Stronger Together 

September, 2020

It was not that long ago that we assumed the responsibility as your co-presidents of the Traverse City Branch of AAUW. When accepting the nominations earlier this year, we had no idea we would be setting to work in a worldwide pandemic and nationwide civil unrest as our friends and neighbors fight for their rights and often their lives. 

We know for many of you AAUW is not what you were expecting this year as well. Some of you might even think because of these disruptions your AAUW membership might not be important this year. Let us assure you it really is. Locally, your membership helps to keep us running by contributing to our purchase of a Zoom account to bring us all together and continuing to provide scholarships to students working so hard on their education. 

Speaking of scholarship recipients, if you missed September’s meeting, you missed meeting Whitney Arlt who is attending Ferris State University through the University Center here in town. Despite working and raising her child, she still anticipates graduating on time with her degree in Accountancy this spring! We also had a wonderful discussion with AAUWMI President Jan Van Gasse about how the State organization is dealing with COVID-19 and how the state and branches can continue to build on roadmaps provided both by the Five Star Recognition Program and the Regional Fall Leadership meetings many of us attended last fall. Attendees also enjoyed chatting and catching up for the first half hour while everyone settled in, with some joining on video and others just using their phones to dial in. 

As a follow up to an article in our last newsletter, on August 26th we represented our branch- with some AAUWTC members in attendance-  at a rally marking the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The event was well attended and all social distancing guidelines were followed, including the wearing of face coverings. This picture with this article shows Co-President Amy Shamroe addressing the crowd as Co-President Leanne Baumeler interprets into American Sign Language to show our desire to include everyone in the celebration.

We know many people are against or just tired of Zoom, but AAUW, at all levels, needs your continued support in these unprecedented times. We know meetings on Zoom are not the same as seeing friends in person, but our AAUW connections are still so very important- that is why we have built the monthly programming to include social time. Special interest groups are also making a go of it with online meetings to keep the discussions going where possible. As the request for membership renewals continues, please continue to stand with all your AAUW sisters (and occasional brother) and let’s do this! . 

At the risk of sounding cliché, we are stronger together. Now more than ever, AAUWTC is here for you.