The Network News
AnewsletterforthemembersofMetroWomen’sNetwork
April Meeting
Thursday, April 19th
Where: Botanical Center
Levitt Room
909 Robert D. Ray Drive, DM
515-323-6290
Agenda:
5:30 - social hour begins
6:00 - dinner served
6:45-7:00- business as needed
(voting, changes)
7:00 - Program meeting guest
speaker begins
7:45 - Program meeting adjourns
7:45-8:30 - Business meeting
Price: $25 for all attendees
Menu: Chicken Fajita Salad Bar,
Cup of Soup, and Assorted
Dessert Bars all catered by Great
Midwestern Catering.
Please RSVP by noon on
Wednesday the 11th to
rsvp@mwniowa.org.
Map & Directions to the
Botanical Center on page 6.
April2007
Get Growing with Carol Henderson, Iowa Gardening
Magazine’s Founding Publisher
Iowa Gardening magazine provides the answers to the question
"what will REALLY grow in my
Iowa Garden?" The magazine
launched in 2003 to fill the gap left
by national gardening magazines-regionality. Iowa Gardening features real gardens in Iowa locations, plants that thrive, fresh food
to grow or purchase at the farmers
markets, how-to features, and photos to inspire the novice or experienced gardener.
Carol Henderson is the Founding
Publisher of Iowa Gardening
magazine, and she gardens on a
shady acre in Johnston. Native
Iowans, Carol and her husband
lived on the East coast for over 20 years before returning to Iowa in 1994.
Carol's publishing career includes five years with Taunton Press special
interest publications Fine Gardening and Threads in CT and focus editions of newspapers in Princeton, NJ. After her return to Iowa she was
Marketing Director for The Iowan magazine and Advertising Director
for several association magazines.
The Network News
Page 2
April 2007
From Our President’s Desk
April 2007 President’s Letter
April Showers Bring May Flowers
Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed the wonderful weather we have been experiencing! Finally, we are getting
some wonderful spring days filled with sunshine and brisk breezes. We can now get out the summer clothes (hopefully
they didn’t shrink over the winter!) and put to rest the boots, gloves, scarves and winter coats for the year.
Remember, if you have not already, complete and return your membership application for 2007. You can go to the MWN
website to download this at http://www.mwniowa.org/index.html
Please check out the new website design from our web master Dawn Kasotia at the address listed above. Well done
Dawn! And Thanks to Lisa for keeping us on track with the web site!
If you have pictures you want added to the web page please send to me at Barbara.livingston2@va.gov with the names
and dates and I will forward them to Dawn.
If you have speaker or program ideas or are willing to help with program please e-mail Lisa Springer
lisa.Springer@regulusgroup.com or me, Barb Livingston Barbara.livingston2@va.gov with your ideas and suggestions.
We would love to try some new and exciting restaurants that have a private room so we can enjoy each others company
and hear the speaker of the month.
In closing, even though I know we are a group that is rarely at a loss for words, apparently, you all prefer to know what
the question of the month will be, so here it is:
“What does your ideal rainy day look like?”
Barb Livingston
Al Jolson, April Showers
Life is not a highway strewn with flowers,
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss,
When the sun gives way to April showers,
Here is the point you should never miss.
Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So if it's raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn't raining rain, you know, (It's raining violets,)
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.
Something to Ponder
“Women should have equal pay for equal work and
they should be considered equally elgible to the offices
of principal and superintendent, professor and president. So you must insist that qualifications, not sex,
shall govern appointments and salaries.”
— Susan B. Anthony ( 1820 - 1906 )
The Network News
Page 4
April 2007
Do You Know? Charlene Butz
Meet Charlene Butz
Down and Dirty Pension Actuary
Charlene is a Pension Actuary with Principal Financial Group.
She has been a long time employee at PFG, with 35 years of
experience. WOW talk about dedication! Charlene was introduced to Metro Women’s Network through her co-worker,
Sharon Feeley. Sharon invited Charlene to her first meeting as
a guest (I believe it was the 2004 Holiday Social at Palmer’s
Deli) and she then joined MWN in 2005. Charlene says her
favorite thing about MWN is meeting women from other companies and networking. The good places to eat are also great!
Her favorite speaker(s) so far have been Sara Rolfsen of Sara’s
Garden House in WDSM and, as she says “I have also appreciated the speakers on cancer
awareness as that is something we should all know.”
Outside of work and networking with Metro, Charlene and her husband Keith have enjoyed 37
years of marriage. Their daughter Jennifer is married to a major in the army and they live in
Mannheim, Germany. Jen is a teacher and is 32 years old. Charlene and Keith have taken the
opportunity to visit Germany while her daughter has been there. For Charlene it has been 4
times! How fun!!! Charlene also has 2 (four-legged) girls at home that she walks and plays
with daily. Callie is a Kerry Blue Terrier and Gidget is an Airedale. Gidget came to us from
the Airedale Rescue. Charlene got hooked up with the Airedale Rescue through Mary Halstead from MWN. Charlene’s favorite hobby is getting down and dirty…….in her garden!
She looks forward to retirement so she can spend much more time playing in the dirt. She is a
member of the Polk Country Master Gardeners and also puts her green thumb to work as a
member of the Keep Windsor Heights Beautiful Committee. Charlene is also a member of the
Budget and Finance committee for her church. You just can’t keep an actuary away from
those numbers!!!
Enjoy the
April
Showers, for
they will
bring us May
Flowers.
Happy
Easter!
The Network News
Page 5
April 2007
A MWN WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never
wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...
a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age...
set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems
a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...
a feeling of control over her destiny...
EVERY MWN WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself...
how to quit a job,
how to break up with a lover…
how to confront a friend without ruining the friendship…
when to try harder... and when to walk away...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of
her parents...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it’s over...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...
where to go...be it to her best friend's kitchen table...or a charming inn in the woods...when her
soul needs soothing...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...a month...and a year...
Charlotte Nelson, Retiring but not slowing down!
Thanks go to our speaker Charlotte Nelson, Executive Director
of The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW), for
providing us all with so much information on women and the
workings of our government. What an amazing woman with
so many fascinating stories to share. We want to wish Charlotte well in her retirement this month. I am sure she will find
many worthy causes to keep her busy. Thank you again, Charlotte.
The Network News
Page 6
April 2007
Map to the Botanical Center at 909 Robert D. Ray Drive
Driving Directions:
From the WEST
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Take 235 East.
Take the EAST 6TH ST exit toward STATE CAPITOL.
Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto E 6TH ST.
Turn RIGHT onto DES MOINES ST.
Turn RIGHT onto E 1ST ST / ROBERT D RAY DR. Continue to follow ROBERT D RAY DR.
6. End at 909 Robert D Ray Dr—The Botanical Center
From the EAST
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Take 235 West.
Take the EAST 6TH AVE / PENN AVE exit.
Take the PENN AVE ramp.
Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto PENNSYLVANIA AVE
Turn LEFT onto BUCHANAN ST.
Turn RIGHT onto E 6TH ST.
Turn LEFT onto ROBERT D RAY DR.
End at 909 Robert D Ray Dr - The Botanical Center.