Texas Executive Women - The Networker, April, 2004


April, 2004	Volume 2, Number 4

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Spring has sprung!

For the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up and the time of the singing of birds has come.
Yes, spring is here.
-Song of Solomon

I hope that the spirit of Spring has caught you and your year is off to a great start! For a good year is determined by its spring; the blossoms in the spring are the fruit in autumn!

I am happy to share with you that TEW is off to a great start. Board members are busy bees planning various events and activities for our organization. Ideas and suggestions are budding and creativity is in full bloom. We are still recruiting members to join the forces and get involved!

We had a wonderful meeting in March and greatly appreciate Barbara Halstead and the work that she did to make our meeting successful. Attendance was astounding; one of our record meetings! I would like to thank all of you that attended the meeting. Your attendance and participation in TEW will only make our organization more of a success. We welcome back all guests who attended and hope that you will inquire further into becoming a member.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, April 13th. Beth Williams, a 2003 Woman on the Move®, will be speaking on how to be successful in a different culture and country and answer the question, "Who is afraid of the big bad world?". What a timely topic!

Now the glorious time of Spring...
where it is time to open up and widen our vistas of thought and action.
-Robert Redford

I hope to see you all at the next meeting. We will also be honoring our Past President, Diane Finch and sharing all the wonderful things that she and her board accomplished last year.

Remember…take time to smell the flowers and be part of something big!
Get involved with Texas Executive Women!

Happy Hunting,

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wine Tasting Fund Raiser - Thursday May 20, 2004
5:30-7:30 pm, at the Aquarium Design Group, 3461 W Alabama
Scott Spencer, of Houston Wine Merchant will conduct the tastings.
$30 pregistration by Tuesday, May 18 or $35 at the door

Click here for the FORM to register now.

We hope to have the men that have the Segway's there, and possibly
Houston Ballet principal dancer, Zdenek Konvalina, who has his paintings hanging at the Aquarium.

In order to secure accommodations, artists and others who want to help us (or participate) in this event, we need TEW members to make early
reservations. We would like to have you make your reservations now, and it would be great if you pay by credit card. There can be no cancellations after
May 18.

TEW MENTORING PROGRAM

Anna L. Reyes - 2003 Aldine Graduate and member of Ladies of Distinction now on scholarship at the University of Houston
(click for larger image)

Every decision a person makes leads him or her through the path that is his or her life. On this journey, I've made several decisions to better the quality of my life, and the organization known as Ladies of Distinction was a wise choice for me.

Being a meek, soft spoken girl in my childhood, it seemed a bit of shock to meet such vibrant and excited mentors who watched over the young ladies in my group.

But looking back, I can see their attitudes only served to slowly but surely bring me out of my shell. In the two years that I participated in this group, I came to face a myriad of events that in turn allowed me to experience various emotions, some that I didn't even know I would or could ever feel!

Needless to say, my self-esteem skyrocketed, empowering me in a way I never imagined. If ever I was in need of something, the women of Ladies of
Distinction did what they could to help. It was this kind of support that often kept me going, and for that I am truly grateful, for I now find myself exactly in the place I want to be.

In the end, what really touched my heart was the fact that someone took the time to look at me and see the individual that was still growing. Someone made the
effort to make a personal connection with me and gave me the chance to continue the dream that I had for myself. I only wish that other young ladies such as myself have the opportunity to have as great an experience as I did.

- Anna Reyes

NEWS AMONG FRIENDS

Barbara Spier, who spoke to TEW this year, will speak at the Monday, April 26, 2004 FHPW Quarterly Meeting. Barbara, is President, US Protection & Investigations, LLC. The meeting is at the H.E.S.S. Building 5430 Westheimer (between Chimney Rock & Yorktown)Social/Networking/Vendors/FHPW Table is at 5:15 PM; Dinner/Business Meeting/Opportunity to Network is at 6:15 PM and Barbara speaks at
7:00 PM. Go here for the reservation form: http://www.fhpw.org/Qtr4_26_04.pdf
Cindy Crane Garbs (WOM 1994) was seen promoting PBS memberships on Channel 8 on March 22. Hope every one supports this great channel!
Argentina James (WOM 2001), of the Port of Houston, hosted a luncheon honoring the seven women recently elected to the City Council.
Beth Wolff (WOM 1998) was surprised by a birthday celebration with 50 women friends at Tony's.
Clarease Yates (WOM 1996) was pictured in the Chronicle attending the March of Dimes' Best Dressed Luncheon, along with 870 other well-dressed Houstonians.
Renee Wallace's (WOM 1986) organization, Vita-Living, is having its 22nd Anniversary Gala "A Night in the Highlands", on May 6, 2004 at the Westin Oaks Hotel.
Jackson Mississippi will never be the same since Sheridan Scott, Beth Ann Scher, Maureen Sanders, Margo Snider and Carolyn Wyly presented themselves as “Wannabee” Sweet Potato Queens at the 22nd Annual Sweet Potato Queen Parade. (click here to see photos of the women)

Hundreds of “Wannabee’s” were everywhere. All donned in big and some very bright hair (Maureen was wearing an orange do; Margo’s was very big; Beth Ann looked like Mimi from TV's Drew Carey Show). Joined by 22 other traveler queen “wannabees”, the entourage was titled the “Silver Platter Queens”. Silver foiled wigs, cake plates with tiaras hot glued on them, sashes that stated the queen name and lovely corsages to boot. Got the picture?! The 3+ mile march in the parade only had a few survivors. YES, Maureen and Margo were the only two TEW’ers to survive the walk, along with 5 other queens in our group. This annual event is held every year in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day. Queen “wannabees” converge on Jackson for 3 days of partying, consisting of a Queen’s Ball, the parade, a pajama party and a Sunday brunch. The group actually went to dinner before the pajama party dressed in, you guessed it, our pajamas. Every TEW member should certainly aspire to be a queen “wannabee”. Stay tuned to next year!
Dorothy Mahon, 1997 WOM, is the Development Director for Avondale House, a non-profit that serves children and young adults with autism. She has persuaded the Houston Astros to host an Autism Awareness Day on Sunday, April 18, 2004, recognizing Avondale House and its years of service to children and young adults with autism. There will be a pre-game ceremony with Kym King, the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities will present Avondale House an award. In turn, Avondale House will present Drayton McLane an award for his assistance with Autism Awareness Day. One of their students, BJ (on the poster ) will walk to the plate with an Astros representative to throw out the first pitch.She has kindly offered a limited number of mezzanine tickets @$11.00 for any TEW members who would like to be a part of the group and and have some fun. Contact Dorothy at 713-993-9544, extension 22 or email her at DorothyM@AvondaleHouse.org.

BARBARA HALSTEAD ON SAUDI ARABIA

Imagine this if you will: living in a country where women do not exist, where the average temperature is 120 degrees Fahrenheit, where there is no water on the land, where you don't have to worry about rain or snow, but you'd better worry about wind and sand, AND, where you can step back in time 5,000 years. Full story...

APRIL BIRTHDAYS

04/01 - Judge Clarease Rankin Yates
04/08 - Katherine R. Hudgins
04/10 - Jackie L. Hall
04/14 - Jackalyn Rainosek
04/17 - Terry A. Throckmorton
04/18 - Linda K. May
04/20 - Carrin Foreman Patman
04/24 - Dorothy Weston

APRIL MEETING MEMO

TUESDAY, APRIL 13

Beth Williams, founder and president of TechTrans International, Inc., will be the speaker for April. Beth is a 2003 Women on the Move®. Her topic is “Never say No”. and will cover the following points:

How TechTrans grew from 8 to 60 employees in one year and 8 to 200 employees in ten years;
How to be successful in a different culture and country; and who is afraid of the big bad world?

TechTrans translates thousand of pages of technical documentation monthly, and consistently achieves near-perfect accuracy in adherence to NASA’s stringent target of zero errors. The company was founded to support the US-Russian space program. The company is based in Houston and maintains a full-service office in Moscow.

Reservation deadline Monday April 12
(Good Friday is the 9th, the usual deadline date).
No cancellations after Monday, April 12.
No-shows with reservations will be billed. (The Briar Club is having a
problem serving us on time when there are so many that show up without reservations. Please RSVP.)

All meetings are the second Tuesday of the month at:
The Briar Club
2603 Timmons Lane
(Westheimer at Timmons)

Time: 5:30 PM check-in and Social,
6:15 p.m. announcements and program

For meeting information and reservations, contact Jeann Howse
(713) 641-2131 or scotsmanco@sbcglobal.net

To make reservations in advance,
please click here to download and print a copy of the reservation form.

You may then mail or fax your information to the appropriate person.

Upcoming Meetings:

May 11

Nancy Levicki, Founder of Dress for Success, Houston, will tell us about this very successful and worthwhile program.