Executive Club Newsletter

November 2008

December 2008

Holiday Traditions

by Ellen Schmidt

Thursday, December 18 Champaign Country Club
11:30 a.m.:  Registration and Networking
11:45 a.m.:  Buffet Opens
12:15 p.m.:  Mtg/Program

Mistletoe, Santa, ornaments, lighted trees, caroling are all part of our holiday traditions. But why? Learn how holiday traditions came about and have changed over the years with Dr. Joy Kammerling.

Dr. Kammerling is Associate Professor of History at Eastern Illinois University where she teaches courses on the History of Christianity, World Religions, and the Age of the Witch-hunts. Dr. Kammerling’s research examines Jewish-Christian relations in Germany at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
Registrations are due by noon on Monday, December 15. Please indicate if you are bringing a guest. Contact the Treasurer with questions about registration. Register online now!

*Remember, there will be a $5 late fee for reservations received after the Monday Noon deadline. Attendees with late or no reservations will be permitted to attend as seating is available.

Pre-register online and send a check for $15 to ECCC, P.O. Box 61, Champaign, IL 61824-0061 OR pre-register online and pay on day of luncheon.

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Thanksgiving Traditions

President’s Message

by Hope Wheeler

I am writing this the day after returning from a 4 day weekend. I LOVE long weekends! I am so grateful for Thanksgiving! I had such a wonderful holiday, spending lots of time with my immediate and extended family along with some time to relax. Our Thanksgiving tradition is to get together with my husband’s family on Thanksgiving Day. It is a small group, so it is very relaxed and casual. We hosted this year and had the traditional turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, and cherry cobbler. Time to hit the gym! The Dallas Cowboys were on TV (I had no control over the remote). On Friday, I am not one of the shoppers out hitting the streets for bargains. I stay home and take down my fall decorations and put up my winter ones, which the kids love to help with. I also did a little scrapbooking. We normally celebrate with my extended family the Sunday after Thanksgiving but this year it was moved up to the Sunday before because one of my second cousins was married Thanksgiving weekend. We also hosted this dinner because we decided it was time for all the cousins to start helping out my mom and “the aunts” and take turns hosting the dinner. We had about 35 people over on Sunday the 23rd with about the same menu as Thursday. The good news is that we only had to prepare the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and the rest was brought to us! Everything went well but this one was a little more stressful because of the size of the group. So I was glad this dinner was the weekend before Thanksgiving as my long weekend was then a little more relaxed.

I thought it would be interesting to hear what the Thanksgiving traditions are for a few other Executive Club members so I randomly called a few members to hear their stories:

Amani Ayad—Amani said they broke tradition this year and rather than her hosting the Thanksgiving dinner, she went to her son’s in the west Chicago suburbs. Her other son was there also along with some other friends. She said she got to sit back and relax and let others do the cooking this year. She did bring her infamous sweet potato casserole. They had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. She especially enjoyed getting the chance to play with her grandkids.

Mary Dennis—Mary got to stay home this year after a lot of traveling for pas Thanksgivings. She was for keeping it simple. Her immediate family came over (a 33 year old and 21 year old). She does all of the cooking and the kids help her get everything set up for dinner. She has discovered that it works well to make the big meal that evening so she goes out and does her shopping on Thursday morning because the stores are empty! She does a traditional meal also with turkey and all of the fixings. On Friday she stays home, cleans up and eats leftovers!

Jennifer Greene—Jennifer did a lot of running on Thanksgiving Day. She split her time between her traditional family gathering and her boyfriend, Jason’s. Jennifer, Jason, and her family (including another ECCC member, mom Donna) go to Bloomington and celebrate with Jennifer’s cousins. They are always celebrating a birthday this time of year so they combine that with Thanksgiving. They also like to play a card game called Squeak (maybe she can teach us sometime). Later they came back to Champaign to eat with Jason’s family. Double turkey day for them! Jennifer lets others do the cooking and she brings the wine! On Friday, her family tradition is to go back to Bloomington to shop at Growing Grounds for Christmas decorations. They also hit Von Maur, to do some more shopping for themselves and others.

I always enjoy hearing about other family traditions. Gives me ideas for some new ones! I know in the spirit of Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for: my family, first and foremost; our good health; and the many things that we take for granted on a daily basis. I am also thankful for the friends I have made at Executive Club and the great group of women that we have to network with. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you in December!

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December 4 Wine & Cheese at Talbotts

Compliments of Sandi Jones

by Kathy Reeves

Enjoy an evening socializing with new & old acquaintances while sipping wine and nibbling cheese at Talbotts in Old Farm Shoppes this Thursday, December 4, from 6 until 8 p.m.

Wine and cheese will be served compliments of Sandi Jones. In addition you will receive a 30% discount on any purchases made that evening.

Please RSVP to Talbotts at 356-9790, communicating that you are one of Sandi’s party.

Hope you can join us!

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November Speaker Summary

Megan Wolf, 40 N 88 W

by Ellen Schmidt

November Program Summary

Cultivating Creativity in Champaign County

Megan Wolf, Director of Resource Development for 40 North/88 West was our November speaker. Megan called up eight volunteers from membership who read the value statements of 40 North during her presentation. She elaborated on each point giving us information about how 40 North advocates, collaborates, illuminates and elevates the arts in Champaign County.

Megan shared that over $30 million is the total economic impact of arts, that local arts organizations employ 1400 people, and that the total audience for the arts organizations reporting is an estimated 634,000.

One of their upcoming events is the Boneyard Arts Festival that will be held April 17-19, 2009. This event is a county wide event that showcases creativity of sculptors, weavers, photographers, painters and other visual artists join musicians, dancers, actors, poets and other performers sharing their creativity in a wide variety of venues.

You can learn more about 40 North/88 West at www.40north.org

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January Family Social Event

Mark Your Calendars!

by Kathy Reeves

On Sunday afternoon, January 11th, ECCC is planning a family event at Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) on campus. There will be activities and a tour of the facilities, and much more. So plan to come and bring your family! More information to follow.

Check out this link: http://www.campusrec.uiuc.edu/facilities/arc.html

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Welcome New Members!

Please take a moment to welcome:

Carol Timms is an educator/facilitator with 25 years experience in educational or organizational development. Carol designs and conducts effective education programs for the business, government, education, and non-profit sectors.

Shayla Maatuka is an attorney in private practice with expertise in real estate law, immigration, business law, estate planning and administrative and family law.

Diane Marlin is a research coordinator in The Pampered Chef Family Resiliency Program, Department of Human and Community Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.