Any time of the day is a good time for AWG - LR members to gather
together and enjoy fellowship! Here we have some of a number of our morning
Coffee Chat attendees this year.
Pictured from left to right are: Susan Rey, Appoline L, mom Linda, Katharine C and Cerese.
You may take
guesses at who our devoted photographer and a bit camera shy member
might be...
On January 26th, a few of our members inaugurated a new AWG-LR
activity, "Afternoon Tea at the Clubhouse". A few goodies were shared
thanks to the Afternoon Tea's activity chair, Genette, and our
ever-talented Anne S. Anne's homemade rendition of "financiers รก
la griotte" get a very special mentions... Here standing by the window,
we see Anne conversing with Dalene. Susan Rey is in the foreground
chatting with Barbara.
AWG Afternoon Teas are great opportunities to share what we like to do;
little and big projects and passions such as Genette's fine handcrafted
quilts and Mariannick's marvelous patch worked baby's coat!
Here we see new member Barbara and Susan Rey.
Through the doorway, Dalene is seen in the corridor showing Mariannick's
fine patchwork to a neighbor on what is literally "International Row".
In the Jacques d'Aragon Building complex where our Clubhouse is
comfortably located, the ambience is quite international (Other clubs on
the same floor originate from China, Brazil, Germany and of course, our
friends from the British Cultural Association with whom we share an
office space) in the foreground Susan and Barbara are sharing notes on
expat life.
Barbara and Susan with Dalene in the new clubhouse
In the picture above are the shelves of AWG's lending library (many of the books have been discussed at AWG's Book Group), as well as books for sale (proceeds as always go to FAWCO).
Come and join us every month for Afternoon Tea at AWG's fabulous new Clubhouse.
A group of us - Orla, Anne, Jan, Katharine C - convened at Denise's for our February Cook&Eat session. Our menu was: Beet Wellington (yes, sliced yellow and red beets, wrapped in a leek and crushed walnut cover (rather than being wrapped in the traditional duxelles mushroom covering) and wrapped in puff pastry. It was delicious.
Beet Wellington
The cooked Beet Wellington
Denise, Jan, Anne and Orla
Katharine, Jan, Denise, Anne, and Orla (seated)
The Beet Wellington was accompanied by an avocado salad and cresson
Our delicious Valentine's Day dessert
Our dessert was created by Orla - a rose biscuit base, then a layer of whipped cream and
blended lychees, then a layer of raspberry gelee using agar-agar (rather than gelatin) topped with
fresh raspberries. Orla brought some pink champagne for lunch and we had a very convivial
time.
Many thanks to Denise (and her husband Gerard and her two sons) for allowing us to take over the kitchen and dining room for the morning.
Editor: I know that President Obama is no longer our President, and I
need to get over it, (haven't yet) but this lengthy piece in the NY
Times documents the letters sent to him during his tenure in the White
House, each one of which was read by a team of staffers, and 10 letters
each day were prepared for him to read unedited. They were varied -
poignant, hurting, volatile - you name it, they were there. But the
President insisted on this - he wanted to know what the American people
were thinking - and when he could do something, he did. You can either copy/paste it or click on the link below:
January 21, 2009 Dear President Obama, My
name is Thomas J. Meehan III, father of Colleen Ann Meehan Barkow, age
26, who perished on September 11 2001 at the WTC. Colleen was an
employee of Cantor-Fitzgerald working on the 103rd Floor. Her upper
torso was found September 17th, 2001, the date of her first wedding
anniversary. In the days and months afterwards there were to be
additional discoveries of her, a total of six, which still did not
amount to a whole body, but was more than what some other families
affected have been given back, Families still speak in terms of body
parts found and not found, and what will never be found. In
the past seven years, my wife and I have been committed to the issue of
the ashen remains of those lost that day, which have been interred
(bulldozed) into the 40 acres of land known as the Fresh Kills landfill
on Staten Island, New York. For the one thousand families who did not
receive any remains, this is the final resting place, an un-holy,
un-consecrated landfill. The live lost are there with garbage beneath
them and construction fill above them, an
unbefitting resting place for those we called heroes and took an oath
never to forget. While this issue has been before the
courts, and remains may in fact be permanently interred at the landfill,
parents, spouses, siblings, extended family members must live with the
knowledge that their loved ones lie in what was the world’s largest
dump. How we as a society will be judged in the treatment of those lost,
only history will record. My wife and I mourn the
continued loss of Americans in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan while we
still await the apprehension and trial of those we hold responsible for
the death of our daughter and almost 3000 other American and
international citizens. While we understand the reasons for
closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, we urge you to
allow the trials of those defendants charged in connection with the
attacks of September 11, 2001, to go forward and complete the judicial
process and give some small measure of justice to all of the 9/11 family
members, while we still await the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Our
lives have been forever changed by the events of September 11, 2001,
and yet life goes on, we now have two granddaughters, Brett Colleen, age
four and Ryann Elizabeth, age two, we hope that their lives will be
in a better world that the one which claimed their aunt. And they will
have the opportunities to live their lives to the fullest and live in a
safer world, free of the threat of terrorism. I share these
facts with you so that you will understand why these issues mean so
much to us, and ask that you not forget the promise “Never to Forget”,
and will bring to justice those responsible for September 11, 2001. God Bless You and You’re Family, May the Peace of the Lord Be Upon You and Remain With You, Respectfully, Thomas J. Meehan III & JoAnn Meehan Toms River, New Jersey The President’s Response
Dear Tom & JoAnn — I
am in receipt of your letter, and wanted to respond personally. Your
story is heartbreaking, and we will do everything we can to ensure that
the process of bringing all of those involved in 9/11 is completed. In
the meantime, know that we will never forget Colleen, and that I spend
every waking hour in search of ways to make the future brighter for your
granddaughters and my daughters. God Bless, Barack Obama
