By Nancy Marstaller

Six “hardy souls” met at Dorothy Curtis’ home. We sent cards to several folk.

Dorothy Curtis led the business meeting. The November Tedford Shelter meal included chili, hot dogs, and macaroni salad. The December meal will be provided by Margaret Wentworth’s team. The treasurer’s report was read and accepted. We have $1484.85, with $1000 set aside for travel to the next Triennial. We approved sending $150 to Warm Thy Neighbor and $65 to USFW-NE for dues. We did not do a collection for the Kickapoo Friends Center this fall but will consider doing it this winter or perhaps supporting a Maine Native American group.

We agreed we would collect items for a mitten tree and for Christmas boxes. We will ask that donations be brought by Dec. 16, the day before our next meeting. We will also have a “home-made” gift exchange at that meeting.

We are asked to pray for Shawn and Katrina McConaughey of the Friends United Meeting office in Kaimosi, Kenya, and also for Getry Agizah, head of the East Africa Friends Church Peace Team, whose son recently died. We signed cards for them also.

We reviewed a proposal for a North East Region USFW. No consensus was reached.

Margaret led the program, reading from the current issue of the Advocate. She read many suggestions on ways to increase support and connections for Friends United Meeting and other Friends workers, including sending cards. That prompted us to send cards as well as prayers to the above folk.

Our December meeting will be on December 17 at the meetinghouse with Kat Langelier as hostess. Angie will lead the devotions and program. We will compile Christmas boxes and sort donations to the mitten tree, as well as have our own gift exchange.

We enjoyed Dorothy’s delicious apple crisp and other treats before heading home.

By Angie Reed

On the date above, 9 women gathered at the Meetinghouse for our first meeting of this year. The program was presented by Kitsie Hildebrandt from this year’s Blueprint Program book. The programs this year center around the theme “Great is Thy Faithfulness”. This month’s program was written by Leuola Beck and was titled “An Unwanted Journey: Our Walk Through Dementia”. In the program, Leuola speaks about her role as caregiver for her husband who had been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. We all shared our feelings and experiences caring for loved ones in their later years. What a wonderful group this is…

In business, the card ministry was completed. Prayers were requested for the Amari Play center. The Treasurer report was reviewed and accepted. We reviewed the eat out we had in September. There were 15 people in attendance at Thai’s Cuisine restaurant in Topsham. People enjoyed moving the eat out from August to September and felt that it was an easier time to attend. The new time for Woman’s Society meeting was also discussed; people seem to like the earlier time of 6 pm for the meetings. Tedford meals were discussed. The September meal fell on Labor Day and the team decided to host a barbecue at the shelter. It was very well received. The team lists need to be modified. Angie has been working on this but will give the list to Kitsie to work on the final changes. We ended the meeting with a reading by Dorothy Curtis, wonderful food and hugs all around.

Our next meeting will be on Monday, November 19 at 6pm at Dorothy Curtis’s home. All are welcome to attend.

The Woman’s Society met for dinner on Monday, September 17 at the Thai’s Cuisine Restaurant in Topsham with fifteen Friends attending. The only business conducted was fellowship and enjoyment of good food with good friends. Appreciation goes out to Theresa Oleksiw for her choice of restaurant.

Jo-an Jacobus, a grateful and well-fed attender of the meeting

By Katherine Langelier

Woman’s Society met on Monday, June 18 at the home of Dorothy and Ed. After the lovely tea hosted by Dorothy H. and Martha, we began meeting shortly after 6 with discussion of a baby quilt and the card ministry.

Martha led the devotions and program on “Serving Others” by Adis Beeson. She mentioned the song “He Leadeth Me” and 1 John 2:28, Proverbs 22:6, and a poem “Loving Jesus” by Charles Wesley. How do we follow callings we feel in our lives? We never know what the future holds.

The treasurer’s report and giving opportunities were discussed. We approved giving $100 to the United Society of Friends Women International Children and Youth Projects. Nancy passed around newsletters from Kickapoo and Tedford.

We decided to switch our August dinner out to the September meeting date.

Next month’s meeting is at Helen’s home. We are experimenting with starting at 6 pm. Dorothy C. is doing devotions and Theresa is bringing the program.

Woman’s Society Report March 19, 2018

By Angie Reed, Secretary

Six women met the evening of March 19 at Theresa Oleksiw’s home. Theresa presented the program and devotions on our need to be stewards of the environment,

In business, the Treasurer and Secretary reports from last month were reviewed and accepted with minor revisions. The card ministry was completed, and Nancy reported that the Monthly Meeting approved Woman’s Society holding a Silent Auction prior to and ending at our next meeting. Gently used items appropriate for an auction can be brought to the Meetinghouse on April 8 and 15. The final bids will be accepted at our next meeting on April 16. Prayers were asked for the new principle of Ramallah Friends School, Adrian Moody. There was a discussion about the Tedford teams and a list was made of people to ask to join teams. Theresa agreed to make these calls. There was also a discussion about the status of the tablecloths at the Meeting house. Both items will be discussed further at our next meeting.

We ended the meeting with a poem read by Dorothy Curtis and refreshments provided by Theresa.

All are welcome to join us at our next meeting which will be on April 16 at 7pm at the Meetinghouse. We will start the program with the auction and have the program and business meeting after it.

Silent Auction

By Angie Reed

Please join Woman’s Society for this fund raiser. Bring your gently used items, jewelry, household items, children’s games, and other items that someone may want to bid on.

Items can be brought to the Meetinghouse on April 8 and 15.

There will be a list near each item for your bids. Minimum starting bid is 50 cents, and minimum continued bid is 25 cents.

Items will be rewarded at our next Woman’s Society meeting which will be held April 16 at the Meetinghouse. COME JOIN THE FUN!!!

By Angie Reed

Eleven women attended this month’s meeting at Clarabel Marstaller’s new place at McLellan House.

The card ministry was completed, and we enjoyed a program from the Blue Print book.

This month’s program was a reprint of a program from the 1950-51 Blueprint book. The program was written by Milton Hadley who was Clarabel’s father and a past minister of Durham Friends Meeting. He wrote about a woman who spoke about her mental perspective as a Holocaust survivor and how she experienced freedom in her closeness to God during that time. Milton spoke about how we often need to reframe our experiences, and good or bad, it is not so much our experience as our response to them. Clarabel also shared her experiences related to the period just after WWII and how her family was involved in the resettlement of refugees from Europe and Japan.

In business, we filled out the program calendar for the remainder of this year, reviewed and accepted Treasurer and Secretary reports from last month, and decided that we need to update the Tedford team list. Angie will work on the outline and write an article for the newsletter. We will finalize the changes at next month’s meeting.

Prayers were requested for Shawn and Katrina McConaughey, the new program officers for Friends United Meeting Africa Ministries Office in Kisumu, Kenya, and for Dale and Sylvia Graves who are experiencing a difficult time right now. The Tedford meal for February was turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, frozen veggies, and brownies. We were reminded that Woman’s Society is hosting the women of United Society of Friends Women of New England on June 10 with an after-Meeting potluck. We also decided to have a Silent Auction at our April meeting which will be at the Meetinghouse.

The meeting ended with a poem read by Dorothy Curtis and we enjoyed refreshments provided by Nancy and Clarabel. The next meeting is on March 20 at Gene Boyington’s home with Theresa Oleksiw hostessing.

Seventeen women gathered at Helen Clarkson’s home in Freeport on Monday July 18 to share devotions, progress through business and to hear of struggles and joys. Two were visitors from Kenya – Margaret Namiloye Musalia, pastor and Agneta Injairu-Malara, student at the Friends Theological College. Both gave words of inspiration and joy. Dorothy Curtis gave a presentation on her trip to and participating in the recent USFWI conference held in Iowa. Other attendees were Leslie Manning and Miriam Baker (visiting from Weare, Vermont). Prayers were offered for all those involved and attended USFWI and that the follow up will be as God would have it. The next USFWI meeting will be in 2020. Dorothy expressed appreciation in being able to attend the conference. Prayers were shared by many in the evening gathering. The next Women’s Society meeting will be Monday, August 22nd. All welcome! Location to be announced.

Humbly submitted by Martha

The Woman’s Society met at the home of Nancy Marstaller with 9 present. Margaret Wentworth led the devotions and program from “Blueprints.” The author spoke of how during a family health crisis she learned to remember God’s presence in her life. She remembered little things that had happened in better times, which prepared her and helped ease the way during the stressful times. Those little things made a huge difference, for which she was grateful.

Dorothy Curtis presided at our business meeting. Next month we will meet at Dot Hinshaw’s in Sumner on June 20 at 5 PM. We signed several cards, including one for Jocelyn Wilkinson- granddaughter of Lon Fendall who is consultant at Friends Theological College in Kenya. The minutes were approved as corrected. Our treasurer, Clarabel Marstaller, reported that the April offering was $104. After donating $20 to the USFWI conference offering, our balance is $527.99. Her report was accepted with gratitude.

We will pray for the pastoral team in Samburu, Kenya, as they help resolve conflicts in the area.

The Tedford meal in May was Sloppy Joes, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, rolls, fruit cobbler, and blondies. Team A will prepare the June meal.

Martha Sheldon agreed to be the point person for the nomination process. Current office holders were queried as to their willingness to continue for the coming year, which starts in September. Others will be asked and the slate finalized in the next month or two. Clarabel does not wish to continue as treasurer. We will do the program schedule at our next couple meetings, and then fill out the booklets as a group.

We ended the meeting by sharing personal prayer requests and joys, and then Dorothy read a nursery rhyme reminding us to give thanks. We enjoyed each other’s company during refreshments.

Nancy Marstaller, secretary pro tem

Durham Friends Woman’s Society met at the home of Dorothy Hinshaw on June 20, 2016, with ten women in attendance for the meeting and the high tea which preceded the meeting. Angie Reed was not at the meeting so Katherine Langelier took minutes. Martha Sheldon presented the program from Blueprints which was written by Durham’s own Leslie Manning. In the business meeting, President Dorothy Curtis opened the meeting with Kitchen Table Wisdom, by Rachel Naomi Remen. The card ministry was discussed and carried out. Nancy gave the Treasurer’s report during which a collection was taken. The Children’s Day offering was $367.25 and we added to that from our treasury to make the donation $400, which goes to the USFWI Children and Youth Projects. The meeting discussed the previously approved donation toward expenses of our member attending the United Society of Friends Women International Triennial, which will be held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 7 – 10. Prayers were requested for our member attending the Triennial, for all the people attending the Triennial and attempting to attend. Prayers were also requested for a member with difficult issues. The women on the Tedford meal team for May gave a report. It sounded delicious and the story of getting it there provided quite a funny tale. The Nominating Committee gave a report: Nancy Marstaller will be our new Treasurer. After thanking Dorothy Hinshaw and Martha Hinshaw Sheldon for their hospitality and program we all headed back home. The next meeting will be held on July 18 at the home of Helen Clarkson.

By Angie Reed
Ten women met on May 21, 2012, at Nancy Marstaller’s house for this month’s meeting. The Devotions
and Program were presented by Angie Reed. This month’s topic was “Waiting for God’s Leading.”
A report was given on the luncheon and program put on by the United Society of Friends Women –
International. Prayers were requested for the African Ministry Office, which includes Eden Grace, John
Munhanji, Judith Ngoya, and for Belize Friend’s School. The Tedford Meal for this month was a Chicken
Cheesy Casserole, Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and Italian bread, a green salad and dessert items. Plans were
made for refreshments for the Celebration service of Macy Whitehead’s life, and for the final set up for this
week’s yard sale. A suggestion was made to avoid planning the Yard Sale during Memorial Day Weekend in
future years due to the limited volunteer support this year. Money was put aside for this coming year’s adult and
youth reading program. Angie Reed and Dorothy Curtis were appointed to this year’s nominating committee. A
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meeting schedule was passed around for women to begin to sign up for next year’s Woman’s Society Programs,
the year of September 2012-September 2013. Plans were made to have our annual eat-out the week of August
20 at the Fairground Cafe. Further details will be in upcoming newsletters.
Our next meeting will be on June 18 at 7 p.m. The location will be announced.

By Angie Reed
Fourteen women met at Linda Muller’s home for this month’s meeting. Devotions and the program were led
by Jo-an Jacobus, who read Psalm 47 and presented a program on “Stillness in the 21st Century.” She discussed
how difficult it is to find stillness in this world where we are bombarded with visual, auditory, and internal
stimuli, and gave us examples on ways to achieve stillness and examples where the program’s writer and Jo-an
had found this. After a moment of silence, attendees also discussed how centering into silence affects them.
In business, it is estimated that $1,600 was raised at this year’s Yard Sale. Our treasurer, Margaret
Wentworth was unable to attend this meeting, so accurate accounts will be available next month. We discussed
how to spend this money, including plans to continue to support the “Adopt-A-Nurse Program.” We also
discussed supporting Eden Grace for her ministry as it is severely lacking funding at this time. Prayers were
also requested for Eden Grace. It was also discussed that we need to continue to pray for our fellow Woman’s
Society Members, especially Bee Douglas, Edie Whitehead and Muriel Marston (among others… I apologize if
I’ve forgotten anyone). We discussed how the Yard Sale went this year and tabled additional discussion to
another month. A suggestion was made to change the way we do our Christmas Gift Box ministry and it was
decided to use Christmas Stockings instead of shoe-boxes this year. It was suggested that we change the type of
items in the boxes to be more practical and also gift-wrap each individual item. A committee of two (so far)
was set up to shop for these boxes throughout the year. If anyone in the greater Meeting has any thoughts on
this Christmas Box ministry or has been a recipient of one and would like to give us feedback on their
experience, it would be helpful to assist us to make changes as appropriate to this Meeting Community.
The Tedford Meal for June was Sliced Ham and Turkey, Potato Salad, a Big Green Salad, and various
Deserts.
We made plans for the refreshments before the upcoming Memorial Service for Stuart Muench and the
serving of refreshments after the service. The Woman’s Society hopes that their offerings of help have been
comforting during times like these.
The Woman’s Society Annual Eat Out will be Monday, Aug. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Fair Ground Café in
Topsham Fair Mall. All are invited; please join us!
Dorothy Curtis ended the meeting with a poem from her favorite cookbook. We then enjoyed refreshments
of rhubarb cake, cookies, and watermelon provided with grace by Linda Muller. Our next meeting will be July
16 at 7 p.m. See you all there!

We have a loyal following at our plant sale section, so please, if you are dividing/growing plants and have extra, consider donating them to the yard sale. We have pots available in the entryway and the horse shed and could use extras if you have pots to donate. Just leave them with the others. Wayne Hollingworth has brought soil if anyone needs extra to pot up their plants. It’s in the horse shed too.
The sale will be on May 26 this year, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. We ask that you bring plants no earlier than May 20, and you may bring them up to the morning of the sale. Please label with type, color if you know it, and any special growing considerations (shade, sun, vigorous spreader, etc.).
Thanks for all your past support. If you have questions, see Nancy Marstaller.

By Angie Reed
On March 19, 17 women and one young woman met at the Meeting House for this month’s meeting. Kitsie Hildebrandt opened the meeting, asking for Devotions to begin. Devotions were given by Dotty DeLoach, who led us in singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Angie Reed led the program using the reading program book “Praying in Color.” All who attended had the opportunity to create a personal “praying in color” and share in a group coloring activity.
The Annual Treasurer’s Report for 2011 was presented by Margaret Wentworth. This past year the Woman’s Society raised $3,689.21 and gave away $3,300.06 to many worthy causes — including the “Adopt a Nurse” Program.
The remainder was spent on group expenses, including our annual national dues and books for the Adult and Young Friends reading programs.
Prayers were asked for the Friends Theological College Program, which, in addition to other services, provides ministry to the Kakuma Refugee Camp. This Camp serves more than 90,000 refugees who have been forcibly displaced from countries in East Africa because of war.
The Tedford meal for March was salad, sloppy joes, lasagna, a casserole, buns and chocolate chip cookie bars.
A date was set for the yard sale: It will be on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. Items can be donated NO EARLIER THAN MAY 13. Concern was expressed by members about the difficulty cleaning up at the end of the yard sale. This is because of large items that have been donated, despite our annual request that no items larger than a microwave be donated.
Various ideas were discussed about how to make this policy more clear to people who donate items to the yard sale. This yard sale is primarily organized and run by the female members of the Meeting who have difficulty handling large items. Often, Woman’s Society gets charged a disposal fee to get rid of large items, which decreases revenue raised by this yard sale.
If people who have donations have any questions or concerns about this, please see a Woman’s Society Member.
At the end of the business meeting all gathered to enjoy the refreshments provided by Theresa Oleksiw and Abby Fortune.
To end the meeting Kitsie read a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem. The next meeting will be on April 16 at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend.