Houston Focus on Concerns for Women

Downsizing: Be Careful What You Keep
2023-04-26 11:15 - 13:00 UTC | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Over time, a person’s life can become a wonderful wastebasket of ideas and gifts and appropriations. Chris Rogers’ life, never a straight route from point to point, has been reinvented many times, each with its own baggage. In 1962, an unexplained fire took her home and possessions. In 1982, lightning caused a fire that gutted her studio/office. Cramming everything she could save into storage, Rogers retained one art table to continue her business, then after a year, opened that storage unit to realize nothing inside was worth saving.
In more recent years, Rogers – now an established author and painter – elected to downsize her life again. She sold her home to enjoy spending time with her oldest daughter and son-in-law. To accommodate that change, she happily reduced life and its many possessions to a bedroom with attached bath… plus a recently reinvented storage unit.
In this program, Rogers will guide you toward a plan for how to keep what you must and how to choose what to lose.

SPEAKER

Chris Rogers, the Story Painter, is author of nine novels, about 40 or so short stories, and various magazine or newspaper articles. She has been published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Writers Digest Magazine, among others. Her books can often be found in libraries or bookstores and always on Amazon. Rogers also paints both abstract and representational art. Early in her painting career, she began to include in selected artwork a few words or sentences from her stories. Her art is displayed at Withrow Furniture in Teague, Texas and often in Texas galleries.

Experience Handwoven Rugs from Traditional Designs to Contemporary Art
2023-04-18 19:36 | TX
PROGRAM
Program and Persian lunch at Pride of Persia Rug Company
SPEAKER

Mehdi Abedi

Do You Know What You Have?
2023-03-29 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Living in the greater Houston area means living with hurricanes, floods and other destructive weather events. Like people everywhere we also face possible losses from fire, burglary, broken water pipes, etc.
Many Houstonians have adequate insurance to cover the financial cost of such events; however, they are often not prepared for the overwhelming task of filing a major claim, especially during what can be an emotionally challenging time. The crucial question becomes “Do you know what you have?”
Beth Szescila will reveal a number of things you should do now to be better prepared for the aftermath of a catastrophic event…should you ever have to face one. This program will help you sleep better knowing you have the necessary tools to confidently deal with a major loss.

SPEAKER

Prior to retiring, Beth Szescila was a certified member of the International Society of Appraisers, holding certifications in the appraisal of Fine Arts, as well as of Antiques and Residential Contents. For 18 years Beth was a member of the appraiser panel on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow.
In her profession, she frequently helped clients deal with complicated insurance-related matters. She assisted them in a number of ways such as appraising items for insurance scheduling and determining the value of lost, stolen, or destroyed property. Beth’s years of experience taught her the importance of preparation and organization before a loss.

Settle the Differences in the Family Living Inside
2023-02-22 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
You know that we each have a family around us. Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a counseling theory that examines the family inside us. You know when “a part of me wants to do this and another part of me wants to do that.” The family inside us is essentially all those “parts”—the oftentimes-conflicted sub-personalities that reside within us.These sub-personalities sometimes contain wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger or shame. Other parts try to control and protect you from the pain of those wounded parts.
IFS examines the parts that make up the family inside. This provides a better understanding of the parts that can hold us back. Then we can work with those parts to become a whole and healthy internal family system. Come along as we explore how our inner child, inner critic, and the people-pleasing adult within us can get along much better.

SPEAKER

Helping others has been Rosemary Behrens, PhD., LPC-S’s mantra for as long as she can remember. In working with counseling issues, she enjoys helping others to learn coping skills, move past relationship issues, and see their full potential. She sees significant value in assisting clients coping with grief as they remember a loved one and work to move to a place of peace with their loss. Rosemary enjoys working with individuals, couples, children and adolescents. She uses Cognitive-Behavioral, Adlerian, Family Systems, and Existential theories, and she believes in addressing the whole person encompassing body, mind, and spirit. As a licensed professional counselor-supervisor, Rosemary assists counseling associates in accomplishing their goal of becoming fully licensed counselors. Inner Peace Counselors PLLC

First Ladies of the United States of America and Their Cookies
2023-01-25 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Caroline Scott Harrison
First Lady Caroline Scott Harrison, was the wife of our 23rd President, Benjamin Harrison. His administration began 1889, ending in 1893.
In 1890, Caroline, lent her prestige as First Lady to the founding of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). She served as the first President General.
Nicknamed “Carrie,” she was the daughter of Mary Potts Neal and the Reverend Dr. John W. Scott, a Presbyterian Minister. She gave active service to the First Presbyterian Church and to an orphan’s home.
Caroline was blessed with considerable artistic talent and especially enjoyed painting. She was also an accomplished pianist. She took special interest in the history of the White House and established a collection of china from previous first ladies. She often painted on china herself.
With other ladies of progressive views, she helped raise funds for Johns Hopkins University medical school on the condition that they admit women.
Our gracious lady, Caroline died of tuberculosis, October 1892 at the age of 60 with services in the East Room of the White House.
Our program will conclude with a tasting of Caroline’s Two Way Cookies.

SPEAKER

Carolyn’s road to Pasadena, Texas from Memphis, Tennessee was long and circuitous. The family found its way in 1951 and became Texans. Her father opened a hardware store in Pasadena where both parents worked.
Carolyn graduated from Pasadena High School 1955 and The University of Texas in Austin in 1959. She moved to the Central West Texas town of Coleman where she taught elementary school.
In 1977, she returned with her only child, a son, and joined the family hardware business. After the deaths of her parents and 60 years later, Tucker Hardware was closed in 2011.
She served as International Secretary of Epsilon Alpha Sorority as well as the Delta Iota chapter President and Texas State Recording Secretary. She also served as President of Soroptimist International of Pasadena and was honored as a Woman of Excellence at the 2000 Federation of Houston Professional Women Gala.
Carolyn’s deep interest in Presidential Libraries began when she and her mother attended the hardware market in Atlanta, Georgia. While there, they toured the Library of President James E. “Jimmy” Carter and her mother started a collection of Presidential Plates, which Carolyn now proudly possesses. The other libraries she visited are: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

Discovering Your Touchstones for a Fulfilling 2023
2022-12-28 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM

Luncheon, socializing and group activity.

As 2022 comes to a close, attendees will select a word to serve as a guiding star for their New Year. This will be your Word of the Year or WOTY. Each person will receive a handout with more than 150 suggested words to choose from. You are certainly not limited to the list and you may find different words that speak to you.

The focus of your WOTY will provide a touchstone as you then choose a word for each month of 2023. You will receive an 8.5″ x 11″ calendar sheet showing the 12 months with space to write. Your personal Word of the Year and 12 Words of the Month will serve as direction for a happy and fulfilling upcoming year.

ACTIVITY LEADERS

Jeanne Perdue
Leigh Owen
Mary Abshier

Federation of Houston Professional Women and What It Brings You
2022-11-30 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Come discover what the Federation of Houston Professional Women (FHPW) offers you. You’ll hear from its incoming FHPW President Mary Faris and FHPW Education Foundation Vice President of Scholarships Jeanne Perdue.As diverse as Houston, this entity, founded in 1981, unites various member organizations from across the area. For 41 years, the women of the Federation continually enrich their relationships and expand their leadership, partnership, and educational opportunities for themselves and others.
Houston Focus on Concerns for Women (formerly Houston Financial Council for Women) has been a member organization of the Federation since 1986. That membership bestows automatic FHPW membership on all HFCW members.
Eight members of HFCW have led the Federation as President: Frances Corso, Leigh Owen, Ginny Mampre, Mary Abshier, Myrleen Knott, Sheri Parrack, Chris Noble, and Mary Ann Chambers.
FHPW is an extension of its current member organizations. It opens a broad and ever changing networking experience across the city. The Federation annually provides an opportunity to recognize a Woman of Excellence at a gala where FHPW EF scholarships are presented to deserving female students

SPEAKERS

Jeanne Perdue is a Technical Writer at Occidental Petroleum. After earning a BS in Chemistry at SUNY at Albany, she worked in the Texaco research labs as a chemist for 9 years and a librarian for 4 years. She then became an oilfield journalist for Hart’s E&P magazine and later launched the award-winning Upstream Technology magazine.
A Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Jeanne served of the Board of the SPE Gulf Coast Section in many roles, culminating in Section Chair in 2015. She now chairs the Business & Leadership Committee for SPE and helps select SPE Distinguished Lecturers.
After being elected to the Alief ISD school board and serving as President of the Alief Education Foundation, she now serves on the Houston Community College Foundation Board and the Univ. of Houston Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board. A Woman of Excellence honoree in 2004, Jeanne is currently serving as VP of Scholarships for the Federation of Houston Professional Women Educational Foundation. She now president of Houston Focus on Concerns for Women.
Huandong Mary Faris is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Grocery Services, Inc., a private company that provides food to individuals who qualify for benefits under Texas’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Prior to joining Grocery Services, Mary served as Senior Financial Accountant at Houston Methodist Corporate Finance department, and before that, she served as CFO for Hearing Aid Express. Before coming to the US, Mary worked at an international shipping corporation in China.
Mary has an MBA in Management, a BBA in Accounting, and an Associate Degree in International Business.
Mary and is the President-Elect for the Federation of Houston Professional Women and was a recipient of the Women of Excellence Award in 2018. She has been a member of TXCPA Houston since 2008 and an active member of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA) since 2004 and currently serves as its CPE director. She is also the Chair of the University of Houston Alumni Association Fort Bend Chapter Scholarship Committee.
Mary loves traveling, cooking, and reading, and she does Zumba dance and yoga to relax

History Lovers Come Face to Face with a Fearless Woman
2022-10-26 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
You will be enthralled with this historical first-person interpretation. Step back to the year 1650 and meet Priscilla Mullins Alden. She will tell you of the 30 years that have passed since she set foot in the New World. Arriving on the Mayflower, the Mullin’s family and John Alden came to pursue new opportunities in a new land. They were not separatists who sailed away from their homes seeking religious freedom. Priscilla married John Alden three years after the British merchant ship Mayflower arrived in 1620 to establish the Plymouth Colony. The last time Mrs. Alden is mentioned in any written document is in 1651.When John Alden died in 1687, he was the last surviving signer of the Mayflower Compact. Descendants of John and Priscilla Alden comprise one of the largest groups of Mayflower descendants living today. They had ten children and 69 grandchildren.

SPEAKER

Denise Bennett is a first and second generation American. For more than 25 years she has researched her genealogy, even traveling to Ireland and Scotland to conduct family research. Despite her descent from such recent immigrants, she can trace her lineage in America back to the American Revolution as well as to the third ship, the Anne, that arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1623. Her husband can trace his ancestry to several of the Pilgrims who sailed to America on the Mayflower.
A member of the Lady Washington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Denise serves as the Texas Chair of the TXDAR Speaker Staff. She has been accepted into ten lineage societies, including Colonial Dames 17th Century. Her applications are some of the most international of applications. In her first three generations, she has proof documents requiring translations in three different languages – German, Spanish and Old Persian.
Denise is a lifelong volunteer. She enjoys creating historical first-person interpretations, which require considerable research into every component of the bygone women she portrays. Currently, Denise has presented at least one persona for every century of American history.

Better Than a Board Game: A Fun and Clever Way to Draw Family and Friends Closer
2022-09-28 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Better Than a Board Game: A Fun and Clever Way to Draw Family and Friends Closer

After spending time with family or friends, have you ever come away not knowing one additional thing about their lives?
Conversation is how we interact, how we discover our differences and our common interests. Usually, however, we tend to talk about incidents that have happened to us or about events to come. We ask ordinary questions, then barely listen to the answers because we’re thinking of what we will say next.
Learning more about the people you are close too will enrich your relationships. And the best part? It’s easier and more fun than a board game. For example, I know my sister’s favorite white thing is white caps on the lake, my friend likes magnolia blossoms, and my mother’s favorite white thing is mashed potatoes.
While discovering commonalities, you’ll be surprised by new insights. During this presentation, you’ll even take away better connections with the amazing women of HFCW. The handout you receive, just in time for holiday activities, will recap this comfortable, stress-free way to interrelate, one-on-one or in gatherings.
SPEAKER

Leigh Owen is a connector. She is passionate about matching people with other people, organizations, and resources. She is often told, “You know things!” This meeting will introduce techniques for you to come away knowing things too.
Born in Jacksonville, Texas, Leigh received her B.S. from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. After graduating, her first real job was in book publishing and it became her lifelong career. She began by designing books and handling their production and printing for Gulf Publishing Company. Through 20 plus years as director of marketing for Gulf’s book division, she designed and wrote book-marketing campaigns geared to reach libraries, bookstores, and individual book buyers. Next came a decade as director of marketing for Vickie Milazzo Institute, the oldest and largest legal nurse consulting education institute in the nation and the only publishing company dedicated to that field. Leigh then spent seven years overseeing the Institute’s educational publishing where she guided special publishing projects and the editing of online learning materials.
Leigh thrives on making connections between the people and the organizations she knows throughout her favorite city—Houston. She is a past president of the Federation of Houston Professional Women (FHPW), Houston Focus on Concerns for Women (HFCW), and the 501(c)(3) FHPW Educational Foundation. She served 20 years as a member of the University of Houston Friends of Women’s Studies (FWS) board and is a lifetime member of FWS. She also served as chair of the advisory board of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts(WIVLA). At the request of UH Dean of Libraries Lisa German, Leigh is honored to be a member of the UH Libraries Dean’s Campaign Committee and Cabinet supporting the Rare Books Collections.
Leigh enjoys her creative side as a member of the Houston Book Arts Guild, Houston Calligraphers Guild, and the Houston Visual Journalers. Leigh lives in the Houston Heights with her husband Tim Calk. She writes haiku and personal essay, goes birding with her husband, and creates art cards and mail art. Her favorite medium is collage.

The Crazy Circle of Grief
2022-08-31 11:15 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Grief is something that no one wants to happen in their life, but something that most all of us encounter at some point. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was one of the first to develop a sense of method for grief. Her five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, are indeed a part of the grieving process. However, these stages are not as stair-stepped or linear as they are often interpreted. This program examines the grieving process in a way that expands the stages of Kubler-Ross with a concept called The Crazy Circle of Grief. The throws of grief are something we indeed move beyond, but losing a loved one is not something we “get over.” It is simply something we come to terms with as we move beyond the crazy circle.

SPEAKER

Helping others has been Rosemary Behrens, PhD., LPC-S’s mantra for as long as she can remember. In working with counseling issues, she enjoys helping others to learn coping skills, move past relationship issues, and see their full potential. She sees significant value in assisting clients coping with grief as they remember a loved one and work to move to a place of peace with their loss. Rosemary enjoys working with individuals, couples, children and adolescents. She uses Cognitive-Behavioral, Adlerian, Family Systems, and Existential theories, and she believes in addressing the whole person encompassing body, mind, and spirit. As a licensed professional counselor-supervisor, Rosemary assists counseling associates in accomplishing their goal of becoming fully licensed counselors. Inner Peace Counselors PLLC

How the Energy Transition Will Affect Houston
2022-07-27 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
Is the oil and gas industry going away? Will Houston still be the Energy Capital of the World? After 42 years in the oil business and as a former journalist covering the latest industry news, Jeanne Perdue has a bird’s-eye view of energy trends. Not only will oil and natural gas continue to be needed for decades to come, but petroleum engineers will also be needed for geothermal and hydrogen energy as well as for carbon sequestration. Jeanne will describe how these technologies work and how universities are preparing the next generation of petroleum engineers.

SPEAKER

Jeanne Perdue grew up in LeRoy, NY, where Jell-O was invented. She was Salutatorian of the Class of ‘76 and editor of the school newsletter. She received a BS degree in chemistry from the State University of New York at Albany. She started her career as a chemist at the Texaco Research Laboratories in Bellaire, Texas. Before Google was invented she conducted research and literature searches at the Texaco Library. Jeanne then covered drilling and information technology as an oil and gas journalist for Hart’s E&P magazine. She launched the award-winning magazine: Upstream Technology. She is now a technical writer at Occidental Petroleum, preparing field development plans, maintenance and operations procedures, technical papers, and concession proposals for the Middle East Support Team.
A Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Jeanne has been an active volunteer and was Chair of the SPE’s Gulf Coast Section in 2014. Today she serves on the SPE Distinguished Lecturer Committee and the Business Management and Leadership Committee. A staunch supporter of education, Jeanne was elected to the Alief ISD school board in the 90s and was president of the Alief ISD Education Foundation for 10 years. Today she serves on the board of the Houston Community College Foundation, the UH Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board, and the FHPW Educational Foundation. She is a past president of Houston Focus on Concerns for Women.

A Soiree of Yesterday
2022-06-29 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM
This meeting is a show-and-tell social. Please bring something old from yesterday, and tell us about it and yourself.

Make the Most of Your Texas Road Trips
2022-05-25 11:15 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
PROGRAM

Be inspired to hit the highway. Hear a top Texas travel pro as she shares her best road trip destinations and reveals her inside tips to enhance any excursion. Treat yourself to a day-trip within the county or a week-long roll through the history and mystery of this amazing Lone Star State. Your certified tour guide will reveal valuable insights that promise to make your trips more memorable. You can incorporate personal interests into any trip. Enhance your memories with evocative photos, little sketches, a pressed flower, short journal entries, and even personal essays. Perhaps your travel will feature collecting antiques, filling in gaps in your genealogy, or adding to your birding life list.
Connect with the facts and fun of this amazingly diverse and historical state…and make some Texas history of your own. The open road is calling!

SPEAKER

Kathleen Maca melds more than forty years of her genealogy experience into her research and writing about local history and folklore. A member of the Association for Gravestone Studies, she is also a cemetery historian and restorationist. She recently completed a two-year project for Ancestry.com involving photographing approximately 250,000 vital records.
A certified tour guide, Kathleen combines her interest in history and her sense of fun in planning trips across Texas. Read about some of them in her travel blog, “Tales from Texas” at KathleenMaca.com.
She is the author of four books, and has been a feature writer for Galveston Monthly magazine for 12 years. Featured on Texas Country Reporter, Houston Life, KPRC news, Texas Chronicles, and Texas Highways, Kathleen was recently voted Galveston’s “Best of the Island” in the writer category.

Experience Handwoven Rugs from Traditional Designs to Contemporary Art
2022-04-27 11:30 - 13:00 | TX
PROGRAM – MEMBERS and MEMBER GUESTS ONLY
In this hands-on program you will explore the fascinating state of today’s rug market. The world of handwoven rugs has undergone a remarkable transformation. Recent years have seen the classic red and blue Persian rug joined by an incredible array of contemporary styles. From Nepal and other weaving centers, innovative rug styles have arisen from the influence of diverse cultures. You will learn about the impacts of dramatic shifts in technology, production techniques, design, economics, and politics. The importance of the changing role of women in the rug industry will be revealed.At the beautiful Pride of Persia Rug Company and Postmodern Traditions Showroom, you are invited to see and handle a wide range of rugs. Whether you are a world traveler, a designer, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty and intrigue of rugs, you will experience an inside look at today’s exotic expanse of handwoven rugs.Attendees will enjoy a catered Persian lunch and easy street level parking.
SPEAKER

Lisa Slappey, Ph.D., has been in the handwoven rug business in Houston for more than 25 years. After years of training in the art of traditional Persian rugs, she now specializes in contemporary rugs, particularly those handwoven in Nepal. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Rice University, where she also taught for two decades. Dr. Slappey writes articles for interior design and rug industry publications and teaches courses on rugs. She has won multiple awards from the American Society of Interior Designers for Product Design, Textiles, Flooring, and Industry Partner/Designer Collaboration. With partner Mehdi Abedi, she owns and operates Pride of Persia Rug Company and Postmodern Traditions Custom and Contemporary Rug Gallery.
For more information, visit: www.prideofpersia.com and www.postmoderntraditions.com.

Hot Mess to Less Stress-Simple Organizing Solutions to Transition Your Home and Home Office
2022-03-30 11:30 - 13:00 | To Be Announced, Houston, TX, United States
PROGRAM

If your desk looks like a demo site and your pantry clutter scares you enough to go out in search of fast food, you are not alone. The average household has 300,000 items and we only use 20% of them regularly. We are drowning in our stuff! But Dai Smith has the solutions to help get your HOT Mess organized so you can be Less Stressed. You will learn:

The Organizing Dilemma: why we struggle with getting and staying organized.
How to be educated, equipped, and empowered to start and finish your organizing projects.
How the S.I.M.P.L.E. C.A.R.D. process can help you declutter and organize any space.
How to maintain organizational systems that last.

SPEAKER

Dai Smith is The Productivity Coach Who Organizes. She is the owner and founder of Simplicity By Day, LLC. Her organizing consulting company is known for providing simple and organized solutions for entrepreneurs, professionals, and parents. She is a certified professional organizer with the American International Organizing Professionals and a member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing. Dai has undergrad and graduate business degrees and is also a design school graduate. She is an award winning sales and marketing professional who specializes in productivity and décor organizing. She juggles marriage, motherhood, career, and entrepreneurship and shines as the secret weapon for entrepreneurs and busy professionals who want to trade clutter and chaos for simple and organized. Dai lives in Houston with her husband, and two kids.

Reading in a Brave New World
2022-02-23 11:30 - 13:00 | TX
PROGRAM
Everything changed for us in March 2020. That includes our reading habits. As a bookseller we noticed some differences in our customers’ reading. Come and you’ll discover some of my recent favorite books as I dish out opinionated reading advice. We’ll have time for questions, so get your questions ready for me.
SPEAKER

Valerie Koehler opened Blue Willow Bookshop in west Houston in October 1996. She is the general manager, buyer, and oversees all operations.
Blue Willow, with only 1,400 square feet, has become a neighborhood destination with a vibrant children’s department, a haven for book clubs, and a place to meet authors of all genres. This bookshop is a leading partner for many city-wide initiatives; including TeenBookCon, Tweens Read, and Bookworm Bookfest. Blue Willow also partners with many non-profit literacy organizations. Valerie was named a Champion of Literacy by Literacy Advance of Houston. She has served on the boards of MidSouthIBA, Mountains and Plains IBA, American Booksellers for Children, and American Booksellers for Free Expression. Her latest position was serving as a board member of the American Booksellers Association.
Valerie has an extremely patient husband and two sons successfully launched into the world (not without the appropriate amount of maternal angst). They, and especially her grandson, give her great joy along with her large, boisterous family of siblings, nephews, nieces, and her 93-year-old mother, the matriarch.

First Ladies of the United States of America and Their Cookies
2022-01-26 11:20 - 13:00 | TX
PROGRAM
Chances are that you have never heard of, and have not read about, our First Lady who is a mystery lady. Prepare to be introduced to our third First Lady, Martha Wayles Jefferson, wife of our third President, Thomas Jefferson. How can that be since Jefferson was a widower when he was installed as President?The marriage between Martha and Thomas Jefferson was truly a wonderful love story with an extremely sad ending. Their lives were so intertwined that every aspect of her life became his personal legacy.You will learn about Martha’s childhood, how she grew into a beautiful woman, and her life as The First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson’s term as Governor 1779-1781.In addition, we will explore Jefferson himself as well as the morals of the times. And yes, there’s a twist to this story that is most surprising. It is true as it is written in history.Our program will conclude with a tasting of macarons.

SPEAKER

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Carolyn Tucker Myers and her family moved to a suburb of Detroit, Michigan where her father gained employment with General Motors. After five years of snow and ice, he moved the family south. They chose Texas because she had an uncle in Dallas and her parents had friends in Houston. In 1951, her father opened a hardware store in Pasadena where her mother worked too.
Carolyn graduated from Pasadena High School in 1955 and the University of Texas, Austin, in 1959, and married shortly thereafter. The newlyweds were stationed in Morocco where her husband spent two years in the Air Force. They returned to Coleman in central West Texas where she taught elementary school for six years.
In 1977, she moved back home with her only child, a son, and joined the family business. After the death of her parents and 60 years later, Tucker Hardware was closed in 2011 and that closed a chapter in the family’s history.
Carolyn served as international secretary of Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority. She is a past president of Soroptimist International of Pasadena, a service organization. She was honored by the Soroptimist organization as a Woman of Excellence at the 2000 Federation of Houston Professional Women Gala.
Her interest in presidential libraries began when she and her mother attended the hardware market in Atlanta, Georgia. With an extra day to sightsee, they toured the Library of President James E. “Jimmy” Carter. Carolyn proudly possesses her mother’s collection of presidential plates. She has also visited these presidential libraries: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Each is different and intriguing.

SPECIAL MONTHLY ZOOM MEETING
2021-12-29 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
A special, end-of-the-year HFCW Zoom meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 29 at 11:30am (our regular monthly meeting day and time).
This Zoom meeting is a social gathering only. No speaker will be scheduled.
During this time together, members will be encouraged to share holiday 2021 experiences and/or any special plans for New Year’s Eve.
Additionally, we will learn each other’s WOTY (Word of the Year). Please use the rest of December to consider your ONE WORD. Be ready to share why you selected that word as your focus for 2022.

Sparkle Swap - Holiday Celebration - Members Only
2021-12-01 11:20 - 13:00 | Sorrento Italian Restaurant, 415 Westheimer Road, Suite 106, Houston, TX, 77006, United States
Our dazzling holiday party will be a time when our accessories come out to shimmer and find new homes. Please note the date change and that this is a members only meeting.
Bring costume jewelry, twinkling pins, handbags, fuzzy neck scarves, evening clutches, pashminas, shawls, and headscarves that you no longer wear. You’ll have fun traveling back through your jewelry and accessories to select unbroken, clean pieces for their different lives with someone else.
With a twinkle in our eyes we’ll draw names and watch as each person selects one article in lucky order. If there is a story to tell about the item selected, the person who donated it may choose to briefly share the story.
After everyone has made their first glittering choice, the remaining goodies are there for your one-for-one trades (bring three items, select one to three items; bring ten items, select one to ten items). Sets (necklaces with matching earrings or bracelets) count as one piece.
When all sparkle swapping is complete, but some items remain, they are then available to anyone who wants them.
Be sure to bring a good-sized gift bag to tote your new shiny sparkles home. At the end of our party, any remaining items will be donated.

NO MEETING
2021-10-27 | TX
In lieu of a regular monthly meeting, a special gathering will occur on October 23 in Galveston. See 10-23-21 calendar listing for more information.

Galveston Brunch and Bryan Museum Visit -CANCELLED
2021-10-23 10:30 - 14:00 | TX
THIS SPECIAL EVENT IS CANCELLED.
Please note that the brunch and museum tour are for Members +1.
In lieu of our October regular monthly meeting, Beverly Denver will host a brunch at her historic Galveston bungalow, Whimsy.
A visit to the Bryan Museum Collection and Galleries will follow our delightful brunch. HFCW will have a 60- to 90-minute, socially distant, docent-guided tour. The museum entrance fee is $12 per person.
The Bryan Museum houses one of the world’s largest gatherings of historical artifacts, documents, and artwork relating to Texas and the American West. The museum’s holdings span 12,000 years, from ancient Native American cultural artifacts to today. You’ll see a portion of the 70,000 items, including a stunning display of saddles; over 250 antique firearms; hundreds of spurs; art from fine to folk; rare maps; chaps; as well as Native American stone tools and arrowheads.
The museum building itself is a jewel, and you’ll come away impressed and proud of its presentation of the chronological history of Texas and the American West.
Reservations are needed by Friday October 15, 2021. Click register button to register yourself. Register your guest separately.
Please mail your check for $12 per person payable to HFCW. Send checks to our treasurer: Carolyn Myers, 1422 Garden Park Drive, Deer Park, TX 77536.

Dress Up Your Backyard or Balcony to Help Birds and Pollinators
2021-09-29 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
PROGRAM
You will come away with the information you need to make a difference to our flying friends—whatever your green space. Elizabeth White-Olsen will share how she and her husband, bird tour guide Glenn Olsen, set out to re-landscape their typical suburban yard. Their combined love of birds and nature along with endless passion guided them to replace their ten non-native species with more than one hundred native species. Next step? The formation of their company, GO Native Landscaping. Hundreds of thousands of acres of crucial habitat have been lost to Houston’s development and landscaping practices. Elizabeth will reveal how citizens can support their local bird and butterfly populations. Join Elizabeth White-Olsen to learn how you can make a difference by planting one—or, better yet, many—plants that birds and pollinators love.
SPEAKER

Elizabeth White-Olsen holds two Master’s of Fine Arts in Writing degrees and founded the literary arts nonprofit Writespace in 2014. In 2020, she co-founded GO Native Landscaping with her husband. She has achieved the Native Plant Society of Texas Landscape Certification Level 1 and is currently enrolled in training to become a Texas Master Naturalist. Elizabeth has published articles on habitat restoration for the Houston Chronicle. She has taught writing at Rice University Glasscock School of Continuing Studies and is the author of the poetry collection, Given Words.

Show-and-Tell a Piece of Your Summer
2021-08-25 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
PROGRAM
Our group is always exploring ways to maintain our connections. Do you remember that in January 2021, we had to meet via Zoom so we shared stories of our first cars? The tales and reminiscences were so enjoyed, our discussion about names of cars, and their genders, continued between us via email.
This meeting promises to be another good time. Please bring something for show-and-tell. We want to see an item from a summer trip you’ve experienced or something else you have done during this season. This could range from a postcard to a painting of an egret. We will have a fascinating time and learn more about each other.
FACILITATOR

Beverly Denver

Discover How You Can Use Color to Silently Impact Your World
2021-07-28 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
“You can sell anything in a yellow box.” Why? Because advertisers know that of all colors, yellow is most noticeable by the human eye. An artist, however, will often use touches of red to lead the viewer’s eye around the canvas—and it works. This program reveals how yellow and red affect us, and explains blue, orange, and even how purple can sway our perceptions. Where would we be without that perfect little black dress and the silent message it delivers? Color—whether in clothing, promotion, or decor—impacts us in ways we don’t consciously perceive. Color is a major influence factor in our lives. Come learn from artist and writer Chris Rogers as she reveals ways we can silently use color to impact our world.

SPEAKER

Chris Rogers is a Texas novelist whose stories cover an array of genres, including mystery, suspense, paranormal and science fiction. As a ghostwriter, she has co-authored nonfiction, has published books ChrisRogersBooks.com on writing, such as Goosing the Write Brain: A Storyteller’s Toolkit, and speaks often at writing seminars. Her work has been included in Writer’s Digest Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, A Taste of Murder, various anthologies and, most recently, a Writer’s Digest book – Crafting Dynamic Dialogue. Also an artist of abstract-expressionist paintings, Chris’s work can be found at various Texas galleries and online. She conducts abstract painting workshops that attract participants from beginner to professional and publishes a blog at chrisrogers.com that provides free tips on both writing and painting.
Before moving to the countryside, Chris was president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Houston Chapter; Mystery Writers of America, Houston Chapter; and Houston Focus on Concerns for Women. She also served on the board of the Greater Houston Speakers Association. Today Chris serves on the boards of Troupe Over the Hill and the Brazos Valley Art League.

Cafe and Gallery – Special Event
2021-07-10 13:00 - 16:00 | TX
On the second Saturday in July, (July 10), we will hold an extra event. You are first invited to gather at Epicure Café on West Gray (next to the River Oaks Theater) for a Dutch treat lunch. For the lunch, please arrive between 1:00 and 1:30pm. This is an in-person opportunity for those who are comfortable in a restaurant. We want everyone to feel reconnected to our wonderful organization, even if only three or four of us are present, that’s okay.
Second, we will then attend the opening reception of the 13th Annual Juried Exhibition at Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy. Although their reception is all day, HFCW will gather from 3:00 to 4:00pm. A portion of art sales supports Houston Junior Forum.
No agenda other than enjoying lunch at Epicure Café before enjoying art at Archway Gallery. Spouses and guests are welcome. Please register them separately. Some may wish to car pool.
NOTE: This lunch and gallery visit do not replace our July 28 meeting, which will be held via Zoom. (https://hfcw.org/event/discover-how-you-can-use-color-to-silently-impact-your-world-3/)

Add Time to Your Day with Focused Relaxation
2021-06-30 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
In our frenzied world, we are constantly bombarded by interruptions and outside demands. And yet we still pile on the activities. Without effective time management, and maintaining good boundaries, time (our most priceless possession), shrinks away. Focused relaxation can help.
Plopping on the couch may seem like the answer, but your path to relaxation must be focused to truly ease the mind and empty stresses from your body. Rosemary will provide you with an understanding of what a system of relaxation techniques can accomplish. She will even lead the group in practicing several relaxation exercises. You’ll come away with skills and methods for easing stress, finding true relaxation, and recapturing some of that elusive time you crave.

SPEAKER

Helping others has been Rosemary Behren’s mantra for as long as she can remember. In working with counseling issues, she enjoys helping others to learn coping skills, move past relationship issues, and see their full potential. She sees significant value in assisting clients coping with chronic pain as they increase their understanding of the difference between acute pain and chronic pain. Rosemary enjoys working with individuals, couples, children and adolescents. She utilizes Cognitive-Behavioral, Adlerian, Family Systems, and Existential theories, and she believes in addressing the whole person encompassing body, mind and spirit. As a licensed professional counselor-supervisor, Rosemary assists counseling interns in accomplishing their goal of becoming counselors.

Patio Dining - Special Event
2021-06-02 06:30 - 08:00 | TX
The Wednesday after our regular May monthly meeting, we will hold an extra event. You are invited to gather on the patio at Tony Mandola’s for a Dutch treat lunch. No agenda other than safely visiting with each other face to face. This is an in-person opportunity for those who feel comfortable dining outside. We want everyone to feel reconnected to our group, but if only three or four attend, that’s okay.
NOTE: This patio luncheon does not take the place of our June 30 meeting, which will be held via Zoom.

Realizing the Impact of 50 Years of Support for the Most Diverse Community College in the Nation
2021-05-26 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
The Houston Community College Foundation empowers student success through philanthropic support, aligned with HCC institutional initiatives. HCCF supports high-quality educational experiences for HCC students of all backgrounds to help them improve the trajectory of their lives. HCC will soon be celebrating 50 years of educating Houstonians. Karen Schmidt will describe HCC’s 15 Centers of Excellence and the major projects that are planned for preparing the future workforce of our fair city.

SPEAKER

Karen L. Schmidt, MBA, CFRE, is the Executive Director and President of the Houston Community College Foundation. Karen earned her BS and MBA in Business Administration and Management from Colorado State University. She spent a year as EVP of Markets for LandAmerica in Richmond, VA, before becoming CEO/Principal at KLS Group in Chicago. She spent five years as EVP and Chief Development and Marketing Officer for the Presbyterian Mission Agency in Louisville, KY, then served as Executive Director and CEO of the College of Lake County Foundation in Illinois before coming to Houston to lead the HCC Foundation.

Patio Dining - Special Event / RESCHEDULED Due to Weather
2021-05-19 11:30 - 13:00 | TX
On May 19, the Wednesday before our regular monthly meeting, we will hold an extra event. You are invited to gather on the patio at Tony Mandola’s for a Dutch treat lunch. No agenda other than safely visiting with each other face to face. This is an in-person opportunity for those who feel comfortable dining outside. We want everyone to feel reconnected to our group, but if only three or four attend, that’s okay.
NOTE: This patio luncheon does not take the place of our May 26 meeting, which will be held via Zoom.

Take Photos with That Ooh, Ahh Factor
2021-04-28 11:30 - 13:00 | ZOOM
Discover inside tips for great photos from a true artist photographer. June Russell will take you through her proven process. You’ll learn how to identify your subject, consider technical and artistic issues, and take photographs that will make you proud. You will come away with the info you need to “see” like a photographer. June will critique for you the images she will share as examples.
Recognize the elements of great photos: color, line, texture, contrast, selective focus, and shadow…that ooh, ahh factor. Whether using your smartphone camera or a digital SLR, you’ll gain techniques on how to frame your image, use natural materials, and capture perspective shots that keep your eyes going. Plus terrific tips such as carrying a black cloth so you can see your phone screen.
SPEAKER

June Russell has been a fine art photographer for more than 25 years and has had five solo exhibitions. She also exhibits in numerous group shows. June has delivered presentations to art groups in Texas and Colorado and her work is included in collections across the country. The majority of her work is inspired by nature and she often focuses on making abstract images from extremely close-up photography. June is also creating a totally different body of work titled “Visible Frequencies,” which is based on light patterns. She is currently serving on the board of directors for Women in the Visual and Literary Arts (WIVLA) for the fifth time.
Learn more about June by visiting: www.junerussellphotography.com
