New Arts and Wellness Program

Through the Benedictine Oncology Support Program in Kingston, NY

Janine Fallon-Mower sent this information for posting.

Anyone in the Hudson Valley who has ever received a diagnosis of breast cancer can take free professionally-taught, outpatient workshops in the visual, literary, and performing arts-- visual art, dance, writing, photography, drama, puppetry, and more. The workshops will run several times between February 2008 and January 2009 at Benedictine Hospital.

“Many published research studies have shown that when breast cancer patients call upon their creativity in the forms of imagery, music, movement, and the written and spoken word, it often leads to reduced pain and anxiety, enhanced self-esteem, improved ability to make treatment decisions, closer communication with family members and one’s healthcare team, and a self-assessed overall improvement in quality of life,” says licensed Creative Arts Therapist Elissa Bromberg

The first two workshops scheduled:

Following your Heart: An Art Making Workshop

with Syd Hap - a Master Sculptor with a Masters in Art Therapy

Two Saturdays,10:30am – 12:30pm
February 9 & 16
Material fee $10

Art Maker as Healer: Creating Symbols of Personal Power

with Elissa Bromberg, licensed Creative Arts Therapist and board-certified Art Therapist

Five Thursdays, 6 - 8 pm
February 28 thru March 27
Material fee $20

For information or registration call 338-2500 ext. 4453 or email dblaha@benedictine.org. for flyers or easy applications.

A generous grant from the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation of Dutchess County has made this program possible.

AAUW Trip: Washington, DC April 25 - 28

Late April! The perfect time to explore Washington. And, we've arranged to take you right to the door of each place we visit.

Whether you've been to Washington a thousand times or this is your first trip, you'll enjoy visiting these sites without the hassle of driving, parking, cabs, or subway.

Guided Sightseeing Tour includes:

* Arlington Cemetery with Tourmobile * National Cathedral * Union Station * National Archives * Embassy Row * Vietnam Memorial * World War II Memorial * Women in the Military Memorial * Tour of Capitol Hill & White House Visitor's Center * Famous Monuments, including FDR Monument * Smithsonian Institution * Holocaust Memorial Museum*

* 3 Nights lodging * 3 Breakfasts * 3 Full course dinners* Luggage handling * Souvenir gift*

Cost: $429.00 per person, double occupancy

Add $99.00 for single occupancy

Photo by WallyG

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All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza

New! AAUW members receive an additional discount which may vary by trip. Be sure to request the discount when you reserve your place.

Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless KAAUW cancels the trip. If you find you cannot attend you may arrange for someone else to take your spot. Let us know in case there is a waiting list.

We can provide information about trip insurance you can arrange privately. KAAUW does not offer or endorse this product.

For more information and reservations, write aloha.garnette@gmail.com or call Garnette at 845-704-2120. Checks, made out to the AAUW–Kingston Branch, may be sent to Garnette Arledge, PO Box 14, Glenford, NY 12443

To make your reservation on-line click here.

Open to non-members, so bring your friends

AAUW Trip: Tosca at the City Opera April 5th

If you're an opera lover, don't miss this trip. If you want to learn more about opera, what better way than joining us for this performance.

The NYC Opera's production of Tosca has been lauded by the critics.

Anna Shafajinskaia, one of opera’s most exciting dramatic sopranos, triumphantly returns to the leading role, performing with a sound The New York Times calls “appealingly dark and rounded.”

Join us for the Saturday matinée on April 5th.

Cost: $103 (3rd Ring); $129 (Orchestra)

Hate opera? Enjoy our company on the bus and explore Manhattan on your own. $38 (bus alone)

Leaving Kingston at 9 AM and return around 7 PM

*************

All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza

New! AAUW members receive an additional discount which may vary by trip. Be sure to request the discount when you reserve your place.

Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless KAAUW cancels the trip. If you find you cannot attend you may arrange for someone else to take your spot. Let us know in case there is a waiting list. In some cases trip insurance may be available.

For more information and reservations, write aloha.garnette@gmail.com or call Garnette at 845-704-2120. Checks, made out to the AAUW–Kingston Branch, may be sent to Garnette Arledge, PO Box 14, Glenford, NY 12443

To make your reservation on-line click here.

Open to non-members, so bring your friends

AAUW Trip: NYC and MOMA - March 8th

Saturday, March 8th

NY City and the Museum of Modern Art

Join us for this one day trip to Manhattan. Spend the day browsing the MoMA collections. Enjoy the City and leave the driving to us.

Alexander Calder, Jan DeCock, Lucian Freud’s Etchings, RAW-WAR, and Panoramas of the Moving Image.

Cost: $52 (Seniors); $55 (Adults); $38 (bus alone).

Leaving at 8:30 AM and returning around 6 PM

*************

All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza

New! AAUW members receive an additional discount which may vary by trip. Be sure to request the discount when you reserve your place.

Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless KAAUW cancels the trip. If you find you cannot attend you may arrange for someone else to take your spot. Let us know in case there is a waiting list. In some cases trip insurance may be available.

For more information and reservations, write aloha.garnette@gmail.com or call Garnette at 845-704-2120. Checks, made out to the AAUW–Kingston Branch, may be sent to Garnette Arledge, PO Box 14, Glenford, NY 12443

To make your reservation on-line click here.

Open to non-members, so bring your friends

Support Hope's Fund and the Domestic Violence Shelter - 2/29 & 3/1

Vivi Hlavsa and Ruth Wahtera encourage you to support the new Hope's Fund. If you can't attend the play, perhaps you'd consider making a donation. Here's the information we've received.

There will be two benefit performances of the acclaimed play The Vagina Monologues. Proceeds are benefiting two truly deserving programs:

Hope's Fund which a group of Ulster County women ( 100+) who are raising funds to start a program to benefit less fortunate women in Ulster County. Hope's Fund will offer adult mentoring as well as some financial assistance with emergencies ( e.g. a single mom whose car breaks down...the fund would pay for the necessary repairs so she can continue working to feed her children) So far the group has raised over $12,000.

The other benefactor of this event is Family of Woodstock's Domestic Violence shelter. It is the only place in Ulster County where a woman can go to leave a batterer and get the support services she needs to start a new life.

The evening promises to be memorable. Besides Hollywood actress Melissa Leo, we have some of our own home grown talent...Kimberly Kay of Star 93.3 radio; Susan Zimet an Ulster County legislator; Joan Crawford, VP of Family Services Inc; Bar Scott, a well known songwriter and singer; Stacey Rein, President of Ulster County's United Way; Ellen Pendegar, Executive Director of The Mental Health Association...and a host of other celebrities. It will be an evening worth remembering. And the venue...The Bearsville theatre. Great place and the perfect setting for something as special as this event.

	THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES BY EVE ENSLER DIRECTED BY EVA TENUTO FRIDAY FEB 29 + SATURDAY MARCH 1 | 8 PM BEARSVILLE THEATER | WOODSTOCK, NY TICKETS $50 | STANDING ROOM ONLY $25 | FOR TICKETS CALL UNITED WAY 845.331.4199

Women Business Owners -Want to make a cabinet for the Feds?

An AAUW colleague from D.C. who, like me, owns her own business, sent this link to a Washington Post story:

It seems that in 1994 Congress told the Small Business Administration to increase the number of federal small business contracts going to women-owned firms. The goal they set? A modest 5%.

Now, fourteen years later, and only because the DC Circuit Court ruled that the government was unreasonably delaying enactment, the SBA is finally promulgating rules about how that will be done.

Set-Asides On Women's Contracts Criticized - washingtonpost.com: "In proposed rules issued two weeks ago, the federal agency identified just four industries in which it said women-owned small businesses are underrepresented and thereby eligible for set-asides: intelligence; engraving and metalworking; furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing; and a limited category of motor vehicle dealers."

Four industries! But, according to the Washington Post, here are the facts.

"Women-run companies represent about 30 percent of all privately held firms nationally, but in 2006, the latest year for which data is available, they made up just 3.4 percent of government contracts, according to various surveys."

This is a story to watch and offer our comments...because equity is still an issue.

Thanks to Patty Hankins for the link and the US Women's Chamber of Commerce for suing the SBA for its failure to publish the regs necessary to implement the set-aside program.

Photo by Kelly Sue

Hear Bearfoot at Benefit Concert January 8th

From Mary Gellhaus --

Bearfoot, a young Alaskan band, will perform a concert of bluegrass music at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 207 Albany Ave., Tuesday, January 8, at 7 p.m.

A silent auction featuring native Alaskan arts and crafts will be held at 6 p.m. and salmon snacks will be served.

The concert will benefit Dancing with Spirit, a new bluegrass program for kids in Native villages in Alaska and Canada. Tickets for the concert are adults, $10, K-12 students are free. The Rev. Belle Mickelson is director of the Bearfoot Band.

Bearfoot features harmony singing, twin fiddles, exquisite mandolin and guitar solos and solid bass playing bluegrass,blues, jazz, old-time and folk music. This national touring band started in 1999 when the five members were teenage counselors at a 4-H Music Camp in Cordova, Alaska. They won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2001. They have also performed at the International Bluegrass Muisc Association Festival, the Wintergrass Festival, and the Rockygrass Fesitval.

You can visit Bearfoot and hear some of their music on their site on MySpace. Be patient -- allow time for the site to load.

Visit 'Desert' - group art exhibit

From Mary Gellhaus:

The Gallery at St. John's Episcopal Church, 207 Albany Ave., presents "Desert", a group art exhibition at an opening reception, January 5, from 7 to 9 p.m.

The works will be on display until January 27.

Call 331-2252 for an appointment to see the exhibition at other times.