PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Our President, Linda Wolfe, returned from Yuma, Arizona only to leave again for Hawaii for a week.
Welcome her back at the April meeting. We missed you!!!

NEW ADMINISTRATION ELECTIONS
Elections for officers for a new administration will be held at the April meeting. You are encouraged to participate to elect your leaders. We still have an opening for Secretary. Please consider accepting this position if you are so inclined. Our minutes of meetings are a valuable resource and are kept in our archives for future generations.

We are collecting diapers for Dry Tykes at our April meeting. Any size, any quantity will be appreciated. Bring your donation to the April meeting. Thank you in advance for your support. NEED LARGER SIZES (4, 5, 6 and 7) as well as wet wipes.
ANOTHER NEW MEMBER TO BE INITIATED Karin Davis will be initiated at the April meeting. Please attend to welcome her to the Club!

PLANNER NEXT MEETINGS
General Membership
April 2, 2024
Program: League of Women
Voters
EVENING GROUP
April 10, 2024
Program: All Kids Win

Contact Us:
The Woman’s Club of Olympia
1002 Washington Street SE
Olympia, Washington 98501-1352
(360) 753-9921

Website:
www.womansclubofolympia.org

Search Facebook for:
Abigail Stuart House-Woman’s Club of Olympia

Newsletter Editor:
sandragroves10@gmail.com

The Woman’s Club of Olympia
JOURNAL
April Issue 2024

THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA JOURNAL

VOLUNTEER CORNER

SOCK COLLECTION – Carol Valley
We are now at 544 pair of socks … we need 156 to reach our goal of 700!!

HOUSE REPORT – Mary Siddell
Our new dishwasher is easy to use. Sandra Groves framed the instructions. Please turn off the dishwasher after use. If the red switch is lighted up, the dishwasher is on. If the red switch is dark, the dishwasher is off. If left on overnight, the unit will overheat. Help us get many years of service from this excellent machine. Comcast replaced our modem. Our Wi-Fi signal will be stronger throughout the house, especially in the kitchen. The keypad lock on the kitchen door is not connecting well to wi-fi. Kelli from
Kesh Marketing is problem solving this issue so that new door codes can be entered into the program. We apologize for the delay in issuing you a personal code.

MAY 4TH IS OUR PLANT SALE ON THE PORCH!

If you have plants you don’t want, can divide or start new ones, or if you have seeds you can start in pots, please bring them to the house on May 3rd or the morning of May 4th. We will be having a fundraising plant sale on the front porch at the same time as the Gull Harbor Art Fair which will be held inside the house. We want to get as many plants as we can so please think about participating.

GULL HARBOR ART FAIR

The Gull Harbor Art Fair will again be at The Woman’s Club on May 4th. In November we hosted them and they over $1,000 for us to send to Safeplace. This time, Relay for Life will receive the donation. If you can bake cupcakes, they will be having a cupcake sale and contest (this is how we got the $1,000). Cupcakes are judged and sold. The winner of the contest gets a gift certificate for the art fair.

THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA JOURNAL

If you want to see how our reporting hours were tallied, check this out!

Our Impact in 2023

Community
Outreach Projects
277 Volunteer Hours
$2,699.60 Donated

Environment
Projects
474 Volunteer Hours
$1,136.00 Donated
Public Issues
Projects
107 Volunteer Hours

102 Projects Completed
4,581 Volunteer Hours
$22,483.57 Donated

Other Projects
3,418 Volunteer Hours
$11,171.97 Donated

THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA JOURNAL

LOCAL AUTHOR CELEBRATES WOMEN IN HISTORY
On Thursday, March 21st, Julie McDonald Zander spoke at the Abigail Stuart House about local women who made history and led the way to where we are today. Ms. Zander has written several books about local women and also writes personal stories and prepares books for individuals. She has a history of journalism and is well known in southwest Washington for her works.

During her talk, Ms. Zander featured her book “Life on the Home Front, Stories of those who worked, waited and worried during WWII”. Everyone has heard of “Rosie the Riveter”, but did you know there was a Boeing satellite factory in Lewis County during World War II, where they made B-17 wings for those huge airplanes? Many local women worked in the Lewis County Plant doing welding, riveting, mechanics, and many other types of work. Ms. Zander was accompanied by 96 year old Doris Hastings Bier to speak about her experiences as a mechanic working on jeep and truck axles. Her experiences doing “man’s” work were both interesting and Doris makes you proud of her work which began when she was just 16 years old. Everyone who attended this informative talk, was thrilled with the presentation and we are
pleased to have hosted Ms. Zander and Ms. Bier.

THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA JOURNAL Page 5 of 10

Woman’s Club of Olympia General Membership Meeting

March 5, 2024

Meeting opened at 12:04 pm by Vice-President Katrina Wynkoop Simmons. Pledge of allegiance recited
and collect read by members and guests. 17 members in attendance and three guests: Sybil Goodkin,
Robin Lee and Selena Winner.

Minutes approved as written.

Kelli with Kesh Marketing introduced the new website. Members are welcome to give her feedback. The
website is easy to navigate and is very attractive. The Abigail Stuart House website is also updated.
Please send suggestions and or feedback to Kelli at kelli@keshmarketing.com. Motion by Sandra Groves
to give Kesh Marketing authority to go live with the website when it is ready. Seconded. Passed.

New Member Initiation: We welcome Sybil Goodkin and Selena Winner.
Program: Sandra Groves introduced the group to the founding members of the Woman’s Club of
Olympia. Sandra discussed a woman who affected her and the community in a very positive
way. Sandra invited members and guests to discuss women from their lives who affected them and/or
many others. Several members and guests discussed women in their lives who had a profound effect.
Treasurer’s Report: Katrina Wynkoop Simmons moved that we accept the Treasurer’s Report. Seconded.
Passed.

House: The new dishwasher is installed. It does not turn off automatically we will put up signage
explaining the shut off procedure. We have purchased a maintenance contract.
We will need to replace the living room curtains and we need to schedule an inventory for the second
floor. Very few tours are scheduled at this time.
The pen pal letters will be delivered this week.

Arts and Culture: Dani will send Easter cards to Fieldstone and RuLan residents. Thanks Dani!
Newsletter: Please send articles and information to Sandra Groves for inclusion in the newsletter.
Fundraising: March 21st from 7pm to 9pm we will celebrate women’s history with local author Julie
McDonald Zander.

Evening Group: Linda Malanchuk-Finnan The March speaker will be from the Coalition Against
Trafficking and will focus on survivors and pulling all helping groups together.
Old Business: Nominating Committee is attempting to fill positions. Members are asked to come forward
if they have any interest.

New Business:
 The Scholarship committee has made their choices.
 The Peninsula District Spring meeting is at the Abigail Stewart House on April 6th

A sign up sheet for baked goods was passed. Please bring the items on April 5th
.
 Please bring diapers to the next meeting. We are still collecting socks.
Raffle: Collection $60, the winner took home $30. Adjourn: 2:06 pm

THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA JOURNAL Page 6 of 10

Evening Group Member Meeting Minutes – March 13, 2024

Attendees: Katrina Wynkoop Simmons, Barbara Pugliese, Pat Booth, Jennifer Minich, Linda Malanchuk-
Finnan, Susan Herring

Program: Jeri Moomaw, Innovations Human Trafficking Collaborative IHTC, topic: human trafficking
 Senate Bill 6006 (Senator Dhingra) was passed into law about human trafficking.
 Linda M. and Jeri have known each other for years about this issue. She works with Tribes, too. She
really examines the gaps in times and systems, and she is a leaders in this task force.
 Jeri is a Shoshone-Bannock Tribal member in E Idaho. She is involved with the Thurston County
Coalition Against Trafficking with Linda. She is a survivor from childhood (age 13-19)
trafficking. Then until her 30’s she was still in related business. In her early 30’s she started
speaking and having options. She is now 24 years clean, sober, and free of that life.
 In May 2017, she opened the doors to this effort to help others. They now have 19 staff who help
people in both sex and labor trafficking with case workers and advocates. They have an indigenous
wrap around program. Ways Forward is their legislative branch.
 Senate Bill 5114 (Senator C. Wilson) passed for collaborate work and funding for exit services for
adults leaving human trafficking. It’s a coordinated body of 12 organizations. There is work that
needs to be done to lower the threshold, though, for state funding.
 One third of the population are male, so it’s not just women. They do 12 intakes per week. They rent
shelter beds from Turning Point in Shelton and a room on the women’s floor of the Salvation Army in
Olympia. The Chehalis Tribe is engaged. They fast track people into treatment in 10 days. There
are 37 now. And 78 in case management. They are able to get 30% of those who walk in to move
forward into treatment.
 Senate Bill 6105 (Senator Saldana) passed. The bill report to explain the bill in plain language
is https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/6105-
S.E%20SBR%20FBR%2024.pdf?q=20240313221626. There are some controversies over this bill
related to alcohol and touching, so feel free to read the bill report for additional information.
 She wants to obtain a house to allow for a 1-year residency to recover and heal, and there is one
near the Great Wolf Lodge they are looking at.
 When someone first comes in, the staff meet their basic needs, like bathrooms, food, drink, etc. They
build a trust before paperwork is pulled out. There is a short screening assessment at this first
meeting. They are offered wrap-around service referrals if they are not eligible for their program.
 They also work with international human trafficking victims. Locally, some massage parlors are a
problem.
 Jeri cautioned against full decriminalization of prostitution. For services to be offered, yes, victims
need to be able to get help. But buyers and 3rd parties (Johns or boyfriends taking financially from
their victims) would not be decriminalized in that instance, and they are a perpetrator of crime against
the prostitute.
 The majority of their clients are US citizens who are vulnerable without safety nets. This includes
former foster care, neglected and abused, children of addicts, and others.
Upcoming events & notes:
 There will be a local author Speaker about the WA Territories on Thursday, March 21st from 7-9 pm at
the WCO. It’s a fundraiser for education/libraries.
 All Kids Win is having a dinner March 22nd at 6 pm at the Elks on 4th Ave. It’s $15, and tickets areat https://allevents.in/olympia/dinner-for-a-cause-supporting-all-kids-
win/200026142333120?ref=cityhome. All Kids Win is also our April 10 at 7 pm meeting speaker.

 April 6 10-3 is our WCO hosted spring conference. Barbara is collecting garden items for a giveaway
“basket.” We are also having breakfast items, and you can sign up to bring something like coffee
cake or muffins with Barbara. There will also be a baked potato bar. And we are collecting socks for
donations. Registration is $15.
 Paws for a Cause is Saturday, May 4th at 11 am. We have a table, and Linda M and Jen are
tabling. Plan to show up earlier than 9 to set-up. BYO Chair. Susan Herring will let us know more
details closer to the event. There will be dog contests and activities. Donations and walkers are
welcome.
 Our June 12 at 7pm evening meeting is a planning meeting for 2024-2025.
 We are seeking a House Chair or co-chair, a Secretary, and an Evening Meeting Coordinator.
 We discussed how we are in support of finding out if there is a special rate that can be offered to
Innovations for their need for a staff retreat or another event for them.
Respectfully submitted by Jennifer Minich

MEMBER PAT KEITH SELECTED AS COVER ARTIST

One of Pat Keith’s watercolors was selected for publication in a local magazine. Her chicken
picture will be on the cover. The magazine will be distributed to 14 thousand customers in four WA counties. She is also donating the original picture to the PAWS4ACAUSE so that they can use it as one of the items that Paws will be auctioning off during their May fundraising event.
You can bid on the original artwork ‘Chickens at Home’ , Patricia Keith, at the Paws 4 a Cause auction on May 4th, 2024. Pat will also have another piece of art in the auction as well! ‘Butterfly on Tulips” and will also be available for auction at this event. Don’t miss your chance to support a great cause and bring home an original piece of artwork by Patricia Keith.

NEEDED FOR APRIL 6 PENINSULA DISTRICT MEETING
GARDEN THEME BASKET ITEMS NEEDED

Our club is hosting the Peninsula District Spring Conference at The Abigail Stuart House on April 6th. We are putting together a raffle basket with a garden theme. If you have anything to include in the basket, please bring your items to the April meeting.

The Club is also responsible for providing breakfast breads or muffins at the meeting. If you signed up, please be sure to bring your items to the clubhouse on Friday April 5th

A signup sheet will make the rounds at the April meeting if you are willing to help set up on Friday or clean up on Saturday after the conference.

COMMITTEE RECRUITMENT TIME

Every time we have an administration turnover, we strive to fill all the Committees with volunteer members. This year will be no exception. We are planning to hold a Committee “Job Fair” at our April meeting. Tables for each committee will be set up and you will be able to visit each table to see what the
Committees do for the Club. Signing up for a Committee is part of being a member of WCO and we would like to see more participation. Some Committees only need one Chairperson, some Committees can use 3, 4 or more to do the work. (Especially fundraising!). It’s fun to serve on a Committee so be ready to pick one on which to serve.

AS WE PARTNER WITH RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, THESE ARE THE ITEMS BEING COLLECTED FOR THE
NEXT FEW MONTHS. Bring items to the club meeting and they will be given to our partners.
April – All Kids Win. Collected items will be announced in March.
May – Thurston County Food Bank Children’s (12 and under) Birthday Bags Collecting small new
toys that fit into a 13 x 5 bag.
June – Rochester Organization of Families (ROOF) Collecting soup, tuna, spam peanut butter,
cereal, jam/jelly, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, cooking oil, chili, Rice a Roni, juice, canned beans,
canned fruit, spaghetti sauce, pasta, and other non-perishable food.

WHAT IS THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF OLYMPIA

HISTORY: The Woman’s Club of Olympia was founded in 1883 by Abbie Howard Hunt Stuart and eight other progressive women, six years before Washington became a state, to improve the lives of women and to serve the community. They fought for the right for women to vote, fought illiteracy and poverty, and provided aid for children and needy families before there were public assistance programs. The Woman’s Clubhouse was built in 1908 and later named for Abbie Stuart. We are a non-profit, non-denominational, non-partisan volunteer service organization. Learn more at www.womansclubofolympia.org.

CLUB GOALS: The Woman’s Club of Olympia is a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), GFWC Washington State and the Peninsula District of 9 fellow clubs, volunteer community organizations that support the arts, preserve natural resources, promote education, encourage healthy lifestyles, stress civic involvement, and work toward world peace and understanding. Our current projects include:
 Fundraising and partnering to support other community non-profit organizations sharing our goals;
 College scholarships for Thurston County high school seniors based on academic success and financial need;
 All Kids Win providing food for disadvantaged high school and middle school students; and
 Preservation of the historic Abigail Stuart House, and rental of the house for community programs and
organizations.
MEETINGS: Our daytime meetings are at noon on the first Tuesday of each month, September through June.
Our evening group meets at 7:00 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month. All meetings are held at the
Abigail Stuart House at 1002 Washington Street SE, Olympia.
TO BECOME A MEMBER: Attend two meetings or Club functions, fill out an application and return it with a
$10.00 application fee. After the Board approves the application you pay $40.00 annual membership dues and will be initiated at the next meeting.
MEMBERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES: Woman’s Club members are expected to contribute actively by serving on at least one committee or project throughout the year. A Board Member will talk with you about your interests and availability. Also, each member who attends the daytime meetings is expected to serve on a committee to host a tea or luncheon for at least one meeting per year.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: You have the opportunity to meet, work, and grow with other women who are
interested in self and community improvement. You are part of a historical local, state and national organization making a difference in the world.
Contact womansclubolympia@gmail.com for an application.

REPORTING FORM / VOLUNTEER HOURS: Name
ARTS & CULTURE: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

ENVIRONMENT: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

EDUCATION & LIBRARIES: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

COMMUNICATION & PR: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

LEADERSHIP: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

LEGISLATION & PUBLIC POLICY: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________
Description:

WOMEN’S HISTORY: Hours_______ Monies_______ In Kind____________