Memberships in the Montevallo Branch of AAUW for the coming year are now being accepted. We plan a membership reception in September, and we encourage people from throughout the community to renew memberships or to become new members. The Montevallo Branch has just completed a great year, in which we made significant strides on the local and the national levels in our support of equality of educational opportunity from kindergarten through graduate school. Educational programs we support include Reading is Fundamental (K-1), Upward Bound (Middle and High School); Upward Bound College Students; and recent college graduates. We offer a book scholarship for a deserving entering freshman student at the University of Montevallo, and we support the AAUW Hallie Farmer Scholarship for a rising junior UM student studying Public Policy and Human Services. Of course, we also support the national AAUW funds for Educational Opportunity, and Research, Leadership Training, and Public Policy,

The Montevallo Branch of AAUW emphasizes the importance of friendship and cooperation of diverse people from many backgrounds and different parts of the community. It is a great place to meet new friends and to have exciting new experiences while supporting AAUW’s goals of education, equality, and a stronger society.

Plans are now underway for an exciting new series of projects and programs for the coming year, and we invite all our members and friends to help shape and implement plans for the coming year.

We hope to strengthen our team and committee structures, so that leadership roles are shared by a larger number of members from diverse backgrounds and age groups. Our nominating committee is seeking new officers to fill some of our key leadership slots. We are encouraging members to let us know of their particular interests and areas of expertise. We welcome suggestions from members of other branches as well. As in past years, we plan to offer informative programs and projects on local, national, and international issues affecting women and their families. Our focus will include social, economic, governmental, and Intercultural concerns related to topics such as immigration, education, gender equality, voting rights,health care, the environment, and many more. Our program committee will welcome suggestions about how best to incorporate some of these key concerns of women and their families into our programs and projects for the year.

As usual our Black History Month program will have a special place in our schedule. UM’s Professor Wilson Fallin has indicated a willingness to discuss the role of the African American Church during the Civil Rights Movement, and we hope also to include discussion of contemporary churches of various denominations and ethnicity in promoting social justice in our society.

The Adelante Book Group selections will complement the branch programs and projects. Books which have been suggested for the coming year include Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed; Margaret Wrinkle’s Wash, Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys, Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior, M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between the Oceans, Kristina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train, and Michel Stone’s Iguana Tree. The Book Group Committee will meet soon to make selections among these and other works from different cultures and timeframes. We hope you will send us your suggestions to add to the list of possibilities.
We plan to work in coalition with other groups in our area and with AAUW members from across the state and nation to help promote our shared concerns and our vision for a better society for women and their families. We believe that together we can make a difference.

AAUW Tentative Schedule:
Regular Branch Meetings 4th Thursday, 6:00 pm
Adelante Book Group, 2nd Wednesday, 4:00 pm

Adelante Book Group Sessions:
Fall Book Group: (These will be at 4:00 in Carmichael Library unless we announce a change of place or time).
October 9; The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone. Elaine Hughes, presenter
November 13, And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini
December 11 Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver
January 22 The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Stroud; John Lott Reviewer
February 27 Combined Black History Month event and book group); Wilson Fallin; focus on his book on the African American Church during the Civil Rights Movement and hopefully invite a young African American minister as respondent.
March 12 Orphan Train by Christina Kline, Mary Jo Buff, presenter
April 9; Wash by Margaret Wrinkle at Eclipse Coffee and Books. Eclipse will be our co-hosts, and we are hopeful that Margaret Wrinkle can come to discuss her book.

Branch Meetings
Sept 26, 6:00, Reynolds Foyer; Branch meeting, Reception for prospective, new, and returning members.

October 24, Branch Meeting; Public Policy; Visiting Resource Speaker on Voting Rights Issues (Carmichael Library, Brown Room) Event to be coordinated by Elaine Hughes, Public Policy Chair for Branch and State
December 5, 6:00; Holiday Reception and Fundraiser (Parnell Library Meeting Room); presentation on the Literacy Council’s ESL program, which meets regularly at Parnell.
February 27, Black History Month; 6:00 Carmichael Library, Brown Room, combined book group and Branch Meeting; the Role of the African American Church in the Civil Rights Movement; Wilson Fallin speaker; respondent will be one or more young African American ministers who were involved in the recent Shelby County Voting Rights Case.

March 20 Style Show and Silent Auction; Student Retreat Center

April 24, 6:00; Parnell Memorial Library Meeting Room; Reception and Award Ceremony for AAUW Award Recipients; hopefully, have a short presentation on the ESL classes which currently meet at Parnell.