Category: Uncategorized

Zonta has been invited to participate in the One Book, One Community read again this year by the Berkshire Domestic Violence Task Force. Eric Schneiderman was the Attorney General of the State of New York at the time he was abusing Tanya Selvaratnam in the context of their intimate relationship and he resigned from office within 3 hours of her story being published in the New Yorker magazine. Assume Nothing is a 200-page memoir by Selvaratnam and it raises many issues important to discuss.  Most groups are meeting between January 2023 and the webinar with the author in April 13th from 7 – 8:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Are you interested? Would you prefer zoom or in-person for our own Zonta discussion?  When we know of interest, we can pick a date and schedule a facilitator. We had such a lively discussion last time with Stop Telling Women to Smile!  We will be joining two dozen groups that will be discussing this very interesting book and follow up.

That as of July 1, 2022, the Massachusetts Law regarding minimum age for marriage was amended to forbid anyone under the age of 18 to marry, with no exceptions.  Working with numerous Massachusetts legislators including our own Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, the Berkshire Zonta club and our sister Zontas club throughout the state lobbied hard and long to change this law. The state of Massachusetts will now protect children from being forced or coerced into a legally binding contract that strips away any protection rights they have a single minor. According to state records, 1,246 children as young as 14 were married in Massachusetts between 2000 and 2018 and 89.9 % of them were girls wed to adult men.

Massachusetts in now the 7^th state to end child marriages.

~ Millie Blum

Millie Blum

Here is another take on the phrase Holiday Spirit that is sure to make your holidays bright and great for get together. A Christmasy cocktail that will make your guests keep coming for more. Note: Remember to make the night before your party so that the juice mixture has time to freeze and remind guests it can be potent.

Red Roosters Recipe

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup frozen concentrate lemonade
• 1 cup frozen concentrate orange juice
• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 2 cups vodka
• 4 cups ginger ale (hold until mixture is frozen)

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add all juices and vodka and stir to blend. Freeze mixture in freezer safe container. One hour before serving time, add ginger ale to mixture. As mixture thaws, break into slush with a long spoon. Serve and enjoy!

~ Jackie Melendez

Jackie Melendez

Hi to all:  our membership meeting will be held on Tuesday November 1 at Mazzeo’s.   Social at 5, meeting starts at 530.  This month we will be honoring our Zontantians who are members for 25 + years!  They are:  Pam Roberts; Debbie Dwyer; Keye Hollister; Sheila Keator; Elaine Hunter;  and Toni Fontana.   Please join us to celebrate!!

• Eggplant parm
• Homemade spinach ravioli
• Chicken marsala

Please let me know your dinner choice by Thursday October 27. 

Chris Haley

The Zonta year runs from June 1-May 30th.  Our club has 32 members.  We were delighted to welcome 3 new Zontians into the club.  Denise Talabach, June Sprigg Tooley, and Eileen Tegethoff.   Denise has been formally installed having received her signature yellow rose in June when the rest of the leadership was installed.   Our other new members will be installed at a future meeting.

Long-time member Mary Tierney did not renew this year, but we are saddened to report the passing of her husband David.   Calling hours will be at the Dery Funeral Home on Monday 4-7PM. Here is a link to David’s obituary. We also extend our condolences to Zontian Karen Norton on the passing of her brother-in-law after a long battle.

Also, happy birthday to Zontian Anne Meczywor 10/19, a Zontian for 16 years!

Our theater friends at WAM Theatre (Where At Meets Activism) has asked for our help to promote this incredibly moving show about women, to benefit women.  Cadillac Crew is running for the next two weeks, October  (Thursday-Sunday).  Let’s ensure this incredible story about black women who refuse to be written out of history gets the audience it deserves. Together we can be part of the change by supporting the Cadillac Crew production.  WAM is proud to offer tickets for any seat in the theatre starting at $25 and $5 for EBT card holders, and we are also offering free childcare to enable parents/guardians to see Cadillac Crew.  Also, please remember that  in accordance with WAM’s mission, a portion of your ticket price will be donated to Arise Springfield and Fair Fight.  Critics are raving, and audiences thus far have been incredibly moved and motivated by their experience of taking in this powerful work.  We all have the ability to vote for the change we want to see in the world. We vote not just at the election box, but also every time we spend our time or money.  Grab a friend, buy tickets, and GO to support his wonderful endeavor.

CADILLAC CREW is presented at Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse, 70 Kemble St, Lenox, MA 01240.

The new committee has not yet met because we have not received a donation request.  We fill as many as requests as possible that meet our mission each year. We do not necessarily donate to the same organizations each year, to help spread the generosity across the Berkshires and in support of women’s issues as much as possible. Our committee will review each request we receive and notify the contact for the donation that we are able to grant. Here is a link to a simple one page request form and ZI guidelines we use to help us chose donations. The form or questions can be emailed to Chair Debbie Dwyer for consideration.

Eat, Drink and Talk about “Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement” by Tarana Burke. In her own words, “The story I’m going to tell is about how we got to those two simple yet infinitely powerful words: me too. The story of how empathy for others—without which the work of ‘me too’ doesn’t exist—starts with empathy for that dark place of shame where we keep our stories, where I kept mine. The courage that trickled out of a young Black girl in the Bronx … formed the massive ocean that this movement has become.” Please RSVP to Chris Haley so she can make reservations. Patrick’s Pub @ 5 p.m. Thursday, November 17th.