New Director Brings a New Direction to the Mothers' Club of Amador County
The Mothers' Club of Amador County announces their new
Director, Heather Duran, starting in June. Duran has been in the club three years and an active board member during two
of those years. She has been an educator in different school districts for 6 years.
Although there are elections each year, board members can hold their same position for
up to two years (unless willing to do it longer with board approval) and then board members must either find
a new position or vacate their current position to allow for fresh input and a chance to incorporate new members into
the mix. Vivian Tenebruso will take on the duties of Secretary; Jennifer Wilson will be New Member Coordinator; Kristina
Hermanson is now the Newsletter Editor; and Brandy Astwood is the new Webmaster.
"I'm thrilled we have so many women interested
in our board positions," said exiting Director Leslie Vasquez. "I've had a wonderful two years as Director
thanks to the terrific board and all our members. With everyone so involved, it's really an exciting time for the club
and I've known Heather for a long time and I know she'll be a fabulous leader."
Remaining in their positions are Meredith Jorgensen as Treasurer; Lisa Sajor
as Social Coordinator; Erica DeBenedet as Meals Coordinator; and Leslie Vasquez will still be Outdoors/Campout Coordinator.
"This year will be a strong year for our club because
the club has helped so many moms in the past," said Heather Duran, the new Director. "Now we'd like
to branch out in philanthropic areas and maybe help other programs because we are so blessed to have one another."
The Mothers' Club of Amador County (www.mothersclubofamadorcounty.com) was founded in 2002 to create an environment of support, education,
and socialization for mothers of young children and their families. Over the years the club has expanded to include all
moms regardless of the age of their children, even pregnant moms who will get meals delivered to their door once their baby
is born.
As their children grow, mothers
can utilize the network of moms for information on parenting, activities, play dates as well as participate in family
field trips to the various zoos, bounce-houses, and holiday parties. Mothers are invited to impromptu activities like
snow-play dates and hikes and kept informed of local classes or events related to parenting.
Fathers and grandparents also partake in Moms' Club activities and are always welcome and encouraged at all Mothers'
Club functions.
CALENDAR of EVENTS
Our next MCAC Meeting is scheduled for:
6:00 PM on July 29th, 2008
Sutter
Creek Pool opens June
Day swim from 1-5 PM /Night swim 7-9 PM
Weekends 1-6 PM
Pool located at 330 Spanish Street, Sutter Creek, CA 95685
(At Amador High)
Black Bart Days in downtown Sutter Creek June
21
Amador County Library
Preschool story hour June 17, 24, and July 1 and 8 @10:30 AM
Call
(209)223-6400 for more info.
If you know of events please e-mail them to me at Kristinahodge@yahoo.com so I can add them to our calendar.
This
month’s Birthdays
Get ready to celebrate… we think everyone should know
when you and your kids are celebrating a Birthday! Let’s list all Monthly birthdays here.
~This feature is only available in full for memembers of MCAC~
Mom in the spotlight
This section will be
featured each month to help you get to know your fellow club members. A brief questionnaire or interview
will be conducted to help illuminate who this woman is. Be prepared to meet our new director and board
members in the coming months.
‘We
find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.’
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Open Forum
This is your newsletter and this is your space.
Having a yard sale?
Have clothing or a crib to sell or give away.
Know
of a great doctor or birthing class?
Did you just discover a great resource for moms or kids?
This
is the place to share the good news with all of us so we all can benefit by it. Send submissions to me
and I will include them.
-Kristina
Kristinahodge@yahoo.com
Editor’s thoughts
As we embrace the changes that we are making in our organization, it seems apropos to also take time
to ponder how we can best change to serve our children.
All Mother’s naturally question their abilities
in child rearing and often hope and pray that each day brings continued wisdom, strength and clarity to their complex roles
and responsibilities. Ideally, through our experience we increase our knowledge and knowledge spurs change
and growth.
Ironically, the question of how to best serve our children often requires
tremendous introspection and reflection of our own wants and needs. For instance, how many times have you
thought that it would be wonderful to have your child genuinely like you, but your role as a parent directly conflicted with
this achievement?
As a parent, and authority figure, I know that my role is to teach my child how
to adapt to life and life’s challenges as they present themselves. By making things easy for him/her,
I am rarely doing my child any favors. While making my child’s life easier often puts me in good
favor with my children, it handicaps them from the realistic expectations that will be placed on them from other authority
figures in school or work environments.
Conversely, we need to ready our children for the
world as it exists, not as we favor it. While it is easy to want to shelter our children from harm and
hurt, life is filled with both in excess and dealing with these is a skill that requires good coping mechanisms and resources
that are well established. Is it not better to cope well with life’s situations than to hope that
life never throws us a curve?
Our job is not easy…often antagonistic and devoid of our own desire
to shelter and favor our children. We consistently need to separate what is best for our children and what
we want for ourselves. It is difficult indeed to hold the mirror in front of ourselves and question whether
we want the end result to be competent or dependent children.
-Kristina
