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Latest News from the Shed

AGM, hello to new committee, coming up in October..

23/9/2020

1 Comment

 
Hi everyone!
It's been a busy few months for our regulars, including our open day and the AGM and we are delighted to be seeing more of you at the shed for a variety of activities.  This weekend we had nearly 30 sheddies in the hills of Cooroy, learning about Tania Edwards' story and Anagama 'Syrinx' (a giant woodfired kiln).
It certainly inspired a few members and gave us some ideas for what we can do with our pottery space when we finally get it! (although maybe not up to a 7m long, 5 day 24 hour a day woodfiring just yet ....)
As we head into October we have some highlights for you:
  • The first Tuesday of the month our walkers go 'further afield' - this month they are meeting at Park Edge road to do Noosa National Park
  • Sunrise Yoga Flow,  with Simone 7am Tuesdays
  • Resistance training with Robyn 11.30am Mondays and Fridays (Block booking required, held in Coolum)
  • 'Take time for yourself' - A fantastic day retreat organised by our members as part of Queensland Mental Health week 
  • Sheddies off the Shelf Book Club meeting Friday 26th October - current book available to borrow at the shed.
  • Veggie Village will be offering a miso making workshop/demo towards the end of the month (tickets on website next week)

We also want to take this opportunity to encourage you to join us for any of the activities that take your interest. All of our groups assume no prior knowledge, although if you are able to share skills you are definitely welcomed (and needed!). Our activities are meant to be fun, and meant to give you the chance to do something you enjoy in a low pressure, supportive and friendly environment.  So if you have always wanted to sing, please come along to our vocal group - 'The Cool Ums', or if you have a guitar or uke, that you keep promising to learn 'one day' - well this is your chance! (Join us at the 'Cool Strums')

We are on the process of planning some craft workshops, keep an eye on the calendar (it's easy to see in Band).  Our fortnightly meetup 'Loose Ends' is a social group where members can book in and work on their own projects. There is no teacher, so if you are looking for lessons, it's better to wait for a workshop, although the craft chat on band usually has people planning on sharing some skill or another :-).  This month the 'Colour Crew' are taking a break from their Shibori antics and are planning on trying out some eco dyeing - as with all our member meetups, this is a casual event where members get together to try out an activity - everyone helps out, no-one is the 'teacher'. 

If you want to attend any of these activities please book ahead - we only run activities if we have a minimum of 4 people booked in.  Booking ahead is necessary so that we can follow current COVID guidelines and we can let you know if anything changes. If you have any problems with the booking process, we have a drop in session- Tech Tuesday, 9am with Nell.

You can view and download a printable version of our perpetual calendar here

AGM in brief
On the 2nd September we held our first AGM, full minutes are available by contacting the secretary, and we will be putting them on the website in due course. Here are some highlights from the day. We had updates on our activities for the year and some good discussion about the coming priorities for the year. Overall we are in a better position financially, and we continue to attract new members.   The current committee vacated their post and the nominees were appointed as follows:
  • President, Nell Harvey
  • Secretary, Leonne Deighton,
  • Treasurer, Monita Griffiths
  • General Committee Member, Deilia Murray
  • General Committee Member, Renee Brown
A big thank you to outgoing Secretary Luanne Ingram, and another thank you to all the new committee members for volunteering your services! 

Also of note, we discussed and voted to adopt the constitution which we have  updated and expanded. This included recognising the contribution of Founding Members, by granting them lifetime membership and we updated our objects  to the following :

The Coolum Women’s Shed is a community-based organisation and as such the objects of the association are to:

  1. Create a welcoming space away from home and work where women can pursue a variety of recreation based and personal development activities.
  2. Connect and bring our members together regularly so that they can enjoy the social, mental and physical benefits of belonging to our community consisting of members with a wide range of interests
  3. Empower our members to try new things, upskill or share their strengths in an environment where women feel welcomed, supported and have fun.
  4. Apply the property and capacity of the association towards the fulfilment and achievement of these Objects
  5. Pursue such commercial arrangements, including sponsorship and marketing opportunities as are appropriate to further the interests of the members
  6. Represent the interests of our Members in any appropriate forum
  7. Engage with and further the development of the Australian and International Women’s Shed Movement
  8. Use and protect the Intellectual Property of the association
  9. Do all that is reasonably necessary to enable these Objects to be achieved and enable Members to receive the benefits which these Objects are intended to achieve
  10. Promote the health and safety of Members and all other participants in Coolum Women’s Shed activities.
  11. Seek and obtain improved facilities for the enjoyment of a variety of activities including indoor and outdoor recreation
  12. Promote the development of volunteers and members to encourage regular participation in the association’s activities.
  13. Emphasise fun at all levels of participation, personal development, mental health, physical fitness, healthy attitudes and teamwork.
As a community organisation the association relies on the voluntary efforts of its members. The Coolum Women’s Shed respects that our members will volunteer at a level that is appropriate to their circumstances. Our volunteer capacity will determine what and how we engage in activities, and our ability to fund and obtain our own facilities and equipment.
 
The property and income of the association shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the aims and objects of the association and no part of that property or income may be paid or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to members of the association, except in good faith in the promotion of those aims and objects.


The updated objects were based on a workshop of members feelings about what the aims of the shed should be. We hope that clarifying the objects will allow us to be clearer about what we are, and why we are here.

A full copy of the updated constitution will be available soon on the website.
​

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Perpetual Calendar to print at home

5/8/2020

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Hi Sheddies, we are looking forward to seeing you this weekend at the Open Day. Don't forget you can register in advance via the front page of our website - it will save you writing your details on the day. The limit of people in the community house is 19 and we will be monitoring closely to ensure we are COVID safe.

We will also be running some mini-workshops on the day with limited numbers to allow for social distancing. The worskhops include:
  • Macrame basics
  • Beeswax wraps
  • Taste of Art Therapy
  • Mini Baskets Weaving
  • Mini Meditation

We are aiming to run the workshops outside,and we be available on a first come, first served basis. Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather :-)

Regular Activities
We have created a perpetual calendar to show when the regular activities are on, you can download a copy from the weekly roster page or this post.​
monthly_calender_august.pdf
File Size: 164 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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That's all from us - hope to see you soon!
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Can you hear the buzz of the little worker bees?

26/7/2020

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1st layer in the kiln - it's like a 3 d jigsaw puzzle!
Hi Sheddies,

I'm sitting down just after loading some of members pieces into the kiln - the first firing with a new clay and glaze combo is always exciting - potters refer to the 'kiln gods' - let's hope they are smiling on us, and some of the pieces will be on sale at our Open Day on the 8th August.

It's hands on at the shed for the next couple of weeks - I'd like to thank some of our newest members who turned up and helped out with our cupboard sort out (on their first visit!) We need the space as we have been slowly building up our equipment and materials. We have a few new additions including Olga the overlocker and Tessa the food processor ;-).  

With less than 2 weeks to go we will be having a few more working bees -  this Tuesday will be lots of cutting up material, so if you have some good fabric scissors please come along ( we have a couple of pairs). Also ironers welcome!  Thursday will be more of a making day, using some of the skills we have gained. There will be sewing, weaving, macrame. Please book in via the website  ( no charge but allows us to keep within COVID numbers). We are trying to fit in another fabric dyeing session, if confirmed we will share via our app  (Band) and on Facebook.  We have also added working bee slots for the the day before the open day, and during the open day. If you haven't already signed up for something, just book in and we will find something for you to do ;- ). 

We will be putting up a display of our work, so if you have made something at the shed, please bring it in by Friday 7th so we can add it to the display. 

We are working to publish a calendar that makes it easy to see, but many of our meetups now run on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.  You can book them from our website - please book in via our website (not facebook) - we have to manage numbers for COVID, and we nearly reached the limit last Thursday.  We don't want to have to turn people away :-(.  We also implemented a new policy that we need at least 4 people booked online to run an activity - this is for the benefit of our volunteers who can make other plans if people are busy ( and stops us wasting money on hall hire :-) ).

New activities
  • We have two book clubs currently forming in our members App : Band - one is lunchtimes, the other is an evening one. It looks like we have full numbers for each, but we may add another one if there are people that are interested.
  • Cards/Games meetup- fortnightly 2nd and 4th Tuesday, venue TBC
  • The Cool Strums - beginners guitar meetup monthly on a Tuesday night. Currently learning chords A,D and E for 'The Gambler'.  Book here .
  • New meditation series - Simone is offering 3 different types of meditation on a rotating basis. So you can come to your favourite (or all of them) Choose from Zen, Yoga Nidra or Guided Visualisation ( this week starts with yoga nidra - book here -)
  • Talking Money with Martine -  an informal group to go over a variety of topics relating to personal finances. 1st Tuesday of the month from  1st September book here 
  • 6 week resistance training with Robyn. 11am Fridays in central Coolum. 
  • The weaving group will be meeting monthly on a Thursday morning, 3rd Thursday of the month. (Booking available soon)

Also in the pipeline is a dedicated monthly tech help session to help people get online (especially useful if we need to go back down into lockdown at some point). We will be looking at setting up email accounts, booking on our site, using zoom  and using our band app.

Building up our equipment and materials means we can hold our member meetups more frequently - member meetups are just that - the cost is based on how long the session is and what materials need to be provided (if any).  Some of our member meetups are focused on learning a new skill - last month our macrame group taught us the basics. This month we have had meetups with a couple of different basket weaving techniques.  Not every meetup has a taught element - ideally we all come together and enjoy working on our projects.  If you have something you are happy to share please get in touch - we can cover the cost of materials, and as a volunteer you are covered by our insurance. We have a calculator on the website that helps us price our sessions  ​https://www.thewomensshed.org/set-up-a-members-meetup.html

Just a reminder - if you want to see something happening at the shed, please come and talk to us about putting it on.  It can be a one off, or a regular meetup, but we need you to help out. All the fun we are having is because someone has put their hand up and said 'I will help'  - and you get to choose a time and location that suits you too :-). 

Sorry if this is a lot of information - there won't be much time to send more updates before our open day on the 8th - we hope to see you all there. There is a printable version of our flyer at the bottom of this page - please tell your friends :-).

See you soon!
Nell
​(President)
womens_shed_open_day_final.pdf
File Size: 16620 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Fun before we take a break :-)

22/6/2020

2 Comments

 
Hi Sheddies - this is a very brief update to let you know the volunteers and facilitators will be taking a break during the school holidays. Last week we had a great session with Natalie, who guided us through Shibori dyeing techniques at a member meetup.  The community centre looked lovely with all the finished items on the line. We will be planning another session soon, hopefully on a Saturday.
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Before we have some time off  we have more fun planned this week:

Tuesday : Drawing for beginners - just bring a pencil and pad to get grounded in the basics 

Thursday : Treat yourself to a chilled day with yoga at 9.30 followed by weaving at 11 (come to either or come to both)
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Renee's basket
Saturday : Members Craft retreat - Macraclay.  Start the day making some handbuilt clay bowls - . Follow that with  a walk, and then move onto macrame plant hangers.  Finish the day by returning to your pottery and making any finishing touches. You will be able to keep your favourite piece (after glazing and firing). We want to make a few extras for sale at the open day on August 8th.

The shed will be offline from 26th June until 12th July, but that doesn't mean you can't keep in touch via our members app - band.  You can use band to set up chat rooms, make plans and join in with ideas for new groups. We are currently discussing setting up beginners guitar, beginners ukelele , a sewing bee, our nexxt shibori meetup and a social book club.  The band app also links to our calendar so you can see what's happening in one place.

Our walking group will continue to run during the break - please make sure you book online as they will be meeting for a spot of gentle street orienteering next week. At Sunshine beach. 

After the break we will be back with more workshops including vegan bliss balls and dips with Sara, and another session with Martine, our finance guru. Please check our calendar for the latest workshop info.

One more reminder - tickets are still available for the Evening with the Dragon event on 26th September. We have been given priority access to the tickets, so if enough of us can go we will have the place to ourselves! If you have never seen a Japanese Anagama firing you are in for a treat- these pottery kilns only fire once or twice a year, and this one, Syrinx, also makes pizza :-). Tickets go on sale to the general public 1st of July.

Hope to see you soon
x
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Fire, Mud and Rope

14/6/2020

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Macrame meetup taking no chances - is it 4 sqm metres or 1.5 ms?
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Clay gals showing socially distanced crafting
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Yep that's probably a safe distance ;-)
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Some of Simone's beautiful creations!
Hi ladies - how are you? How is it feeling to be slowly engaging with the world again?We've been busy this week - meditation, pottery, macrame, book club, yoga, pilates, gardening and walking! 

If you are worried that you might miss out, don't worry - we will run some of these activities again, but if you are really keen to join in the fun, please download the 'Band' App - you can access our calendar, chat with other members and you get to hear about one off activities that are just for members - like the macrame meetup this week, and the introduction to handbuilt pottery.

This week we have our regular yoga, pilates and meditation classes - the yoga is back at the shed and online, pilates and meditation are online.  Our Tuesday walkers are back again meeting at 8am at Tickle Park, Coolum. Also on Tuesday its another class back at the shed - drawing for beginners, and we are covering chapter 7 of the book - looking at positive aspects of negative space. Sorry we haven't managed to get the last lesson up online yet-too busy! We put it all in the members area so you can join anytime.  We also have an informal shibori 'bee' on Thursday 11-3- we will be working on some things to sell as a fundraiser. Tickets will be available on Monday.
Meanwhile, some of the vocal group are nervous about Thursday evening - it's only our second time meeting up in person! If you are coming you can listen to the songs we have been working on over zoom - we have a playlist on soundcloud - the link is in the members area.

PLEASE NOTE: All activities are must be booked in advance - even free ones! It helps us comply with COVID 19 requirements, and it really speeds up the check in process. 


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Tania at Arcadia, taking the nightshift with Syrinx the anagama kiln in the background
BOOK BEFORE 1st JULY! We have been given priority access to tickets for 'An evening with the dragon' with Tania Edwards, on 26th September at 6-8.30pm. Tania has an enormous woodfired pottery kiln in the hills of Cooroy. Firings take a team of people working round the clock for up to a week, the kiln itself is big enough to sleep in (although too hot!).  Meanwhile inside the kiln, the magic is happening as the different temperatures, wood ash and oxygen levels are manipulated by the kiln team. These kilns are so big, they only fire a few times a year, so it's pretty special to get an invite.

We have been invited to enjoy a light supper of her mom's homemade soup and garlic pizza bread cooked on the kiln. Tania will talk us through the process and you will be able to see her work being fired (bring sunglasses to look in a kiln!). It's a really atmospheric evening, and you get to take your soup bowl home as a souvenir.  We would love to make this an exclusive Women's shed night out, so Tania is giving us priority access until 1st July - let's see if we can all get up there and enjoy the warmth of the kiln - tickets are $50 for members. BYO wine. We will arrange car sharing nearer the time. Book here
​
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The shed at Research Street is opening on Thursday 11th June - what it means for you

9/6/2020

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This guidance may change - the latest information can be found here. This information is valid from 1st June to 17th August.  It is important that all people book online in advance to allow us to meet the contact tracing and social distancing requirements.

Please do not attend if you are showing any symptoms - you will be asked to leave.

Gatherings at Research Street Community Centre:
  • The community centre is 76m2, so the limit of people inside at any one time is 19 (one patron per 4 square metres)
  • Social distancing of 1.5m between people must be observed. For yoga and pilates classes, this is a maximum class size of 10 including instructors.
  • 19 people includes all people at the activity including coordinators/facilitators/volunteers. 
  • Please use alcohol gel when you arrive
  • Barefeet are not allowed - please bring yoga socks or similar.
  • Participants please bring their own equipment where possible (for example, bolster, mat); (especially items that are hard to clean).
  • Frequent cleaning and disinfecting should be maintained for borrowed equipment 
  • Minimise use of communal facilities - 1 person in the kitchen/ storage cupboard at a time.

Back at the shed this week
Thursday:
9.30 am Gentle yoga with Simone ( also available online)
6.30pm Women that run with the Wolves Bookclub

Saturday:
Vinyasa yoga (online, 8am)
Macrame meetup - members only, fully booked
​

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Online , outdoors and upwards. We are changing how we do things  to meet COVID safe restrictions.

31/5/2020

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Just as we were about to write this update, the Queensland Government has announced a further relaxation in restrictions. This is good news for many of you that want to come back to Research Street and get back into our in person activities. Whilst we don't have the resources to open tomorrow (!) we have been planning a slow return to in person activities. There will be some changes to allow us to manage risks to our members and volunteers including:
  • Activities must be pre-booked online from now on. This helps us ensure that we do not breach limits on numbers, allows us to capture contact tracing  information and avoid the need to handle cash. 
  • We are looking at ways to move classes and activities outdoors where possible.
  • We will only be operating with smaller groups, another reason to book ahead.
  • Where possible, we will continue to offer classes via zoom. Some classes may stay on Zoom only, depending on the facilitator. This means that you can still 'attend online' if you have any sniffles/ symptoms.
  • There will be strict guidelines about attending the shed and wiping down surfaces and equipment.

If you want one to one help with the booking system or zoom, please email bookingscws@gmail.com and we will arrange a time to help you.

As restrictions have gradually lifted we have been offering the chance to meet up in a informal way with a smaller number of members- people have suggested walks, and  we have organised a sewing bee via our community forum.  The community forum is a way to connect with other members and make plans about activities. It's a bit like Facebook but we prefer it because it has better privacy and is restricted to members only.  If you aren't interested in joining the conversation there, we will still post things on Facebook and our website. 

You should also get an email soon with your membership number, and some more information about the different systems. Read more here if you haven't received it yet: https://www.thewomensshed.org/new-members-guide.html

As for this weeks activities we have :
  • Pilates with Narelle (Monday 9am)
  • Meditation with Simone (Monday 6.30pm)
  • Gentle yoga with Simone (Thursday 9am)
  • Vocal group with Ali and Erica (Thursday 7pm)
  • Vinyasa yoga with Holly (Saturday 8am)
All the activities are bookable here and will remain online only. We will let you know when we are back at the shed :-)

Our main focus for the next few months will be preparing for our open day in August.
Coming up we have a macrame basics meetup on 13th June and are planning a sewing bee, fabric dyeing meetup and ceramic hand building meetup.   We are also hoping to have more talks from Martine (financial planning) and Sara (nutritionist).
​
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What Covid means for us,  what's on this week and meet Hannah!

15/5/2020

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Happy Friday Sheddies! As restrictions are slowly lifted we are looking at how we can continue our activities and adopt COVID Safe practices. For now this includes:
  • Continuing to offer some activities online including Monday night meditation with Simone. We are looking at ways to stream classes from the shed as well, so you will have the choice of attending in person or staying home
  • Running more activities outside
  • Limiting group activities to between 8 and 10 members 
  • Making sure we can provide enough space when doing activities.
  • Requiring online bookings and cashless payment
  • Some member only activities to limit our exposure to other people
 
Coming up this week:
Holly is running a free Vinyasa Flow yoga at 8 am Saturday morning - Holly takes you through a moving meditation - this session is a mixed session so you can bring your husband/ sons for a try of this dynamic style of yoga.

Pilates is taking a break this Monday - we are offering a Monday morning walk limited to 10 members. RSVP in the Band App.

Our ever popular Monday night meditation is  available at 6.30pm . Join us as Simone guides you through a different type of meditation each week.

Beginners drawing on Tuesday this week will cover chapters 5 & 6 which look at disengaging from our symbol system. If we have time we may cover negative space. Feel free to read ahead if you have the book, or we will cover the main points in the meetup. Catch up summaries are available on the members only pages on the website, although each lesson stands alone  - just bring a pencil and paper!

Gentle yoga with Simone is online Thursday morning at 9.30am, join us for a coffee afterwards :-) (you have to make your own!)

The Vocal Group  (online) are meeting on Thursday at the later time of 7pm from now on - we are pros at online singing now!


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Bookings are still open for Hannah Hempenstall's 'Finding your North Star' on Saturday 23rd May - it's a chance to really reflect on what motivates you, and especially welcome at a time when we are asking a lot of questions.  Hannah has also run our Introduction to Journalling class. We've included a little more about Hannah below:

"Originally from London, I’ve lived in Australia for 22 years and have called the Sunshine Coast my home since last October.  Ever since the age of 3, I have been aware that there is far more going on than meets the eye. Connecting to what I call Life Source Energy through contemplation and meditation have been key to my continued awakening. That journey led me to becoming qualified in reflexology, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), massage, polarity therapy, life coaching and yoga. 

I'm also a Reiki Master and am qualified in a variety of meditation traditions. Spirituality is at the core of everything I do and I’m currently undertaking a degree in World Religion. 
As well as delving into the mystical world I've enjoyed a 25-year career in magazine publishing, working on titles such as Marie Claire, Women's Health, Men's Health, Mindfood, Who and many more.
   

What life continually shows me is that a willingness to be open and the ability to ask pertinent questions such as, "What does Life want me to know today?" increases our awareness. And in my opinion, self-awareness is the key to living a more purposeful and meaningful life. 
    If this resonates with you I run regular self-development and spiritual workshops so stay in touch with the Women’s Shed and hopefully we’ll meet soon! Namaste!

Hannah x

Hannah recently posted a meditation on her Facebook page - why not give it a try? https://www.facebook.com/hannahhempcoaching/videos/4309113229114115

Have a great weekend everyone
​xx
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Look after everyone else by looking after yourself

10/5/2020

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Happy Mother's Day sheddies - did you see our post about the origins of Mother's Day? It started as a way to recognise and appreciate the role of women in society, in memory of a movement that supported women to connect and stay healthy. Sound familiar?  We hope that you are having a lovely day, and taking some time out for yourself. 

This is just a quick post to let you know that PILATES is cancelled this Monday 11th May, but there are plenty of other ONLINE  activities happening at the shed including:
  • New Saturday yoga vinyasa class with Holly
  • Bookings open for finding your North Star with Hannah Hempenstall 
  • In the members area - catch up on drawing for beginners, fabric dyeing at home, vocal group meetups.
Check our calendar - studio classes are weekly, other activities are fortnightly or monthly.

In the pipeline:
  • Starting soon - steps challenge - walking is allowed in lock down - join us we challenge ourselves to get our daily 10,000 steps.
  • Working bees to make items for the Open Day on August 8th
  • Throw like a girl - basics of clay - making pottery planters
  • Crochet
  • Macrame
  • Weaving

All classes are bookable online, jump on up to 15 minutes before class if you think you need help with zoom access - have a great day :-) 

x

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Happy Mother's Day - it's not just about flowers and chocolates

10/5/2020

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Anne Reeves Jarvis (left) mother of Anna Jarvis (right)
Did you know that Anna Jarvis created Mother’s Day as a memorial to her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis?
The first mother’s day as we know it was in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia.  Anna organised it in recognition of the work her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had done to support and bring together women.   Ann Reeves Jarvis had 11 children and only 4 of them made it to adulthood. In the late 1850s she created Mothers’ Day Work Clubs as a way to address issues with child health, to share information and support each other.
For many years the Mother’s Clubs supported the community and each other, refusing to take sides in the American Civil War and offering assistance to wounded soldiers from either side.  Ann remembered her mother praying that the work of mothers would one day be formally recognised by all. This was around the same time as the very earliest beginnings of the women’s suffrage movement, and it’s easy to see common themes in the need to recognise and support the contribution of women to society.  

Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, with the first ‘Mother’s Day’ memorial  held in May 1908. Ann and her friends established letter writing campaigns to establish a national holiday. Virginia adopted  Mother’s Day as a state holiday on 10th May 1910.  It took 6 years for the national holiday to be established, with Anna having to justify why there was a need for such celebration – the US congress initially rejected the idea in 1908, joking that they would have to create a ‘mother-in-laws’ day too.  However, many people adopted the idea and the celebration spread until in 1914 it was recognised as a national day by President Woodrow Wilson and the US Congress.
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Anna rejected the commercialisation of Mother’s Day and went to great lengths to try and keep the celebration in line with her own mother’s values. She encouraged people to write letters to their mother’s telling them why they appreciated them and to make hand made gifts, or give white carnations (her mother’s favourite flower).

Anna herself never had children and was buried next to her mother when she died in 1948, and this is important – Mother’s day was about celebrating and recognising the contribution that our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers have made to our community and lives. Now we also have International Women’s Day – and sometimes Mother’s Day seems like just an opportunity to appreciate your mother – and there is nothing wrong with that! But Mother’s day began as a celebration of the achievements and values of one woman at a time when most women were expected to become mothers - it was a recognition of everything that women did for their family and community.

It’s so interesting to hear this story of about the beginnings of Mother’s day – something that many people think was created by corporations as another way to sell cards and flowers. It started as a memorial to a woman who saw the need for connection, education and support between women, and a need to have something to support the women that support everything else. Over 110 years later, we often find ourselves having to justify this same need i.e. why do we need a women’s shed? Of course, we aren’t having to fight tuberculosis, or trying to get the Union and the Confederate veterans to reunite after the civil war (the Mother’s Friendship day was created by Ann for this purpose in 1868).

The truth of it is that the Women’s Shed is not just a place where we learn a specific skill, it is about bringing together all women in our community to share and connect. Many other cultures have this tradition, it shouldn’t need to be justified. Women of all ages bond, share their experiences and insights, and help each other – you get to know about the differences and similarities we share through our lives.

You can take classes anywhere, but you become part of our community at the Women’s Shed.  
 
We will take this opportunity to appreciate both Ann and he daughter Anna for their lifelong dedication to women. Whatever you are doing on this Mother’s Day we also want to recognise and appreciate all that you do, whether you are a mother of children, fur babies, plants – whatever you love and cherish, we are grateful to have you as part of our community
xxx
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About the Coolum Women's Shed

The Coolum Women's Shed was established in 2018. We aim to enhance the health and wellbeing of women of the Sunshine Coast by providing the opportunity to participate in a range of activities including DIY, yoga, arts, crafts and other areas that may be of interest to our members. We are a welcoming and inclusive organisation, and we aim to create a connected community where women are empowered to pursue their interests.

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