Séasúr Sona buíochais!

…or “Happy Season of Thanks” if you don’t have Google Translate handy!

Halloween is behind us - thanks to Gabby Dunne and Ashleigh Rizzo for giving us a fun opportunity to dress up and be a bit silly at our Halloween party at the Sandymount Community Centre.

I hope all our Canadian members enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day last month. Now it’s time for the rest of us to gear up for turkey and the trimmings! And the PIE!

BTW, Canadians, feel free to double-dip and enjoy a second round of Thanksgiving with the US version - sharing is what it’s all about!

As always, there’s lots on the AWCD calendar. I won’t steal that thunder. You will have to check it all out for yourself on the website and Wild Apricot, but I will remind you of our next daytime General Meeting at The Harcourt Hotel on November 14.  Special Guest Speaker Lorraine Hall, a councillor from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, with buckets of other political-role experiences, will be on hand to give us some insights into Irish politics. Pretty timely, considering that the Irish elections are coming up pronto! And thanks to Program Co-Chair Deb Mandel for getting this one on the books!

At the meeting we will also have our usual door prize, plus our Philanthropy duo, Amber Liggett and Jenny Lavin are having a raffle of some nifty prizes to benefit our selected charity, Dogs Trust Ireland - so bring some extra cash for your chance to scoop a prize.

Our FAWCO duo, Margie O'Rourke and Carol Lovelett, will be on hand with their flowerpot to collect your spare coins for Awesome Blossoms, the FAWCO target project. 'Tis the season for giving!

Coming up, even before the GM, on Nov. 7th there’s an evening New Members’ Social - thank you Lori Garife for securing the venue! We have quite a few new members - hurray! - so let’s all join in to welcome them into the AWCD Community.

Looking just a little further out, have you registered yet for the Annual Holiday Luncheon at Clontarf Castle? Queen of Special Events, Else O’Neill, has scored not only a fabulous venue, but a fabulous price and extras like a welcome drink to get us in the Holiday mood!

A bit of business to close this one out…we had the votes needed to approve the updated Constitution, but, as promised, there is a comparison between original and revised now available. You can find it on the AWCD website by clicking on Members Home. Down under Quick Links, click on Forms and Documents and voilá! Or you can click here.

Thank you to all who participated in the revision, to those who voted, and to those who sent feedback. Together, we are an amazing community!

See you around,

Andrea

Andrea Worker
AWCD President, 2023-25