Dear friends,
Like all non-profits, Palmetto Literacy Council survives and thrives with the help of donations, grants and funds generated through events. This year, our fall fundraiser is a Golf Scramble which will be held on Monday, November 14 at Pine Lakes Golf Course. Proceeds from the Golf Scramble help offset costs to operate ate no charge to the community and go toward the purchase of curriculum and assessment materials.
To date, several businesses have generously donated goods for the event; others have committed to sponsoring holes. Presently there are still holes available. We are also seeking event sponsors ($5,500), breakfast sponsors ($125) and lunch sponsors (2,300). We will promote our supporters via the PLC website, on Facebook and in our newsletter (see page 5).
More importantly, however, we need golfers! Please note that the event includes lunch, a swag bag and contests. Cost: $100 per person; $400 per foursome. Sign up: Polly Putorti [email protected] or 843-945-9278. Help spread the word about our golf tournament with your friends and neighbors! We also need volunteers to help out the week before and the day of the golf tournament. Contact Polly at the above email.
PLC has an ongoing need for volunteers, and we’ve found an easy way to recruit for those positions. If you would like to give of your time and talent to PLC, you can view our needs at justserve.org. We have opportunities for tutoring support. we rely on our dedicated volunteers to help run our organization!
Help for Tutors: Did you know that we have volunteer liaisons at each of the libraries who are always available to answer any questions tutors have? Our VLs are a great resource, so don’t hesitate to seek the assistance of your volunteer liaison. We currently have a need for a VL at the Surfside Beach Library. Email [email protected].
Book lovers: Our monthly book club has chosen Verity by Colleen Hoover as our next book to read and discuss. Book club meets November 17 at 6 PM in our Surfside office. To sign up send an email to : [email protected]. Hope to see you there!
Our goal at PLC is not only to help our students improve as readers, but to instill in them a lifelong love of reading. We require all students to have a library card so they can develop their own individual reading interests. Librarians are always eager to recommend books to our students—use them as a resource! Libraries are sanctuaries that not only offer a place to find and read books, but they also host terrific programs for children and adults.
Read, read, read. And enjoy these wonderful fall days.
Sincerely, Dodi
Dodi Hodges Executive Director
Anatomy of a Book Club
Patricia D’Ascoli
Many of you have, no doubt, participated at one time or another in a book club. So you know how much fun it is to discuss a book you’ve read and enjoyed with others! That is why PLC has created its own monthly book club—to provide an opportunity for our friends to share their thoughts and to dialogue with fellow bibliophiles. The operative term here is “dialogue” which, I have found, is often missing from book clubs. This might be due, in part, to the size of a group; it’s difficult—often impossible—to have a true discussion about a book when there are a lot of people who want to participate. This is not to say discussion in a large group can’t ensue with the assistance of a skilled leader, but usually there is simply not enough time for everyone to have a chance to participate fully.
Years ago, I was hired by the Connecticut Humanities Council to lead several library book discussions. These were theme based and limited in scope; often series were comprised of three or four books. As facilitator, I presented questions to the group and asked members not only to address the questions but also, if possible, to respond to other members’ answers. There was never any pressure to participate; some members were simply content to listen. And that was fine. What mattered was that members engaged in a dialogue. I found that members seemed to really enjoy these discussions.
I am happy to report that this type of dialogue was generated during PLC’s first book club session where the group discussed The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison. While there were a few “formal” questions offered, group members were excited to use these as jumping off points and to consider multiple perspectives, responding to comments made by one another. It was, in other words, a true dialogue. The group was small which of course allowed for the format. For this reason, we’d like to cap the group at 10. Next month on November 17 at 6:00 PM we will be discussing Verity by Colleen Hoover. Here’s a synopsis from Hoover’s website:
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.
Sounds like a great read right? If you’re interested in joining us email [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you there!
We are delighted to have a new bookkeeper working with us. Mike Murzyn found us through justserve.org. He is a former corporate finance professional with over thirtyfive years of extensive advisory and management experience. Welcome to the team Mike!
Our Board of Directors: Dodi Hodges, Executive Director Catheryn Weitman, Chair Preston McKeever-Floyd, Vice-Chair Patricia D’Ascoli, Secretary Luisa Soto, Treasurer
Members at large: Polly Putorti, Bonnie Kelley, Jan Leonhard, Mary Ellen Lynch, Etta Carter, Adrianna Edwards
Logophile
Preston McKever-Floyd
A word that I hear often, as I am sure you do, is Congratulations; so, I decided to explore its origins. Congratulation is a noun, mid-fifteenth century, derived from the Latin congratulatnem, an action term, constructed on the stem of the past participle, congratulari, a combination of com, “together, with ” + gratulari,” “give thanks, show joy,” from gratus, “agreeable.” Congratulate appeared in late Middle English from the Latin: congratulari and congratulation and has been henceforth ensconced to the present time.
Patricia D’Ascoli I just finished reading The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse and Their Last Chance Journey across America by Elizabeth Letts. The book recounts the story of a 63 year old woman in poor health who travels from Maine to California on horseback. Yes. On horseback. Not only was the book well researched and compelling, it was also quite informative. Readers will learn much about 1950s America, a time when interstate highways were being built to facilitate increased car travel, which made a journey on horseback that much more difficult. Readers will admire Annie Wilkins’ tenacity, strength of character and willingness to follow a dream no matter the odds. I recommend highly!
What We Are Reading
Catheryn J. Weitman
I am reading one very fascinating book entitled: Sara and Eleanor: The story of Sara Delano Roosevelt and her daughter-in-law, Eleanor Roosevelt. The book caught my attention because you hear so much about their (negative) relationship. The book begins with Sara’s roots in Europe, her childhood, her marriage to James, her motherhood with her only son (FDR) and grandmotherhood. I was surprised to learn that Sara basically raised Eleanor and Franklin’s five children, financially supported FDR and his family for years, and had a wonderful relationship with Eleanor even through FDR’s affair with Lucy Mercer. While Sara seemed open to all, Eleanor was more prejudiced–another surprise!
Only when Eleanor decided to
build her own “get-away” house
(for herself and female friends)
from Sara and the children on
Sara’s property in Hyde Park, did
Sara and Eleanor’s relationship
begin to fracture. Although the
relationship between the two
women was cordial, Sara did not
quite understand why Eleanor
had to have her own house.
I am at the point in the book that Franklin has had polio four years, has purchased Warm Springs for $200,000 (did not know this!) and Eleanor has begun to develop her own life and work- -some paid, which Sara thought was unbefitting a woman, yet supported Eleanor anyway. Franklin’s political life is just beginning. The author, Jan Pottker, does a wonderful job of chronicling the history and the relationship between Sara and Eleanor, through personal journals, interviews, and mega research. I was reading another biography simultaneously when I became more intrigued with this one. I couldn’t, can’t, put it down!
