The Orinda Juniors celebrated the end of a great year by going out to support the 2017 Orinda Restaurant Tour. Thank you to all of the board members who served!
The Orinda Juniors were in action for Orinda Action Day on April 22. A group of over 20 Juniors and their children met to clean up the Orinda Park. Together we collected over 12 bags of trash and debris.
Friends and families gathered at the Orinda Library auditorium for the presentation of the 2017 Youth Ink Awards. This year, over 45 Orinda middle school students submitted entries inspired by the writing prompt 60 Seconds. Many of the young authors read their essays, and guest speaker, MJ Marggraff spoke to the crowd.
The Orinda Junior Women’s Club is pleased to announce the winners of our annual Youth Ink Writing Contest:
First Place ($250):
Kirstin Parker, OIS, So Long, So Short
Second Place ($125):
Kate Laudy, Athenian School, The Last Minute
Third Place ($75):
Lydia Gant, OIS, Sixty Seconds of an Anxiety Attack
Kali Sharma, OIS, Leaving the Life You Love
Honorable Mention:
(alphabetical order)
Mia Balonick, 60 Seconds to Live
Devon Bradley, A Dream
Malayna Chang, Pen Pals
Annika Gubser, Worlds Within Words
Audrey Lambert, See You Later Alligator
Zoey C. Patterson, Flammable
Maxine Pollock, Small Steps
Kelsey Viadro, Breaking Free
Abby Wallach, Inspired
Lily Wood, Awed by Abe
Orinda Juniors continued the tradition of putting together Easter baskets for the The Family House for Oakland Children’s Hospital. This low-cost “home away from home” has 16 bedrooms available to qualifying families who live 70 miles or more from the hospital. All residents share a common living room, play room, kitchen, and laundry room.
We assembled over 20 baskets filled with toys, books, and Easter treats to deliver to a very appreciative group of families staying at The Family House.
One of the favorite events of the year, is the Orinda Juniors annual Mug Exchange and holiday party. This year, the Orinda Juniors got together and not only exchanged mugs, enjoyed a decadent holiday spread of soups, salads and seasonal treat—we also donated holiday gifts for over 25 children from the Bay Area Crisis Nursery and kicked off a new holiday fundraiser! Inspired by our November meeting at Amphora, we bottled 142 bottles of specialty olive oils and vinegars, including Basil Olive Oil/White Peach Balsamic Vinegar, Herb Olive Oil/Fig Balsamic Vinegar, and Gold Medal Arbequina Olive Oil. Once bottled, we labelled and packaged them along with some great recipes and then sold them for holiday gift giving. Our best fundraiser to date!
Eligibity:
The contest is open to middle school students (6th, 7th and 8th grade), who live in Orinda or attend an Orinda school.
Submission Criteria:
Entries may be a story ( fiction or non- fiction), poem, or other form of creative writing, written speci cally for the contest and without teacher or parent involvement. All entries must be written in English. Submissions will be evaluated on the following items: content, clarity, structure, and originality.
Contest Prompt:
The writing prompt for 2017 is 60 Seconds; however, you may write about anything you like—real or imaginary—adhere to the prompt or not! Th ere is no limit to your imagination.
Entry:
Contest opens December 5, 2016. One entry per student. Download an entry form here. There is no fee to participate. All submissions must be 750 words or less, typed, and double-spaced. Contestant names should appear on the top right-hand corner of each page and the completed entry form must be stapled to your submission. Winning submissions may be posted for the public and re-printed in local papers. Entries must be delivered and postmarked (Orinda Junior Women’s Club, Post Offi ce Box 40, Orinda, CA 94563) or emailed to info@orindajuniors.org by February 15, 2017.
Judging:
Th e entries will be judged by a panel of local, professional, and best-selling authors, writers, reporters, and children’s book editors. The judges will evaluate submissions and select the winners. The judges will remain confident dential until the winners are announced.
Prizes: First Place $250, Second Place $125, and Th ird Place $75, and ten honorable mentions gift certi cates. Winners will be noti ed by mail and receive their prizes at an Awards Ceremony on April 20, 2067 from 6:00−7:00pm. The ceremony is open to the public and all family and friends are invited to attend.
Our November meeting was held at Amphora Olive Oil in Lafayette. We had a fantastic turnout learned more about what makes a great olive oil! We sampled a variety of great salad dressing combos, spicy olives, and decadent blood orange brownies! We also put the finishing touches on our Youth Ink writing contest!
Our October new member meeting was a huge success, with many new faces joining us to learn more about the Orinda Juniors and working to decorate pumpkins for the seniors living at the Orinda Senior Village. If you didn’t get a chance to meet them last month, be sure to introduce yourself at our November meeting!
Candi Brooks-William
Chrei Arellano
Jennifer Balducci
Melissa Willingham
Nazia Sheriff
Orsi Teodorovic
Rene Erdem
Sharon Girdlestone
Shihyi Hong
Over 20 little goblins came in costume to help deliver pumpkin to the Orinda Senior Village.
The Orinda Juniors kicked off our 2016-2017 year in September, with our first meeting with our new board:
|
President |
Amy Stuffmann |
|
Vice President / Dean |
Katie Walsh |
|
Membership |
Leslie Volk |
|
Communications |
Michelle Bea |
|
Treasurer |
Maura Aars |
|
Secretary |
Lisa Siddall |
|
Community Liaison |
Cindy Powell |
|
Social |
Corrie Raphael |
|
Hospitality |
Leigh Colburn |
|
Helping Hands |
Ignacia Guzman |
|
Youth Ink |
Chantal Valentine |
The Orinda Junior Women’s Club were proud to participate in Orinda’s annual Fourth of July parade and festivities!