There will be a Bridal Shower for Shauna Dorman Haslem given by the ECW on March 4, 2007 from 3pm - 5pm. This will be held in the parish hall. All church women are invited. Registry at Bed Bath and Beyond as Shauna Dorman or Kalo Haslem.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Episcopal Church Women

September 19, 2006  

Present: BB Johnson, Kitty Heinzman, Kathy Tuttle, Barbara Nicholl, Jenny Sills, Grace Baggett, Nina Maynard  

            Grace opened this meeting with a prayer.  We enjoyed refreshments.  

            The minutes from the May meeting were given to the ECW members to read.  Jenny moved that we accept the minutes as written.  Grace seconded the motion.  

            Nina Maynard gave the Treasurer’s report (See attached).  She explained that we still have to pay for the choir robes and that we want to use $300.00 for outreach.  Grace made a motion that we send $300.00 to Thompson’s Children and Family Focus.  BB seconded the motion and it passed.  Grace moved that we approve the budget.  Jenny seconded the motion and it passed.  

            Cards have been sent to those who are sick.  Grace is donating the cards and postage and has been sending the cards.  Please let her know of anyone in the church that is sick.  

            We sent flowers to Diane and Sandra.  

Tickets for the quilt raffle are in the kitchen as are posters for the bazaar.  Please pick them up if you do not have any yet.  Workshops are being held every Wednesday except during the evening when we have a covered dish supper.  We will continue to hold bazaar workshops throughout October and November.  We made squash and school girl pickles this summer.  They turned out well.  

 The Cotton Festival is on November 4^th.  Please come out and help.  

Please bring frozen foods to sell during the bazaar.  They usually sell very well.  We also need baked goods such as cakes and cookies.   

Old Business

            We need a committee to draft guidelines for the recipients of fruit baskets and gift cards.  

            Kitty will review the ECW bylaws.           

New Business

            Father Dave asked that we put lined draperies up in the conference room, bedroom and office of the rectory.  Margaret Taylor will act as chairperson.  

            Donnie will provide paper goods for covered dish suppers.  He will check the check the items we have and order more as needed.  

            We listened to and watched a Christmas Child video.  We will collect the filled shoe boxes during the week of November 12^th.                                                                                                                                                            A Nominating Committee, composed of Barbara and Grace, was appointed to select officers for next year.  

            The meeting was closed with the benediction, which was led by Grace.  

Every Wednesday night after Evening Prayer in the Parish Hall there will be craft workshops preparing items for sale at our Bazaar in November.  We need anyone who is interested in helping out.  Thank you in advance for all your assistance.  Anyone who need to may contact me at (919) 894-2406.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN

            The ECW will begin its fall season with a “Salad Supper” meal and meeting at 6:30 PM Tuesday September 29, 2006 in the parish hall.  All are welcome to attend and bring a favorite bowl of salad to share with the group.  Pleas plan to be with us as we have many important issues to discuss.

Kitty Heinzman

BAZAAR WORKSHOPS

Dear Friends,

This summer has been a productive one for the ECW.  In June and July our pickle workshops yielded over 100 pints of cucumber and squash pickles.  The bi0monthly craft workshops allowed us to get a jump-start on several projects – some completed, some in progress.  I want to thank everyone who took part in these meetings, for their time and dedication.  Also thanks for the donations of supplies.

As September rolls around, we are about two months from the bazaar on November 11 2006 .  We will begin craft workshops every Wednesday immediately after evening Prayer.  We will meet in the parish hall upstairs.  These sessions will end at 9:00 PM .  We will not on the Wednesdays of the covered dish supper.  At these meetings we will do a variety of things and there is a job for everyone.  Please join us if possible.  We have a great time!

We will have raffle tickets by September 1, 2006 .  As usual we hope to sell as many tickets as possible.  These tickets are pure profit since the prizes are donated.  Our goal is 2000 tickets.  I believe this is possible because we have easily sold 1500.  However, this year we will be without Louis and Sandra Joseph.  These great folks have always been two of our main ticket sellers, so we will have to do a little more to make up.

Once again we need all the food we can get for sale art the bazaar.  We will have the frozen food section again this year, so plan to make your special casseroles, soups and of course, St. Stephen’s famous Brunswick Stew.  Anything that freezes well is desirable.  We will need baked goods – cakes, pies, cookies, etc.  Cookies and brownies may be individually wrapped for sale at the “Breakfast Café.”  All our food always sells out so we can never have too much.

Finally we need some supplies for bazaar projects.  We need 35 and 50 count clear lights – 35 count with white cords and 50 count with green cords.  We also need miniature Christmas decorations for topiary trees and wired ribbons.  If you are unable to shop for these things a cash donation would be appreciated.  The less money we take from our treasury, the more we will have for the large projects ahead.

I would encourage all members of our congregation – men women and children – to become involved in the bazaar effort.  This event is well known and highly anticipated in the community.  The Crepe Myrtle Festival in September, the Denim Days in October and the Cotton festival the week before the bazaar in November all give us a chance to present St. Stephen’s to the community as the working and dedicated church we all love.

Thank you in advance for all your assistance.  Anyone who need to may contact me at (919) 894-2406.

Yours in Christ,

Jenny Sills

BAZAAR NEWS

Dear Friends,

            The date for the Bazaar is November 13, 2004 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM .  Please try to be available to help, as there will be plenty to do.

            We will not have a workshop in November before the bazaar, but we will begin setting up on Wednesday night the tenth after the service and meal.  Any help will be appreciated.  The church will be open on Friday for people to bring their contributions to the bazaar.  Please have the items priced in advance.  Items for the freezer can be brought earlier at your convenience.  As I have stated before, we need food of all types – Brunswick stew, soup, casseroles or frozen desserts.  Theses items always sell out.  We also need baked goods of all kinds.  Brownies or cookies can be individually purchased for snack items.

            The ticket sales seem to be progressing, but I still have a lot of tickets.  Please help us by selling as many as possible.  I will be taking the quilt and centerpiece to the Cotton Festival in Dunn on November 6, 2004 to sell tickets there.

            I want to thank each person for his/her hard work and dedication to this event.  I know everyone has made a great effort and I appreciate all of you.

                                                            Yours in Christ,

                                                            Jenny Sills

Dear Friends,

     As the date for our bazaar draws near, we will resume our craft workshop on Wednesday nights after the prayer service.  We will not meet on October 13 since there will be a supper following the service.  The workshops in October will be on the 6th, 20th, and 27th in the annex.  These meetings have been very productive and we have several very good ideas still to be worked on.  Please join us for a fun evening--the fellowship alone is worth the effort.

     As you all know we have raffle tickets for sale for the quilt and a second prize of a wonderful gingerbread house centerpiece donated by Cookie Minton.  Please try to sell as many of these tickets as possible as the money from these sales is pure profit.

     We will have a frozen food section again this year.  last year we sold out of our Brunswick Stew and other items and still had people coming in wanting to buy.  We need all the food items we can get because the community is used to St. Stephen's reputation for good cooking!  We have 50 pints of pickles made by the churchwomen and I know of some other canned and preserved items that will come in.  We need items such as Brunswick stew, casseroles--anything that freezes well and baked goods of all types.  We will be serving breakfast biscuits also and it would be good to have individually wrapped cookies, brownies, etc. for children or those who want a snack.

     I know this event is a lot of work for all who take part and it means so much to our church and the entire community.  As we get to celebrate our centennial year, let's pull together to make this the best bazaar ever.  I can never express how much I appreciate everyone's hard work.

     Yours in Christ,

Dear Friends,

At the last meeting of the ECW  I accepted the job of chairman of our annual Bazaar.  The date of the bazaar was tentatively set for the second Saturday in November, which is the 13th, from 9am--2pm.  I am privileged to work on this wonderful project and I need your help.

In order to get an early start, I would like to have workshops beginning in April on the first and third Wednesday evenings of the month.  These sessions will be immediately following the Evening Prayer service and will end at 9pm.  I encourage as many of you as possible to participate.

Again this year we will have raffle tickets to sell for a quilt.  If anyone has an item they would like to donate to raffle, it would be most welcome.  Just let me know.

Thank you again for allowing me to serve St. Stephen's in this way.

Sincerely,

Jenny Sills