Beverley Hilton, President
American Sewing Guild
Ocala Chapter
OK, I’m excited. Your incoming chapter advisory board (CAB) met for the first time as a group Saturday, November 15, and it was nothing short of exhilarating. What an exceptional group. You’ll find the full coterie listed under the CAB tab. When we first began recruiting for this CAB, we sought two qualities – competence and dedication. The members of your CAB possess these qualities in abundance. I’m extremely pleased that each of them has agreed to serve. It’s looking like a fine year for ASG Ocala.
Sewing, having fun, sharing, and gathering in others who love to have fun sewing – that is our mission, our reason for being here. We hope that’s why you chose to become a member of the American Sewing Guild, too.
So, you ask, what’s in store for ASG Ocala in 2009?
We’ll kick off the new year brightly with a fabric painting workshop with award-winning fiber artist Evie Salzmann. Even if you think you cannot possibly paint fabric, Evie will have you turning out a masterpiece in just one session. Trust me, I know. Also in January is the combined chapter retreat at Lake Yale – three days of immersion sewing with friends, with all your needs met. No cooking, no cleaning, no distractions. Sounds a little bit like a sewer’s heaven, doesn’t it. (I believe there may be a couple of openings . . . )
In March we have a charter bus taking us to the sewing expo in Tampa. Fun and games coming and going, with a ton of vendors, demos and classes in the middle. And at a price you can’t beat.
May brings the ASG region 7 meeting in Tampa, along with a six-day ASG sewing cruise. Now THAT really IS heaven! A sewing retreat on a great big boat! Caribbean scenery. Sumptuous meals served to you, no clean-up. Luscious ports of call. Classes with Emma Seabrooke and Stephanie Kimura. Oh, yeah!
This year our ASG conference will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Some of the finest instructors, forward-looking innovators, and industry leaders are available to you, one-on-one, for five days. If you’ve yet to experience an ASG annual conference, make this the year! (Next year’s conference will be in Atlanta!) Of course, we celebrate our annual meeting in October.
Also toward the end of the year, in time for holiday decorating, nationally known author Jane Hardy (Rusty) Miller will teach us the French Braid Tree Skirt, a project from her new book, due out in April.
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In between? How about a fitting workshop with custom clothier Jackie Metz? Or an Etta Mae Doll Workshop with Nature Coast member and master of the art doll Darlene Sperber? Darlene has offered to do a workshop for Ocala Chapter, in addition to the workshop she will conduct for Nature Coast in February. We’ll prepare for a really good F. A. R. T. (that’s a Fabric Acquisition Road Trip, in case you were wondering) with Margaret Tierney, and then go on a guided tour with this amazing maestro of re-purposing.
As a chapter, we plan to reach out to like-minded organizations to develop synergy in our educational and program offerings, in our community service initiatives, and for just plain fun! We will seek to build and strengthen relationships with our area retailers, realizing that ours is a synergistic relationship – we really do need them, and they really do need us. We will seek ways to support our retailers, because we value them and want them to do well. Think of it as enlightened self-interest. If we don’t support them, they won’t be there to supply our passion.
With all this talk of chapter-wide activities, we will never forget that it’s in the neighborhood groups that things really happen for most ASG members. Support for our neighborhood group leaders is a very high priority. Our first neighborhood group leaders’ session will happen the end of January, shortly after the retreat.
Three brand new neighborhood groups have sprung up over the past few months, in Live Oak, High Springs, and The Villages. When there are enough members in an area to support one, if there is a need and if there is interest, we’ll work with those members to establish a new neighborhood group in their area. Growth is good, as long as it makes sense.
There’s so much more. It was a really good meeting. The plans . . . But I think I’ll sign off now and let you discover, a bit at a time, what your new CAB will bring to you as the year unfolds.
Oh. Just one more thing. This really is your ASG. If you have sewing buds, bring them to a neighborhood group meeting, introduce them to ASG. Help your chapter grow. If you have things you’d like to learn, teachers you’d like to have do a workshop, let us know. We’ll do our best to bring them to the chapter.
And always remember: When things get tough, SEW! It’s way cheaper than psychiatry, and lots more fun!
Bev |
