Maggie: Guayule conference at MLK Annexe, March 24 2016

Serge (Palu) gave a very informative conference about guayule rubber and comparisons with hevea rubber at the MLK annex on Thursday evening, 24 March.  It was nice that members of BCA (and FOAL?) were able to join members of AWG and their husbands for the event, and one member of BCA remarked that we  should now be able to rise to the challenge of any quiz night questions about either natural rubber.   It is quite impressive that AWG, and now FAWCO, thanks to the Development Grant that was awarded to the project we proposed in South Africa (Growing Guayule to Fight AIDS and Provide Bio-fuel, a/k/a Condoms, Cash, and Cooking Fuel) are involved at the ground floor of this new technology dealing with the latex of the future.

During the course of the talk, Serge mentioned several times the use of female American labor to plant guayule, and specifically cited Peggy Rig and Maggie as helping to plant the first guayule plants in the Sup-Agro fields near the CIRAD offices.  He also said that the guayule fields near Lansargues were featured in a FR3 national news program in December, and Arte has proposed making a film about the guayule research.  

After the talk, some people mentioned that they would be interested in visiting the guayule fields near Lansargues, so perhaps that is an activity that can be arranged with the Garden Group.  May would be the optimal month.

Since all the SEASON cookbooks have been sold, AWG had to find another gift for the guest speaker, and Mariannick handled the task brilliantly.  While she and Maggie were working on the accounts for the Celtic Evening on Tuesday, she mentioned that she wanted to buy a bottle of whisky for her ‘other half’ for his birthday, and asked Maggie if she could recommend a whisky that could be purchased at Le Flacon, one of our sponsors for the Thanksgiving raffle.  Maggie was happy to oblige.  Little did she know that she would be carrying the bottle home on Thursday night, and enjoying it with HER ‘other half.’

When Mary-Catherine presented the bottle of whisky to Serge, she mentioned that some of the people in the room might have seen him in Clapiers the previous Saturday night, in a skirt.  Maggie noted that it’s called a kilt, but Mary-Catherine said, “No matter how you look at it, it’s a skirt,” and wondered if people had asked Serge whether he was wearing anything under it.  Maggie then repeated the Scottish joke:  The reply to the question “Is anything worn under the kilt?” is “There’s nothing worn under the kilt.  Everything is in fine and perfect working order.”

Serge presented both AWG and BCA with copies of a DVD about guayule, which he produced with colleagues at CIRAD.  He also recommended the book Growing American Rubber, by Mark  R. Finlay (no relation to Mary-Catherine, whose mother’s name is Finlay) and the translation into French, Guayule et autres plantes à caoutchouc – De la saga d’hier à l’industrie de demain?, with its beautiful cover photo of a guayule plant taken by no other than Maggie.  (credits on the back of the book, although you have to open it to find Serge’s name – if anyone would like to buy a copy of the French translation, contact Maggie)

The evening ended with an apéro, which was enjoyed by all, before we had to be cleared out of the hall.

Photo credits:  Maggie

Maggie and Jane: Hike in Villeveille, March 2016

We were lucky with the weather.  Although it was rainy the next day, it was beautifully sunny on Thursday the 24^th, without too much wind, so picnicking was comfortable.

 

As usual, it was an educational walk, and we saw a lavoir, two chateaux, one of which is like the chateau in Castries, a glacière, a tuilerie, a capitelle, some ruins, some great fences and gates, and plenty of colorful flowers.  

And Sammy got to go for a swim.

 

 

Jane and Sammy, her intrepid dachshund

The lavoir is ‘Lavoir de Villeveille’.

The domed construction is the Villevieille ‘Ice House’.

Pre-historic settlement

Denise, Maggie, Susan Rey, Mariannick, Jane and Sammy

Photo credits:  Jane and Maggie

 

Maggie: Celtic Evening fundraiser

Photo credits:  Sonia and Maggie

Dancing ... it's fun

There were 64 participants at the Celtic Evening in Clapiers on Saturday, 19 March, including 12 members and some of their family members.  Thanks to all who helped, and to M. le Maire de Clapiers, Eric Penso (who stopped by for a dance) for donating the hall. Thanks also to the musicians, Roddy Johnston and Kate Badcock, from Abernethy, Scotland, for providing such great music for dancing, and such fine songs.  A bit of Scotland and a bit of Ireland, so it was not just Scottish music and Irish beer.  Thanks also to Lynda Dodgson, who teaches Irish dancing in Juvignac, for demonstrating some Irish tap dancing, despite the tiled floor, at the musicians’ break (which wasn’t really a break for Roddy, since he saw to the CD for the Irish demonstration).

Thanks to the sale of tickets, drinks and snacks, the evening made a profit of about 300€.

.... more fun

l to r:  Gill, Cerese, front:  Denise, Mariannick, Sue Rich  and on right:  Peggy R, Kim, Noel, Mary-Catherine  staffing the snacks table

Mary-Catherine makes the event go with a swing .....

.... so do Noel and Gill

Musicians Roddy and Kate with Serge and Maggie

Serge is still for a moment

Mariannick and Sonia

Nimble footwork from Maggie and Serge having a fling

Lynda Dodgson tap dancing


 

Maggie: VOTE!

It’s an Election Year

(Just in case you hadn’t noticed!)  The comment was made at the FAWCO Interim Meeting that you would have to be dead not to know how important this election is.  So please make sure you are registered to vote, and to receive an absentee ballot, if necessary.  And urge all your friends to vote too.  It is important to know that even if you signed up for the Global Primary, this does NOT mean that you are registered to vote in November or to receive an absentee ballot.  You can check your status by contacting your local election official, and you can register on-line by various means, such as the FAWCO website, the US Vote Foundation, or FVAP.gov, but obviously FAWCO would prefer that you use the FAWCO website.  It’s very simple.  Just go to the home page, and click on the Overseas Vote icon in the lower left corner.  If you have any difficulties, contact Maggie at mspalu@wanadoo.fr.    

Maggie: report on Interim FAWCO Conference, Frankfurt, March 2016

FAWCO Interim Meeting

There were 117 participants, including 35 first-time attendees,  from 38 clubs in 20 countries and FAUSA at the conference in Frankfurt from 11 to 13 March.  It was the first Interim Meeting since 1998 and was shorter than a biennial conference and held over a weekend in order to keep costs down.  There are now 65 clubs in 35 countries, with the addition this year of clubs in Toronto and the Bahamas.  Delegates to the IM came from as far away as Bogota, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Perth.   Although the meetings were non-stop, there was time for a quick walk through the woods surrounding the hotel before the Opening Night Dinner, and the Foundation Night Gala FUNdraiser on Saturday gave everyone a chance to show off in creative costumes on the theme The Wind Beneath Our Wings.  The 17 items donated by AWG members for the silent auction brought in about $450.  You can see reports and photos from the conference on the FAWCO website www.fawco.org .

AWG-LR, as usual, was mentioned by several speakers in their reports.  We are a Target Project Gold Donor, we participated in the BBC 100 Women debate, and our own Kim M serves on FAWCO’s Finance Committee.   The AWG-LR FAWCO Rep chairs the Clubs in Motion committee of the Health Task Force, and as such, wo-manned a stand at the Friday afternoon Face-2-Face.  Best of all, AWG-LR was cited TWICE during the awarding of the 2016 Development Grants.  Both the projects we nominated received the grants. 

There will be a full report about the conference at the post-conference tea chez Kim on Wednesday, 30 March.

The next FAWCO biennial conference will be in India, hosted by AWC Mumbai, from 30 March to 2 April, 2017.

Maggie: vote to re-brand FAWCO

Maggie voting in favour of re-branding FAWCO

FAWCO Rebranded

FAWCO has a new logo:

and a new tagline :  Inspiring Women Worldwide (the word «inspiring» can be used as an adjective or as a verb), as well as a new Mission Statement:

FAWCO is an international federation of independent organizations whose mission is

·         to build strong support networks for its American and international membership;

·         to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide;

·         to advocate for the rights of U.S. citizens overseas; and

·         to mobilize the skills of its membership in support of global initiatives for education, the environment, health and human rights.

All were approved (after considerable discussion) at the Interim Meeting in Frankfurt.  In the coming months, FAWCO will be updating its website to reflect its new look.

Maggie: AWG Hike Salines Maguelone 7mar'16

The weather was beautiful and the water in the marshes was perfectly calm.   

We saw a variety of plants and flowers, as well as flamingoes, wild geese, egrets, shelducks (the ones with white body and black head), and even swans, plus other commoner life, 

and goats and massive bulls at what we think might be a stud farm.

Along the path near the end of the walk, we saw charred mulberry trunks, too many to be the result of lightening.  We wondered if it might be intentional burning to try to control the direction of growth, and keep them from closing the path, which is also used by the park vehicles.

 

Peggy Rig’s phone gadget told us we walked 7.42 km.  I’ll multiply that by six AWG members to submit to FAWCO's Clubs in Motion (of which I am the chair, since last year).

 

Peggy R, Susan Rey, Maggie, Sheila, and front row:  Mariannick, Peggy F  (Missing:  Sheila's husband, who took the photo)

...... and not forgetting Egan the wonder dog.  She's got her eyes on your lunch, Peggy. The group is sampling salicorne, a salty herb. 

Photo credits:  Maggie