January 2021

Still on the schedule for 2021 is:

• Our Spring Rummage sale has been rescheduled to May/June 2021

• Our Chicken BBQ at Oak Hill

• Our Fall Picnic at Joy’s cottage

Advent Tea: We had a WONDERFUL Zoom Advent Tea in December with 27 women at the meeting – what a great turnout. Thank you Char and Jean for putting this together, and thank you Linda Malles and Marcia for the sweet and savory tea set that you gave to those of us close to Penn Yan. To continue the festivities and thank yous – thank you to Judy for leading us in prayer – we could hear your voice from your phone – and to Megan for leading us in song – your voice is amazing and certainly added to the Christmas spirit. It was so wonderful to see everyone or at least hear their voices.

Donations: The Presbyterian Women usually send the budgeted donations in November but we all know how crazy this year has been. So now is the time to bring any extra needs you know of to our attention as we go forward with the numbers for distribution. We are down in funds because we had to cancel all our scheduled fundraisers - we are ever so grateful for the anonymous donor who has boosted our treasury. If you are interested in giving to the Presbyterian Women, please make a check payable to Presbyterian Women then mail it either to the church (PO Box 639, Penn Yan, NY 14527) or directly to Hanna (2022 North Ave, Penn Yan, NY 14527).

Also, Bernie has been in contact with the Munsons regarding a date for the BBQ in April 2021 - Mary said they would visit where we are as far as the pandemic is concerned in March and get back to us.

Celebration of life chairs remain the same – the list is on the kitchen bulletin board. Committee chairs remain the same.

Valentines: The Presbyterian Women are continuing the tradition of sending valentines to our young people in college and in the military. The project began many years ago when boxes of homemade cookies "from home" were sent to them. Unfortunately, the postage became too expensive. This year we will not be collecting donations since there are few recipients – the Presbyterian women’s budget can take care of the donations.

Miracle Cloths: The Presbyterian Women are selling streak-free microfiber Miracle Cloths as a fundraiser – $5.00 for each cloth. The cloth fiber is a special yarn that is strong and is virtually lint-free - it does not damage any surface. The fibers grab and hold dirt, dust and grime - tough on dirt and gentle on surface - these cloths are GREAT for cleaning windows and almost anything else. Please see Sandy Carlson.

December 2020

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel some our events:

• Our Spring Rummage sale has been rescheduled to May/June 2021
• Our Chicken BBQ at Oak Hill
• Our Fall Picnic at Joy’s cottage

Advent Tea: This year certainly has been a challenging year for all of us. Being separated and celebrating our different holidays, has been very difficult to do in person. The Advent Tea chairs, Char and Jean have scheduled the PW Advent Tea for December 8th at 7 PM via ZOOM - it is not ideal but it is better than cancelling it outright. There may be some who have not done Zoom before but we have women that can help set it up and help you. With a beverage and food of choice, we are hoping to gather in front of our computers, ipads or phones to connect and share an evening with each other. We have ---

• Megan Bailey leading us in Christmas songs - she will sing and we will join with our microphones muted
• a time of prayer with Judy Wilbert
• a fun time to get to know each other - we are asking you to think of a True or False statement about you - it could be some place you went or some adventure, a hobby or a previous life and we guess if it is true or not
• more Christmas songs.

We hope you are willing to join us - if you are interested please email Linda Malles at lmalles621@yahoo.com or call her at 734-778-2325 to let her know that you would like to join us. If you know someone who would like to also join please let Linda know.

Donations: The Presbyterian Women usually send the budgeted donations in November but we all know how crazy this year has been. So now is the time to bring any extra needs you know of to our attention as we go forward with the numbers for distribution. We are down in funds because we had to cancel all our scheduled fundraisers - we are ever so grateful for the anonymous donor who has boosted our treasury. If you are interested in giving to the Presbyterian Women, please make a check payable to Presbyterian Women then mail it either to the church (PO Box 639, Penn Yan, NY 14527) or directly to Hanna (2022 North Ave, Penn Yan, NY 14527).

Also:

• Bernie has been in contact with the Munsons regarding a date for the BBQ in April 2021

- Mary said they would visit where we are as far as the pandemic is concerned in March and get back to us.

• We have a number of opportunities to reach out to the needy in our community during this pandemic:

o Keeping our channels open with our New Jersey gifters - there have been two UHaul truckloads of worthy items to be given in our county. Flying under the radar, bags of clothing, coats, and many used toys now are at our church. There is a team that comes and gets the clothing as is, and takes them to the Living Well, Nurse's offices, Rainbow Junction and other places in Yates. This eliminates the crowds, and puts a huge amount of work on these volunteers.

o The Living Well has a "Grab and Go" mission that has been going on since NYS opened after the lockdown. On Tuesdays and Fridays, they put a bag with some kind of warm meal and a cookie on a table outside of their office. The 50 bags disappear quickly. We have been approached to help with a meal or two each month. Char is in the lead with this. We have sent along soup, macaroni and cheese, and meatball subs. We have not used any PW money as individuals have been covering this. Going forward we may need to look at ways to fund this. Notes will be going out at times from Char, with dates and food items.

o Thank all of you who provided items to the Food Pantry to distribute for Thanksgiving. The Living Well is asking for a donation of 25 different items during the Advent season to help their supply – you can get the list from the Living Well or contact Bernie, or you can drop off at the Pantry on Mondays-Fridays 10-3. The items are: Chunky soups, regular soups, cereal, salad dressing, rice, tuna, canned pears, boxed mashed potatoes, canned peas. jelly, spaghetti sauce, beans, mustard, boxed scalloped potatoes, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, canned peaches, ketchup, canned mandarin oranges, instant oatmeal, pudding, jello, and buyer’s choice

Celebration of life chairs remain the same – the list is on the kitchen bulletin board. Committee chairs remain the same.

Miracle Cloths: The Presbyterian Women are selling streak-free microfiber Miracle Cloths as a fundraiser – $5.00 for each cloth. The cloth fiber is a special yarn that is strong and is virtually lint-free - it does not damage any surface. The fibers grab and hold dirt, dust and grime - tough on dirt and gentle on surface - these cloths are GREAT for cleaning windows and almost anything else. Please see Sandy Carlson.