2009 Annual Dinner

Passing the Torch of Leadership

Kristen Masengarb and Jamie Burgess

The Junior League Annual Dinner was Wednesday, June 10th at 6:00 pm at the Lancaster Country Club. This was a very special evening as we officially welcomed the Spring New Member Class, recognized and thanked our Members who are going Sustaining, and bid farewell to our President, Kristen Masengarb, as she passed the Junior League Torch of Leadership to Jamie Burgess. Below are highlights from Kristen and Jamie's speeches that they presented to the League members at the Annual Dinner:

(Kristen)

"Tonight marks the closing of one door and the opening of another. We are finishing up one year of activities for the JL but seamlessly work has already started on next year’s activities. We made tremendous strides in all areas of the league: Fiscal, Community, Membership and Communications . . .

. . . Our membership and leadership were extremely proactive in tackling issues this year and creating change in our organization so that we can thrive for years to come. I know that countless hours, thousands of emails and phone calls occurred this year. . .

. . .I am thankful for their continued effort, valuable input and unwavering commitment to the JLL. You were fantastic leaders this year and it was a pleasure working with you in helping our organization reach and exceed our established goals.

. . .I would also like to thank our membership for their time and effort to the JLL this year. We helped lower the rate of childhood obesity with our KITK program and we worked to prevent school violence and bullying with HANFH. We contributed time and resources to a dozen community agencies through our DIADs. We awarded $3500 in awards this year, and $15,500 in grants to community agencies.

. . . I witnessed our membership living out the JLL mission in all our activities. Our House Program, Nominating and Placement committees made sure we were being trained and developing our leadership skills. Project Development, Task Forces and Project Committees all ensured that we were improving the community; Fund Development, Communications and our Fundraisers all made sure we were promoting voluntarism in Lancaster County. It was a successful year and a wonderful 85th anniversary!

. . .Last year at the Annual Dinner I spoke about the JL being "bridge builders" in the community. For 85 years our members have built bridges of safety, respite and education for women, children and families in Lancaster County.This 85th year of our organization was no different. We built bridges to healthier lifestyles, safer schools, better lives for women and children. We extended the bridge of friendship to new members and renewed the bridge of friendship with our sustainers. We created bridges of partnership with community agencies and area businesses and bridged the financial gap for community agencies and individuals with our grants and awards. I thank you, the membership for the incredible opportunity and challenge of serving as the President of this phenomenal organization. I look forward to the upcoming year under the leadership of Jamie Burgess and the incoming Governing Council. It is sure to be another outstanding year in the history of the JLL."

(Jamie)

"I remember thinking at the end of last Summer that June seemed so far away. I figured I would have all year to learn parliamentary procedure, Robert’s Rules...learn everything that I needed from Kristen, how to get in the league rooms without setting off the alarm...and now here we are in the middle of June. And while I am at the league rooms almost daily, I feel like I haven’t quite learned all the “stuff” I needed to learn before becoming President.

Luckily, all of the great projects and fundraisers that Kristen spoke about from this year are continuing into next year. Not to mention that I have a terrific Govering Council and wonderful committee chairs. I’m figuring I may not have to do any work at all!

Since the purpose of this night is really to celebrate our achievement of the past year, I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the person who has really been the driving force behind most of the work we’ve done…that person is of course Kristen.

I was flipping through the photo book that we put together at the end of the year, and it is incredible that Kristen was virtually at every project and fundraiser. She attended both of fundraisers-Author’s luncheon and Run for Luck…she actively participated in our projects, she spoke at our sustainer luncheon, attended the community breakfast that we held, attended the new member class project, went to advocacy day at the capital, met with our grant winners from last year and toured their facilities…I started wondering when she even had time to sleep. And that’s not even counting all of the “behind the scenes work” that she did…and I know she did it all of that because I got a lot of emails and phone calls from her.

Given all of the work she did, one would think that Kristen would be content fading into the sunset, or at least taking a much deserved break. But I have no doubt that she will continue to be an active part of this organization. Whether she is President, a regular active member or a sustainer, Kristen will continue to give her time to the Junior League.

On a personal note, aside from the incredible job Kristen has done as President, she has become a great friend to me. She has been my travel companion, sounding board, mentor, and just someone to talk to. She is truly a great leader, and we were lucky to have her as our President. "

New JL Members standing with Suzanne Woodard, Membership Development Chair

A Junior League Legacy

Sustainers: Kit Slaugh, with her daughters Abby Bash Messick and Travis Bash

2009 Junior League Sustainers

JLL Red Rose Award 2009

[written and read by Katie Pearson, Nominating Chair]

There were more nominations for the Red Rose award this year than in my three years of being "in the know"…I think there are a number of reasons for this:
* Jill Fanning’s rock star Friday eUpdates that kept the request for award nominations front and center. *A greater awareness of the members and their input by both committee chairs and advisors.
*The Governing Council’s push to have members reach new goals, live up to their potential and strive to create, fulfill and achieve more than ever before in an effort to better the League.
*And an increase in the number of individuals who rose to meet that challenge.

Before I name this year’s recipient, I do want to acknowledge joint nominations that were made but could not be awarded (committee chairs are ineligible), but warrant honorable mention. The Karens: Garber and Bernhardt for, as one nominator put it so eloquently, ". . .their grace and optimism with all of the changes that have happened with the 85th event. I don’t even know the details but they must be consistently problem solving and readjusting. Kudos for adaptability and stress tolerance." Thank you for all you did to help us commemorate our 85th year serving the Lancaster community!

So…who is it? The member above all members? The woman who exemplifies the spirit and value of volunteer service? Service to both league and community? Who enhances the League’s relationship with and standing in the community? Who has shown initiative and extended extra effort worthy of recognition? Who deserves free dues for a year?!?!?

Outside of League …she has been very involved in many things at St John Neumann from being a Safe Sitter to working in their Health Ministries. She has her Literacy Coach Certification and worked in Preschool Literacy Professional Development. She is a classroom helper at St. Peter's Preschool, has worked on Lancaster Day Care Center-Night on the Town Committee and still finds time to raise 3 boys and be very involved with us!

Inside the League…she has made a splash with both actives and sustainers with her activities this year…blogging, writing sustainer spotlights, relationship building, tech-training…calligraphy-ing all of the 85th table seatings with only two days notice! She recently attended the Junior League MAC conference and writing up a comprehensive summary of seminars with suggestions for implementation, proposing Fund Development ideas for next year and she already did the research on them…oh, and did I mention that she volunteered to be TRIPLE placed?

The Red Rose Award for the 2008-09 League Year goes to the very deserving and very lovely Stacey Wilson!

JLL 85th Anniversary

The 85th Anniversary of the Junior League of Lancaster

The Junior League of Lancaster Celebrated their 85th Anniversary at Bent Creek Country Club. Above are former League Presidents who attended the anniversary celebration. Below are pictures from the eventful evening.

Guests Begin to Arrive
- 250+ Attended - Honored Guests were greeted by Beth Staman, former JL President, with a special name tag and a rose.

After entering the front door, local art was on display for the guests to enjoy and place a bid if they so wished! Before the dinner there were cocktails on the back deck of Bent Creek. It was a lovely night for mingling! Above is Mrs. Becky Bumstead, one of our "Sustainer Spotlights" for the 85th Celebration.

Also before dinner, there were raffle items to view and place a bid. There were many and varied items to browse!

This is a picture of our 85th Anniversary Commemorative JL T-Shirts that were for sale along with our new Author's Luncheon book by Wally Lamb.

Dinner is served . . .

Our Junior League colors are elegantly displayed.
There was a slide show during dinner of JL past and current Community Projects

We had a local Lancaster TV Celebrity as our Mcee. During the ceremony, a surprise monetary award was given to one of our community projects, Gaudenzia House.During dinner, fun conversation continued among the guests~ The past 85 JL Presidents . . .

Our Cornerstone Sponsors

Annual Dinner

The Annual Dinner is Wednesday, June 10th at 6:00 pm at the Lancaster Country Club. We hope everyone can make it to this very special evening as we officially welcome the Spring New Member Class, recognize and thank our Members who are going Sustaining and thank and bid farewell to our President, Kristen Masengarb, as she passes the torch to Jamie Burgess.

If you belong to Bent Creek, LCC, Conestoga Country Club, or Meadia Heights you may include your club number on your RSVP to charge your drinks to your club.

The RSVP date for the Annual Dinner was May 25th. Please e-mail Victoria Abadir at VictoriaGarman@hotmail.com or call 717-405-1010 with any questions.

AJLI Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

May 15-16, six of the Junior Leauge of Lancaster members met in Reston, VA for the AJLI Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. The Junior League of Northern Virginia was this year's sponsor. We had the opportunity to meet their President, Ms. Tamara Ashford. Pictured (L-R) in this picture are Kimberly Briner, Sylvia Strobel, Tamara Ashford, Stacey Wilson, Maria Lozzi, Anotonia Pawlson, and Judy Doughtery. Michelle Suarez-Koltunovich also attended.

We were served a wonderful breakfast and lunch!

During breakfast, our keynote speaker was Louis Yuhasz, Founder of Louie's Kids:"Fighting Obesity One Child At A Time." Louis has been on several talk shows, including the Rachael Ray Show. To learn more about his initiative click on this link: Louie's KidsBetween our sessions, we had the opportunity to do a little shopping! Vendors were available for this fun experience. Behind Judy and Michelle are some of the vendor tables.

During lunch we had the fun opportunity of experiencing Mary Foley and became members of the Live Like Your Nail Color Club. The Club Motto: "Live like your nail color -even if you have naked nails!" She was a riot!! To learn more about becoming a bodacious woman click on this link: Go Badicous!

So . . . what concepts were we able to bring back to our League? The information received was extensive. Below are the break out sessions that we attended:

* Cultivating, Motivating and Rewarding Volunteers

* Developing A Fundraising Plan - Tools for Success: Fund Development "Boot Camp"

* High-Impact Conversations: Working Through Conflict for The Good Of The League

* Practicing Effective Leadership

* Project Management: How To Get The Best From Your Team

* Strategic and Annual Planning: Going from Governing to Managing

May Sustainer Spotlight

Mrs. Carol Pyfer

Mrs. Carol Pyfer is our May "Sustainer Spotlight." She was a delight to interview and provided many insights about her role as an active volunteer.

Carol was born in Tyler, Texas and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She and her husband, John, currently live in Lancaster. Carol earned a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University (Waco, Texas) and a Masters in Speech and Language from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee). Carol has two children, Trey and Carrie. She also has two granddogs!

Carol’s current volunteer commitments are the following: Chairperson of the Parish Resource Center Board; Chairperson of the Trustees of Lancaster Theological Seminary; Board Member of the Fulton Opera House; Occasional Adult Sunday School Teacher; Facilitator of a Women's Bible Study Group.


Carol was an Active member of the Junior League for twelve years. Her placements as an Active included Treasurer; President; Served on the Task Force that established the project for starting the local chapter of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse; and she was very active in the community, especially at the YWCA, serving in all kinds of capacities there.

When asked, "What was your favorite placement?" Carol replied, "I enjoyed the project task force the most. Another member and I went to a conference on child abuse prevention in Baltimore and that was very educational and helpful in the development of the project."

Carol's favorite fundraiser was the Thrift Corner! She said,"The pricing days were fun because we got to chat with other members." Carol's favorite project was the Hands-On-House. She was the JL President during this time and found it to be a wonderful asset to the community.

I asked Carol, "How has the Junior League improved who you are?" She poignantly replied, "The Junior League provided me an outlet to meet new people and to get involved. I think my career in the League also helped me see the big picture of a project/event and learn how to break it down into manageable pieces. It also taught me the importance of good research/information before beginning a project."

This next section about Mrs. Pyfer are fun questions that she chose from a list of twenty. First question, "Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?" Carol replied, "I am retired from my work as a Speech Language Pathologist, but I handle the financial/business part of a family orchid business now. In five years, I would like to only be working one day a week!"

Second question, "If you could be ANYWHERE in the world right now . . . where would you be?" Carol replied, "I have the opportunity to travel a good bit - in the U.S. and Europe, mostly. But my favorite place is in my own home with my family."

Third question, "What attracted you to the Junior League?" Carol replied, "The mission of voluntarism and the opportunity to work with other like minded women who wanted to make a difference in our community."

Fourth question, "What do you like to do?" Carol replied, "In my retirement I like to spend time with family and friends, read a good book, and do the occasional crossword/sudoku puzzle!"
Fifth and final question, "What was the last book that you read?" Carol replied, "I am in a book club, so I read a variety of books. The last one I read was Better by Atul Gawande.

Many benefits are derived by those who volunteer their time and talent as well as their financial support. New skills are developed, new friendships are made and new opportunities and experiences are provided. Volunteer efforts can make you happier in every phase of your life and can improve your ability to work with and manage other people. Winston Churchill once said, "You make a living by what you earn, you make a life by what you give." Many thanks, Carol, for making a difference in Lancaster County by your generous giving of time, treasure, and talent.

85th Anniversary Celebration Rescheduled

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Junior League of Lancaster changed the date of the Kaleidoscope Celebration.

Please mark your calendars for the new date:

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2009

Cocktails, Dinner and Dancing with Good2Go

Gallery for a Night. Art In Motion. Raffle.

Tours of the LCCC and Marriott.All are welcome!

Tickets at 717.392.2415 or www.jllancaster.org/

March Assembly Meeting

Due to the inclement weather we will be rescheduling our monthly membership meeting. Please plan on attending the March membership meeting next Monday, 3/9 at the Lancaster General College of Nursing and Health Sciences, 7pm.