AUGUST 2008 NEWSLETTER

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Welcome to the new year of the Faculty and Friends Club of Florida State University. Welcome back to the old members and welcome aboard to new members of this vibrant and active group. The year’s events are varied, informative and fun. Come and join us for the social events – starting with the September 5 annual welcoming reception – and for the activities of the interest groups, including book groups, restaurant visits, language sessions and outdoor adventures. There is something for everyone.
Our club is over eighty years old. While we no longer conduct bond drives or restrict ourselves to faculty wives, we do continue to fund student scholarships at FSU, and one of our most active interest groups is the Globetrotters, featuring monthly explorations of countries visited by our own members, a group that has been one of the most popular attractions of our club for over thirty years.
From the College Dames of F.S.C.W., started in 1926, to the current Faculty and Friends Club of Florida State University, the purpose of our club – to exchange ideas, share experiences and strengthen friendships – remains intact. I look forward to sharing the year’s adventures with you and welcome your ideas for making the Faculty and Friends Club relevant, vigorous and enjoyable.
Carol Weissert
The University Club Scholarship Fund was established in 1986 (at the request of the FSU Foundation, the name of the fund remains unchanged). Since 1994, the Club has been awarding one or more $500 scholarships per semester to needy, returning, full-time, undergraduate students who maintain a GPA of at least 3.2. This past year, the board members voted to add some partial scholarships to part-time students. Thanks to your generous donations and our successful, annual Billy Bowlegs 5k Run and 1 mile Walk, the Club has been able to award eighty-eight scholarships during the past thirteen years. During the next academic year, we are planning to award eight to twelve, some of them partial scholarships. Donations of any amount will be gratefully accepted and acknowledged. Please mail your donation together with your dues, with the check made out to the Faculty & Friends Club of FSU, to the treasurer Calvin Zongker, 601 Live Oak Plantation Road, Tallahassee, FL 32312.

Annual Welcoming Reception

Friday, September 5:00 – 7:00 pm
FSU Alumni Center Ballroom
1030West Tennessee Street

As usual, we are starting the year with our Annual Reception to take place in this beautiful location. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit with old and new friends. You can join or renew your membership and sign up for the many fascinating interest groups. These groups are a great way to get to know each other. Wine together with delicious hors d’oeuvres and desserts, prepared by some of our members, will be served. Please bring new faculty and friends and encourage current faculty to attend the reception in order to familiarize them with our organization.below.
Pat Meredith, Joannie Poulson and Carol Weissert are co-chairing this event. If you have special delicacies you would like to share with the group, feel free to bring them. Please call Pat at 531-0839 with any questions. Please note that our reception will take place in the Ballroom, not in the Courtyard where an alumni group is scheduled to meet. There is plenty of parking available with entrance either from Tennessee Street or from Brevard Street.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!

Programs for 2008-2009
Friday, September 5 Annual Welcoming Reception
5:00-7:00 p.m. – FSU Alumni Center Ballroom
Friday, October 31 Halloween Party – 6:30 p.m. until …
Hosted by Beth & Neil Charness – 1325 Peacefield Place
Saturday, November 22 National Weather Center
10:00 a.m. – Love Building at FSU
Saturday, December 6 Holiday Party – 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Dorothy B. Oven Park – Main House – 3205 Thomasville Road
Saturday, January 10 Billy Bowlegs 5k Run & 1 Mile Walk FAMU/FSU College of Engineering – 9:00 a.m. with Brunch at 10:15 a.m. in Renegade Grill in the Seminole Golf Clubhouse
Sunday, February 8 Chinese New Year at Lucy Ho’s Oriental Bistro – 1700 Halstead Boulevard – 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 21 Behind the Scenes at the Tallahassee Museum –  Time TBA

Saturday, April 25 Spring Membership Luncheon – 11:30 a.m.
Cypress Restaurant – 320 East Tennessee Street

Board of The Faculty & Friends Club of FSU  2008-2009

President	Carol Weissert	297-0111
Vice President	Pat Meredith	531-0839
2nd VP (Membership)	Fred Leysieffer	893-1272
Past President	Joannie Poulson	385-8028
Recording Secretary	Bettina Tesón	385-2092
Corresponding Secretary	Denise Ellingson	907-9992
Treasurer	Calvin Zongker	385-4848
Nominating Committee	Joannie Poulson	385-8028
Newcomers’ Liaison	Askim Okten	894-1151
Newsletter Editor	Annelise Leysieffer	893-1272
Interest Groups Co-Chairs	Barbara Elam Diane Olsen	385-9856 386-5797
Friendship*	Beth Charness	385-0500
Historian	Neil Charness	385-0500
Scholarship	Alice Nichols Diane Olsen	385-9218 386-5797
Ex-Officio	Virginia Wetherall

*Please notify Beth Charness about members who should be sent cards due to illness, birth of a child, congratulations or sympathy.

Faculty & Friends Club Interest Groups 2008-2009

Book Discussion Group	Bonnie Armstrong Diane Olsen	893-6141 386-5797
Globetrotters	Diane Olsen Diane Stuart Jane Waggaman	386-5797 893-3466 576-8427
Gourmet Sampler	Marie Cowart	893-2966
Investment Club	Bill Claggett	656-1683
La Table Française	Annelise Leysieffer Jo Stepp-Greany	893-1272 383-3970
La Mesa Española	Jo Stepp-Greany	383-3970
Lecture Series – PUC	Bob Spivey	894-5242
Lunch Bunch	Denise Ellingson	907-9992
Outdoors Explorers	Barbara Elam Christel Heil	385-9856 385-8879
Restaurant Roulette	TBA	385-2092
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?	Bettina Tesón
Stitch and Chat	Cherie Fenstermaker	386-1000

If you are interested in joining an interest group or in forming a new one, please call either Barbara Elam or Diane Olsen.
Lunch Bunch – Tuesday, September 9 – 11:45 a.m.
La Lanterna Italian Market Deli, 2765 Capital Circle NE
Please call Denise Ellingson at 907-9992 by September 5.
Restaurant Roulette is in need of a new chairperson or this popular interest group will sadly fold. Please call Barbara Elam or Diane Olsen to offer to chair or co-chair this group.
Book Discussion Group – Monday, September 15 – 7:30 p.m.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriterby Mario Vargas Llosa
A comic novel of scandal, soap opera, and writing strategies, set in the 1950s in Lima, Peru, that questions boundaries between reality and fantasy. Vargas Llosa alternates scenes of Julia’s shocking relationship with her nephew Varguitas, an aspiring author, with the spicy radio serials written by his coworker, the scriptwriter. Lourdes Grindal will lead the discussion.
Monday, October 20 – The Good Earthby Pearl S. Buck
This 1932 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel remains a standout. Deceptive in its simplicity, it is a story built around a flawed human being and a teetering socio-economic system, as well as one layered with profound themes. It is an epic drama of Wang Lung, spanning four generations during late 19th and early 20th century China. It is all about land, its bounty, its sustenance, and above all, its purity, which no one can ever destroy.
Judy Goldman will lead the discussion. Please call Bonnie Armstrong at 893-6141or Diane Olsen at 386-5797 to attend.
The Book Discussion Group generally meets the third Monday evening of each month. There are refreshments from 7:30 to 8:00, with the discussion starting at 8:00. Please do not bring animals to the meetings. Even when well-behaved, they seem to cause unnecessary distraction.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? – Friday, September 19 – 7:30 p.m.
Please call Bettina Tesón 385-2092
Globetrotters – Saturday, October 11 – 8:00 p.m.  Westminster Oaks, Perry Building
Jack Brigham and Barbara Wilson will share their cruising adventure from last year, from Chile to Argentina. 
Note:  Please call Diane Olsen at 386-5797 or Jane Waggaman at 576-8427 if you need more information.
La Mesa Española is a new interest group chaired by Jo Stepp-Greany. Please call Jo at 383-3970 if interested. Modeled on the French and German language interest groups, they plan to meet monthly, possibly with “mini lessons,” with either topics of discussion or simply to practice Spanish.
Request to all interest group chairpersons!
Please announce to your interest groups that the annual membership dues are due at this time. The interest groups are the backbone of our organization, and we need all their memberships to enable the Club to function properly!

MEMBERSHIP DUES $20/$15 per household

Membership is open to faculty, administrative and professional staff, retirees, visitors, former members of this Club and similar clubs at other universities, religious directors, members of the University’s Board of Trustees, spouses of all of the above, and friends who support the aims and activities of the Faculty & Friends Club of FSU.
All interest groups are part of the Faculty & Friends Club. Membership dues are due now from ALL attendees except from the occasional visitor for the 2008-2009 school year. Please fill out the form provided below and bring it together with your check made out to the Faculty & Friends Club of FSU to the Annual Welcoming Reception on September 5 or mail to the treasurer, Calvin Zongker, 601 Live Oak Plantation Road, Tallahassee FL 32312.
Name(s): _________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________
Zip: ___________Home Phone: ______________________
E-mail address(es): ________________________________
Department(s): ____________________________________
(Please indicate department(s), if retired, or if you are a friend)
Membership Dues per address: $20($15 for retirees): $______
Voluntary Contribution to Scholarship Fund:                $______
Total Amount enclosed:                                               $______
Please highlight changes/additions to last year’s roster and be sure to provide your correct e-mail address for us to send monthly meeting reminders.