attend a national meeting to learn from and share with members of other Women’s Clubs from around the country.