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The AAUW-TC Branch's Annual Meeting 

Tuesday, May 7th Janis Room, Dennos Museum

1. Meeting @ 5:15 pm
2. Elections @ 5:30 pm
3. Speaker @ 5:45 pm

Mardi Link

Biography

Four months before news broke of a global pandemic, Mardi Link returned to the newsroom of a daily newspaper, after thirty years away. She’d raised three sons, — mostly alone —wrote five books — mostly alone — and was looking forward to being part of a team, and of combatting the false idea of reporters as the “enemy of the people.” She wanted to work as part of a team in pursuit of a common good: Informing residents about their community and their government. Since then, she’s covered the Antrim County election lawsuit, the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and failures in the state’ guardianship system, among other stores. Mardi’s reporting at the Traverse City Record-Eagle has won awards from the Associated Press editors and was finalist for Scripps Howard First Amendment Award.

Mardi was born in Detroit, undergrad from Michigan State, master’s degree from Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. She lives in Traverse City, is married, and has two dogs (Olive, a corgi and Gretchen, a German Shepard).

The Tradition Returns

The tradition of honoring amazing women in our region has been taken up by AAUWTC. Thanks to sponsorship from My Secret Stash and others, we are proud to present the 2024 ATHENA Awards.

In addition to being the host of this prestigious event, AAUWTC scholarships will also benefit. Any proceeds after expenses will go to our scholarships funds! So, please nominate an outstanding woman you know, buy tickets, and share this email with friends who also want to support great women through the ATHENA honor and scholarships!

Celebrate with Us!

Bring friends and join amazing women from our community as we celebrate this year's ATHENA winner while building connections with friends old and new.

BUY TICKETS

Contact Amy Shamroe if you buy 8 or more tickets for special options.

NOMINATE

We are still accepting nominations through April 28th! Fantastic women know fantastic women. Nominate a woman you know who is out there making our community a better place. Try to ensure your nominee is available May 9th.

SPONSOR

Help support this fantastic event and scholarships for women in our area! All sponsorship levels also include tickets to the event.



AAUWTC June Outing

Grocer's Daughter Chocolate, Empire, MI

Friday, June 7th at 10:30am

We will take a tour of the chocolate shop and gelato shop beginning at 10:30am, ending with a gelato tasting around noon. This is a free tour, but we would encourage members who participate to support this small business while we are there.

We will ask members to coordinate carpooling if possible.

Address: Michigan 22, 11590 S Lacore St, Empire, MI 49630



You can also plan to enjoy lunch in the area after the tour. Jody Hayden, owner of Grocer's Daughter, offered some suggestions:

"Feel free to order lunch and eat on our patio if that helps with logistics. Shipwreck is nearby for sandwiches/salads. I also highly recommend Trail and Inn in Glen Arbor, a wonderful women-owned deli with fantastic sandwiches/food. We recently ordered a sandwich board from them for a meeting and they do a great job! We'll have grab-n-go picnic food in our gelato shop this summer (sandwiches, wraps, salads, grain bowls made locally and charcuterie-style offerings) but absolutely no pressure there."

Space is limited for this outing, so please RSVP with number of people in your party as soon as possible. If you are interested in a group lunch after, please also indicate that when you RSVP.

RSVP to Amy Shamroe by email: auwamy@gmail.com

2024 OFFICER SLATE

President: Jean Zerges

Program VP: Carol Evans

Finance Officer: ?

2024 Scholarship Winners!

Two AAUW Traverse City Branch Scholarships for $2,000 were awarded this year. The winners are: Ashley Hooper of Kingsley Michigan and Natalie Anderson of Traverse City.

This year's Minnie Votruba Moore scholarship for $2,000 winner is Olivia Bailey of Interlochen Michigan.

Ashley will be attending Davenport University while Natalie and Olivia will be going to Northern Michigan University this year.

Women's Book Project

The Women’s Book Project has purchased copies of Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote by Dinah Johnson, a hard-cover picture book biography. They will each have an AAUW donation book plate.

Betsy Moore has kindly agreed to hand-deliver a copy along with an explanatory letter to schools and public library branches in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties before the end of this school year.

Spring Flower Sale

Our Flower Sales are such an easy and fun fundraiser, we decided to do it again! Order seeds, berries, and/or bulbs and they will arrive with plenty of time for spring planting. Your order will be delivered to you. As with our previous sales, anyone can order from our unique sales link and proceeds will come directly to the branch. So, feel free to share the website with the green thumbs in your life! Orders start shipping now.

Annual Book Sale in May

This year's annual book sale will be Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, 2024

Friday / Saturday 9 am - 6 pm

Sunday noon-3 pm

at the Mercato in the Village

Bring Donations to Shirley Murray's at Cordia. Use the parking lot at the Cordia sign on Cottage Hill Dr. Take the books to the elevator next to the front stairs to the 1st floor and leave them at the concierge desk immediately upon entry. Shirley Murray at 231-943-4663 (landline); sgibsonmurray@gmail.com

Or Bring Donations to the Mercato Thursday, May 2nd around 2:00-3:00 while we're setting up.

For Pick Up

Amy Gibson at 662-202-5692 (phone and text); aemark1@gmail.com

Poetry Group

Friday, May 17th, 2024 from 11-1 p.m.

Snacks provided. Bring your poetry and/or enjoy work by selected poets.

The Poetry Group will not meet over the summer.

Location: Shirley Murray’s 610 Cottageview Drive 231-943-4663 sgibsonmurray@gmail.com

Bridge Group

May 9th & May 23rd from 11:30 - 3:00 p.m.

Lunch and bridge at the Traverse City Country Club. During the renovations we'll be meeting in the downstairs card room. Enter at the lower level.

This group will continue to meet over the summer on the second and fourth Thursday.

Contact: Shirley at 231-943-4663. sgibsonmurray@gmail.com

Book Groups

Elizabeth “Libbet” Ford Paullin Terrell

Member Libbet Terrell passed away March 30th. A member and advocate of AAUW, Libbett will be missed. A gathering will be held at the Grand Traverse Yacht Club on Sunday, April 28 from 2:00-4:00pm. Memorial contributions may be directed to The Grand Traverse Yacht Club Foundation or the Scholarship Fund at the Local AAUW.

Read her obituary and post memories: https://www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com/obituaries/Elizabeth-Libbet-Paullin-Terrell/#!/Obituary

Also, Candy Ashley's memorial is Saturday, May 11th, 4-6 pm at the Top of the Park, Park Place Hotel.

MEMBER-TO-MEMBER

Shirley Murray: AAUW’s Book Sale Ambassador

by Laura Higgins

Chartered in 1954, the Traverse City Area Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) strives to advance equity for women and girls by offering scholarships for educational opportunities, workshops, and leadership training. One of the organization’s most enduring events has been the AAUW-TC Book Sale. Dating back to the 1950’s when the branch was first formed, the Book Sale has evolved through time but always maintained its mission of raising scholarship money, building community awareness about AAUW, recruiting new members, and providing the public with exceptionally well curated books at reasonable prices.

That mission has been well preserved and nurtured under the leadership of AAUW member and Traverse City resident Shirley Murray. For over three decades, Shirley has guided the Book Sale through venue changes, sourcing books and puzzles for the sale, recruiting and organizing volunteers, and even storing the sale inventory in her home when office space was no longer available.

Like many leaders, Shirley’s involvement with the Book Sale started as a volunteer in the early 1990’s Book donations were accepted in barrels at local supermarkets and brought to a central sorting location at Central Grade School. Those days were labor intensive (and lots of things other than books ended up in the donation barrels). It was a large effort to transport books, sort, price, find homes for donations outside of the scope of AAUW’s sale, and prepare for the sale itself. The sale was held for many years in the Cherryland Mall, had a short stint at the Civic Center, and also had a period of online sales prior to the pandemic.

These days, the AAUW-TC Book Sale is easier to find than ever. Now held in the Mercato at Grand Traverse Commons, Shirley and AAUW volunteers hold “mini sales” on the first Saturday of every month from November through April from 10am–2pm.

The annual sale, with an even larger selection of books and puzzles, happens the first weekend in May. Each sale offers a fine selection of high-quality fiction, non-fiction, and mystery hardcover and paperback books as well as new and lightly-used jigsaw puzzles (checked for completeness). The 2024 Annual Book Sale will be held May 3-5, (9am-6pm Friday and Saturday, noon-3pm on Sunday) in the Mercato. Proceeds from all AAUW-TC Book Sales benefit women’s collegiate scholarships awarded by the Branch.

Shirley’s dedication to keeping the Book Sale on firm footing for 32 years is rooted in her deep commitment to education, her inquisitive mind, and her passion for the people and mission of AAUW to empower women. Shirley herself was an elementary and secondary school educator for 30 years. And it may not surprise you that all three of her daughters hold graduate degrees in library science. Her enthusiasm and conviction for advancing equity for women and girls are evident as she interacts with Book Sale customers and discusses AAUW with prospective members. She’s a smart, witty ambassador working hard to build a future where women have the opportunities she and others were discouraged from pursuing. But luckily for us, they successfully forged ahead despite the obstacles, breaking open a trail for those behind them.

Member-To-Member is a new series where members interview other members on their AAUW projects and history. Did you enjoy this new feature or the Getting To Know... series? Recommend someone or volunteer to interview another member! Amy Gibson: aemark1@gmail.com

Getting to Know Sandy Seppala-Gyr

Why did you join AAUW?

My mother joined AAUW when she graduated from Wayne State University in the mid 40s. I always heard about it. I moved with my new husband, to San Jose, California, with the military (he was stationed there). The wife of one of his colleagues was a member of AAUW. She invited me to join, which I jumped to do. I joined in 1967 at the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Branch. Besides excellent Interest groups, I found some of my best friends. The book group I was in for years is still meeting!

Tell us about your service?

In that AAUW branch, I headed a committee to make a a film about how magazines presented women. In other branches over the years, I was a leader of several Interest groups, was president in D.C., and was newsletter chair in most of the branches. I also spent two years in Kenya (1977-79) in the Peace Corps. While there I taught high school history and English in a community school that received no state finances. Back here in TC, I started the Returned Peace Corps Members group, which now has more than 100 listed. I volunteer with PoWer! Book Bags. At Grace Episcopal Church, I started a book group and the Stitch and Chat group. My profession started when I returned from Peace Corps to tons of jobs in the new computer companies in Silicon Valley. I worked in new companies making computers as a technical writer and manager of publication departments. Later I worked at NIH (National Institute of Health) on a contract to build an on-line way to submit reports for financial aid to research. I retired in 2008 and moved to Traverse City. 

What are some of your outside interests?

Reading books: cozy mysteries, especially those that take place overseas, historical fiction, and books suggested by friends.

I learned how to needlepoint in 1970 at the Grosse Pointe AAUW Branch. I then taught it at back at the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Branch. A few years later, I started to knit, which soon became my favorite interest.

Traveling has always interested me since I was a summer exchange student to Finland in 1961. I traveled around the world after Peace Corps and since then, I have continued to travel.



Tell us about your family

My parents owned the Harper Sport Shop in the east of Detroit, where I was raised. I had a younger brother, Bill. I was married when I was a junior at university. After graduation, I moved with my husband to California, where I lived for 22 years. We had two sons, Jeff and David. We divorced in 1979.

Jeff was married and he has a daughter, Margaret Kay. She has a good job in Seattle and lives with Jeff. His wife had two adopted sons too, Taylor and Jordan. Taylor is a chef and Jordan works with a gaming company in Santa Monica. Jeff is divorced. He works at Bungie, a high-end game company. My younger son, David, married Kathy, and they have two daughters, Sara and Erin. They live in Santa Clara, California. He has a photography business taking photos of students in pre-schools. Kathy is a professor at Santa Clara University and an outstanding artist presenting art programs annually. Sara will graduate from high school in June and Erin will be a junior. Sara has a beautiful voice and belongs to a chorale that will go to Australia and New Zealand in June to perform. Erin plays the clarinet and marches in the school band. She’s also a big-time reader. They visit here every summer.



I was a board member of I International Affairs Forum for several years and met my husband, Kim Gyr, at one of its programs. He was raised in Brighton, MI, to his Swiss father and American mother. He had 5 brothers. After university, Kim moved to Switzerland. He lived there for 31years. He married and divorced there. His son, Tom, and his family live in England. Kim attended an IAF Forum and we met there. Within a week, we were seeing each other often and, a year later, we were married in September 2016.

Keeping in Touch

As AAUW members and friends, we have much to celebrate, recognize and honor. Please share with Pat Lewallen via email: bandplew@chartermi.net or call home phone: 231-946-3746. Special milestones among our members: birthdays, accomplishments, celebrations, condolences, etc. Pat will get out an appropriate card to them.

In the April AAUW Meeting the League of Women Voters of Michigan Co-President CHRISTINA SCHLITT spoke about new election laws.

Website: League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area https://www.lwvgta.org/

Presentation Slides