C lubs Daughters of Isabella
The Daughters of Isabella, St. Luke’s Circle 239, met at St. Francis Parish Hall, St. Paul, on March 11. Regent Linda DeGarmo opened the meeting with the “Draping of the Charter” for two members who passed the past month. Jane Ann Beachner, St. Paul, and Fidela Godinez, Chanute, both long time members of the D of I. The charter will remain draped for one month.
Cynthia Van Leeuwen, St. Paul, was welcomed as a new member of the circle following the installation ceremony.
Twelve officers answered roll call. Linda reminded members the state D of I convention will be April 4 and 5 in Lawrence. The circle is to bring a special item for the auction, which also includes $25 cash. A beautiful Christmas quilt featuring the Nativity will be the circle’s contribution. The quilt was made and donated by Mary Gilpin, circle secretary. Circles are also asked to bring baby clothes for newborns and up to 2 years of age.
Members were reminded to record volunteer hours for February, March and April and give them to Linda by May 1 for her state report.
The April 8 meeting at 6:30 p.m. will also be the 102nd anniversary of St. Luke’s Circle.
Since the Girard church hall is being remodeled, the June meeting, normally held in Girard, will be held in St. Paul. The circle made monetary contributions to the sonogram fund at the Girard Hospital and also a donation to Birthright in Chanute.
Daughter of the month was Marlene Clark. Door prizes were won by Cindy VanLeeuwen, Mary Gilpin and Judy Fager.
Hostesses for the meeting were Marlene Clark and Mary Jane Gouvion.
April hostesses are Mary Jean Zandler, Loretta Hofer and Cynthia Van Leeuwen.
— Lois Carlson Scribe
Moms Demand Action
After a holiday break, the Parsons Moms Demand Action group met on Feb. 10 at Kitchen Pass. They welcomed a new volunteer and were pleased to have community partners Lee Reliford and Mandy Monroy from Save our Sons join them. The group reviewed accomplishments for 2024 in chronological order with various volunteers describing particular activities they were involved with. The highlights for the year were community partnerships, distributing gun locks at several tabling events and QPR suicide prevention training. It was announced that 378 gun locks were distributed in 2024 to gun owners at tabling events and that two suicides were prevented and another serious situation defused due to their QPR training.
The group added a new community partner at the meeting, the SEK Juneteenth Foundation. It was also announced that gun locks will now be available at the public library for distribution. The group also discussed the upcoming Advocacy Day in Topeka. The next meeting will be on April 7.
Moms Demand Action is a grassroots, non-partisan movement focused on public safety measures through advocacy and education to protect people from gun violence.
