Letter from the Editor
Dear Friends:

It seems like such a short time ago that President Leah accepted that title. Now it is only weeks until she passes it on to someone else.

This past year our club has had many “firsts.” We had two first time attendees at the District Meeting, Sandy Reed and myself; three first time attendees at the Northwestern Region Conference, Alex Priest, Colleen Blazier and Megan O’Donnell – who is a member for less than six months! I attended my first Area Meeting last month. The club submitted two first time Focus Reports – one for our Medical Loan Closet, the other for our WIN Program.

Connie Poulsen, our first time Coordinator of the Core Garden Show Committee took on the job when she was a member less than a year. And look at the great job she did for our club!

Colleen Blazier, first time Health Committee Coordinator – with the Medical Loan Closet responsibility – has gotten things well organized. A sticker is now on each piece of equipment designating it as the property of Soroptimist International of Sequim.

Those with keys to the Medical Loan Closet (MLC) now rotate the responsibilities. New member Sue Ellen Riesau came up with the idea. In the past, sometimes more than one member would handle a call and they would often wind up at the MLC at the same time to get the same item. With rotating the “on call” schedule, only one person takes care of calls for a given week. A new first for our dedicated members that monitor our Medical Loan Closet! Thank you, Sue Ellen, for sharing your idea! There’s a brand new Medical Loan Closet brochure – the brainchild of Colleen and Sally Sue, with help from yours truly. This brochure is designed to be put into doctors’ offices and medical care facilities. Another first.

Our first time Garden Show “Road Show Quartet” of: Alex Priest, Sherry Schubert, Penny Wolf (member since April) and myself visited local Soroptimist Clubs promoting our Garden Show, selling pre-sale tickets and gaining respect from those who know the courage it takes to sing without music and in front of others. I hope we do another Road Show next year. We have the Power – Flower Power!



When Alex Priest stepped into the Corresponding Secretary position after Lucy Dukes moved away, Alex became a first time board member – finishing out about a 6-month term. And she has volunteered to continue as Corresponding Secretary next year.

Anne Pence, first time Human Rights/Status of Women Committee Coordinator opened our eyes to how we look at other people in our world.

It is the first year we’ve had consistent proofreaders for our newsletter. Colleen and Alex have been great at reviewing the Soropti-Scoop, catching typos, finding missing words, tweaking sentences and doing this with short deadlines. I am grateful for their support. It was a privilege to work with both of them. Thanks Colleen and Alex! Are you ready to sign up for another year?

Our club filled out the Image Award form, submitting a binder with newspaper articles, press releases, brochures and other publications, copies of our newsletters…This award has been given out for several years, but it is the first time our club has made a submission.

Often I have said that I am proud to be a Soroptimist. It is because of things like the “firsts” I mentioned above. But it is also because of the on-going things that I appreciate my membership and my Sister Soroptimists. Like the Attendance Committee members who collect money at the door and wind up having to wait to have their breakfast. And the Foundation Committee that looks through Scholarship Notebooks. And the Hospitality Committee that makes sure we are well fed and entertained. And the Membership Committee that keeps bringing in new faces. (Oops! That’s really the job of all our members!) And the Public Relations Committee that gets press releases out. And then there are our officers and board members. I could go on and on, as most of you know…but I will end this letter with heartfelt gratitude.

Thank you, Soroptimist Sisters for sharing the 2002 –2003 year with me. Thanks for all you have given to help make us a stronger TEAM.

Light and Love,
Kathy Purcell
Editor