Impact Award

The Women’s City Club held its fifth award ceremony on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Our 2 winners, Dilanny Perez and Nebyat Gebrehiwot, each were honored with the presentation of a $750 cash award.

Dilanny and Nebyat are juniors at Union High School. To earn the award, the students were asked to identify and describe a personal role model, the one who most inspired them to achieve their own excellence. Their entries were chosen by a committee of administrators, teachers, and counselors at their school.

Dilanny wrote an essay about William D. Swenson, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2013. She learned about bravery, loyalty, and courage, and is inspired to strive for those things in her own life.

Nebyat, who is from Eritrea in northeast Africa, made a painting of a woman from her country. She is inspired by the women of her country who strive for gender equality and work to empower other women. She aspires to be a role model of her Eritrean culture.

The girls, along with Women’s City Club president, Wendy Sturm, and Union High principal, Aaron Roussey, were interviewed by Shelley Irwin on the Shelley Irwin Show on WGVU. Listen to the interview here.

The Impact Award is funded by generous donations from the Women’s City Club members and the community. For a list of past winners visit our Impact Award page.

Dilanny Perez and Nebyat Gebrehiwot

Union Principal Aaron Roussey, Nebyat, WCC President Wendy Sturm, Dilanny

Nebyat, Union Asst. Principal Dana Calhoun, Dilanny, Sgt. Ron Voisinet, Union Principal Aaron Roussey

A Grand Evening

Carol Dodge and Marcie signing Our First One Hundred Years

We celebrated a momentous event on March 14 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The tale was told of 100 years of the Women’s City Club by Club Historian Carol Dodge and Bulletin editor Marcie Woods at a program in the Museum’s Meijer Theater.

Our book, Our First One Hundred Years, authored by Carol and Marcie, was for sale and a book signing followed the presentation. WCC favorite, the Honorable Judge Sara Smolenski, was our special guest host. Carol and Marcie alternated in the telling of our story by decade beginning with our founding in 1924. Each decade was introduced by songs of the era performed by Rebecca Sneller, pianist and WCC member.

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and dessert and a cash bar were available. Thank you to the Public Museum for the wonderful space and for taping the presentation as part of your GR Stories feature.

Watch the presentation here.

Our guests in the Grand Rapids Public Museum Meijer Theater lobby

WCC mementos were displayed in a museum display cube

Women's City Club on eightWest!

Wendy Sturm, president of the Club, along with Kelli Rosecrans, Director of Marketing at the Grand Rapids Public Museum were interviewed on eightWest to highlight our upcoming event, “Our First One Hundred Years” on March 14. A little history of the Club, along with a teaser about our book of the same name, were beautifully presented. You can watch the television segment here.

100 Year Anniversary Party!

Cheers to 100 Years!

Members and guests celebrated the Women’s City Club’s birthday on January 24, 2024 at Blythefield Country Club. Special guest speaker, Judge Sara Smolenski, was delightful and funny. A wonderful lunch followed by dessert and a champagne toast rounded out the afternoon. Deborah Reed, WKTV Managing Editor, covered the event. You can read her article here.

“I just wanted to tell you what a wonderful program and luncheon we had today. I sat there and just imagined what the first ladies of WCC would think of us celebrating what they started one hundred years ago. I’m sure they would be smiling. The food was wonderful and Sara was pure delight.”

— Marilyn L.

“Everything about yesterday’s celebration was perfect. So beautiful and elegant.
The gift bag was filled with treasures; so fun. I’m sure that Nancy’s cards brought smiles and will be a joy to send to others.”

— Pat C.

Something Grand is Here!

Happy New Year!

Let the celebration begin!

We’ll kick it off with a special Coffee Time on January 16 to launch our Anniversary Jewelry. Nancy Bailey, our member and inspiration for the design, will be the guest of honor. Diane Jones will present the story of the design and the artist, Emily Chesick, who designed our cloisonne piece. Members will be able to order a pin or pendant, customized to reflect their individual style.

Our 100th Anniversary Luncheon will be held on January 24 at Blythefield Country Club. A special speaker, Judge Sara Smolenski, a special toast, and a special lunch with friends, will make this a wonderful event to attend!

More details for the major presentation of our 100 year history at the Public Museum’s Meijer Theatre on March 14 will be coming soon! Contact Diane Jones at diane@cjonesgroup.com to receive your invitation to this complimentary event. Open to the public.

President Wendy Sturm was on the GVSU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin to give a rundown of our special activities for this centennial year. Listen to the interview here.

Expanding Curiosity

Earlier this month we had an exclusive presentation on the planned expansion of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. GRPM President and CEO, Dale Robertson; VP of Science and Education, Dr. Stephanie Ogren; and GRPM Board of Directors Chair, Marlin Feyen shared the exciting plans and insider information about new spaces that will elevate the museum to new levels.

Museum visits have increased, and the demand is outpacing the current resources which has precipitated the need for more physical space, digital upgrades, and experiential and educational expansion to better serve the community. Outdoor areas will be upgraded and integrated with the river and surrounding walkways, the iconic carousel space will be detached from the museum so it can be enjoyed by the community even when the museum is not open, and indoor spaces will be refreshed and reimagined with accessibility in mind. An important piece of this expansion will be the ability to increase their educational programming.

The museum opened in its current location in 1994 and this $50 million expansion project is the first since then. It’s bold and inspiring and will have an impact on generations to come!

For more information go to their website at https://www.grpm.org/expansion/.

Women's City Club Prepares for Centennial Celebration!

One hundred years! The Women’s City Club is planning a celebration beginning in January and continuing throughout 2024. The first premier event for our members is a birthday party on January 24, 2024, “Cheers to 100 Years!”, Special guest speaker, Sara Smolenski, will be joining us to entertain and reminisce.

Next there will be a special event at the Grand Rapids Public Museum during Women’s History Month on March 14, 2024. Featuring our book, “Our First One Hundred Years,” an illustrated book tracing the history of the Club written by our talented Club authors. The event will include cocktails and snacks, a reading from the book, music, and a book signing. This event is open to the public.

A tradition since the beginning is the Annual Meeting held in May. A recap of the year, honoring long-standing members, installing new Board members, food and fellowship is the focus of this event for members only.

On September 19, 2024 we roll out the red carpet at Noto’s for a glittery event with emcee Mike Smolenski as we honor the contributions of the women who came before us.

We’ll cap off the year of celebration with our Evergreen Gala in December. Good friends, great conversation, delectable food, and lively jazz will entertain us as we revel in the joy of the season and reflect on the year.

This will truly be a year to remember! Cheers to 100 years!

Mahjongg: A Brief History

On Thursday, October 19 Susan Coombes spoke about the history of Mahjongg, a game developed in the mid 1800s in China’s Yangzi Delta. She brought along some Mahjongg games, books about Mahjongg, and a travel Mahjongg set which was won in a raffle by our member Nancy Court. Susan has lived and traveled abroad and is a local business owner of a downtown Grand Rapids shop called Periwinkle Fog.

Susan prepared some slides to use during her talk. You can view the pdf here.

Exceptional Music Program!

A recent musical program, MUSIC for THREE, at Mayflower Church was thoroughly enjoyed by our members. The program featured 3 talented musicians, Todd Wilkie on piano, Andrew Plaisier on cello, and Ruth VandenBos on violin. We listened to Fazil Say’s "Four Cities," Carl Reinecke’s "Trio No. 1 in D Major, Op. 38," and Astor Piazzolla’s "Four Seasons of Buenos Aries" and "La Muerte del Angel."

We sincerely thank Wendy Marty and other club members who made generous donations toward this musical program. Members are reminded that they can make donations to future musical programs if they wish to do so.

Listen to a beautifully performed portion of Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aries” below:

Grand Rapids Sister Cities

Denise Taylor, a member of the Grand Rapids Sister Cities International Board, presented a program on our Sister City connections in Italy, Poland, Ghana, Mexico, and South Korea. Dnipro, Ukraine was just announced as a “friendship” city in June of this year.

This link leads to a PowerPoint presentation update with more information. The picture descriptions are listed below. Enjoy!

Slides 1,2,3- The GRSCI logo and mission statement.  

Slides 4,5-Our participation in the city parades (flags of our sister city countries are on the back of the city float). 

Slides 6,7-Our participation in the Ethnic Heritage Festival held each year at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  

Slides 8,9,10,11- Photos from the GRSCI Gala event held at the JW Marriott in June 2023. 

Slides 12, 13,14 – The Mayor and delegation trip to Omihachiman, Japan with the Mayor of Omihachiman. The Omi committee participating in the Asian-Pacific Festival in June 2023. 

Slides 15,16 –Polish Heritage Festival held August 25 and 26 at Calder Plaza.  

Slide 17- A group from the Ga West District of Ghana, including the Ga committee’s representative in Ghana, attended our gala in their traditional African clothing.  He is pictured here with the chairs of the Gangnam-gu committee, the Zapopan committee, and the Ga West committee.  

Slide 18-The Ga West committee collaborated recently with the Rotary Club to send a container of medical supplies to the Ga West District.  

Slides 19- Medical students from Calvin and GVSU go to Ghana as part of a volunteer program.  

Slides 20,21-The Korean Connection and the Gangnam-gu committee helped sponsor a celebrated graffiti artist, Royyal Dog from South Korea, to come here to GR and paint this mural on the Hopson Flats Building, across from Founder’s Brewery. It’s amazing and he created this with spray paint! 

Slides 22,23- Mayor Bliss and a delegation from GR traveled to Gangnam-gu this summer to celebrate the addition of our 6th sister city. 

Slide 24- There were three students from Perugia, Italy here this school year attending Grand Rapids Christian High School.  The Perugia committee accompanied them on a trip to City Hall to meet Mayor Bliss.  

Slide 25-The anniversary of the Perugia-Assisi peace march was commemorated by members of the Perugia committee at the St. Francis of Assisi Sculpture Garden on the ground of the Dominican Center at Marywood on Fulton St.  

Slide 26-The Zapopan committee sponsored several beer brew masters from Zapopan to participate at the Wine, Beer and Food Festival at DeVos Place in November.  

Slide 27-Perugia committee members at the Fiera dei Morti Market in Italy, selling goods from GR to support our scholarships and events throughout the year.  

Slide 28- Perugia committee and Club Italia members cooking at the Renucci House for the families of patients staying at Corewell Health (Spectrum) hospitals.  

Slide 30- Ukrainian community picnic this summer 

Slide 31- Map of Ukraine, showing the location of Dnipro, Grand Rapids’ newest “friendship” city, soon to be our 7th sister city.  

Slide 32-The skyline of Dnipro, Ukraine.  

Slide 33,34- The St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church on Gold St. Here in Grand Rapids.  

Club Historian Publishes Book!

Women’s City Club historian, Carol Dodge, has published a book. The Mayor, the Maestro, and the Mansion: Martin Sweet, Ottakar Malek, and the Sweet House. Carol’s book is the result of over 30 years of research into the history.

The Sweet House was built by Martin Sweet in the mid 1860s as the family home for his wife Desdemona and their three children, Mattie, Cassius and Frank. Martin Sweet was an influential Grand Rapids business man with many accomplishments who was mayor of Grand Rapids for one term in 1860. He passed away in 1905 and the house was used by Ottakar Malek for a music conservatory from 1914 to 1919.

In 1927 the Women’s City Club purchased the Sweet House to use as their clubhouse. The Club resided there until 2018.

Carol has dedicated many, many hours to make this book a reality. She is an amazing source of knowledge and history of all things Sweet House and Women’s City Club. We are proud to have her as Club Historian and long-time Women’s City Club member!

A signed copy of Carol’s book is available at Schuler Books

Impact Award 2023 Winners Chosen!

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW on Shelley Irwin’s Morning Show on WGVU!

The IMPACT Award was established in 2018 in honor of Hazel Whitaker Vanden Berg and the many members of the Women’s City Club who have been women of great influence who modeled the best qualities under difficult circumstances.

The IMPACT Award furthers our mission and provides support for students to pursue their own personal excellence.

The challenge to students is to describe the person who has been a role model in their lives. They can use any form of media, such as writing, photography, painting, poetry, drawing, a musical composition, or a song.

The 2 student winners of this year’s Impact Award were surprised on Monday, March 27 when Women’s City Club president, Linda Girard, told them that their entries had won. Union Principal, Aaron Roussey, expressed his pride in the students, saying that the 2 students couldn’t be more deserving of this honor.

Juniors, Terrell Daniels and Angela Perez-Velasquez, will each receive a cash award of $500 to use in any way that will help them take the next step in their lives to pursue their dreams.

Terrell wrote an essay about his father about whom he says, “My dad is my role model and it’s not just because he’s my dad. My dad is my hero because, throughout my life, my dad has given me comfort, advice, and reassurance, which has changed me as a person and allowed me to be the best I could possibly be.”

Angela created a painting to portray her inspiration from God. From her personal statement: “He’s the one who I go to because I know if He was able to change my life, He is in control of what will happen next and can help me. That is why I named my painting “Adonai” for it translates to “My Lord.”

The students will be honored at an Impart Award luncheon and presentation on April 20, 2023, at Kent Transition Center. The event will include their personal statements and comments from a Union High School principal about what the award means to their students.

Link to Impact Award page

Marcie Woods Wins Readers' Choice Award!

Women’s City Club member, Marcie Woods, entered the 11th Annual Write Michigan Short Story Contest sponsored by the Kent District Library, Schuler Books, and two other libraries across Michigan. The state-wide competition provides an opportunity for writers of all ages to enter and compete for publication and cash prizes. Over 1,250 entries were received this year.

There are four cash prizes in each of the three categories: Judges’ Choice $500, Spanish Language $500, Readers’ Choice $250, and Judges’ Choice Runner-up $250. The Readers’ Choice winners are determined by public vote. Congratulations Marcie for winning the Readers’ Choice Award!

There will be an awards ceremony in April and all winning stories (including three finalists in each of the three age groups) will be published in an anthology by Chapbook Press.

You can read Marcie’s short story, The Walk of Honor, here.

“Thank you all for your support. I’m a published author!”

— Marcie Woods

For more information go to https://writemichigan.org/

Love to Read?

The Women’s City Club has a very active, engaging book club that meets once a month on Tuesday mornings. They read nine books per year with a different member leading the discussion each time. The books for 2022 were:

• Daughter of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz

• The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

• Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

• The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly

• The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

• A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

• Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

• Deacon King Kong by James McBride

WCC Classes 2022

WCC members and instructor Carol Steele (3rd from the right in pink)

A quilting class with Carol Steele was the first creative class of 2022 on February 1. Participants did pieced quilting to make a hot pad and all were thrilled with the result! Experienced sewers brought their sewing machines and provided assistance as needed.

Member Barb Neuman works on her hot pad.

Women’s City Club member and talented artist, Lin Culver, led the next class on March 29. Using paint and stitchery participants created a personalized notebook/journal.

Tuesdays are Mah Jongg days! On May 3 the Mah Jongg players hosted a class for anyone who wanted to learn the game.

After a short time off over the summer, a Felted Cell Phone class was held on October 4. Led by Lin Culver, members created a beautiful sleeve to be used for cell phones or glasses. Amazing what can be done in an hour and a half!

The last class of 2022 was on November 1. Gift boxes crafted out of fabric proved a timely craft and inspired one of our members to make 25 of them on her own!

Notebook/journal class

Felting class

Christmas box class

Classes are held on the first Tuesdays of the month several times a year at East Congregational Church at 10:00 am. Do you have a skill to share? We’d love to learn about it!

Member Joyce Hawkins and her Christmas boxes!

Field Trip!

Presentation by Principal Joe Lienesch

The Women’s Club went on a field trip on Thursday to Kent Career Technical Center (KCTC) in Grand Rapids. KCTC is a program of Kent ISD open to any 11th or 12th grader throughout Kent ISD, public, private, homeschool, or charter school students. Students can enroll through their school counselor, choosing between nearly 30 programs in Health Sciences, Human Services, Arts and Communication, Engineering Manufacturing and Industrial Technology, and Natural Resources and Agriscience.

Students can earn high school, college, or tech school credit as well as industry certifications. Most amazingly of all, it is free to students! Current enrollment is around 2,500 students.

We began the day in the Culinary Cafe with coffee and water as we enjoyed a presentation by Principal Joe Lienesch. With slides, a short movie, and time for questions we learned all about the programs and the fantastic resources of KCTC.

Arts and Communication area, screen printing machine

Community and Parent Liaison, Ryan Graham, led us on a tour of some of the facilities. Our first stop was to Health Sciences where students were intently learning how to suture using a banana!

Our next stop was in the Arts and Communication area where we were amazed by the technology available and the quality print materials students are creating. Our last stop was in the Mechatronics area. The machinery and technology there is truly state-of-the-art.

Back in the Culinary Cafe we were served an excellent lunch of salad, rolls, rosemary salmon, honey chicken, roasted new potatoes, asparagus, and dessert. All of the food was delicious and the student servers were delightful!

Ryan Graham explains the Mechatronics area

The whole experience was fantastic. We’re excited to learn that there is renovation and expansion happening now and in the future. We’d love to go back again! Are we too old to attend KCTCl? Maybe, but never too old to learn and explore new things!

Day Away to Founders Brewing Co.

Our Founders Brewery outing began with an introduction to the tour in an upstairs taproom. The best part? Samples! We then toured the operation, had a great lunch in the Centennial Room upstairs and were treated to remarks by CEO Elton Andres Knight, Jeremy Kosmicki, Brewmaster, and Public Relations Specialist, Kristen VeVerka.

Their generous hospitality made this a most enjoyable outing!

Brewery founders, Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, opened their first brewery in downtown Grand Rapids in 1997. On the verge of bankruptcy in 2000, they now have one of the top breweries in the world and several of their beer are in the top 100 beers of the world. They have had to expand several times and their current location on Grandville Ave. is a sprawling area with retail sales and an outdoor beer garden.

Dressing the Abbey - Muskegon Museum of Art

A large group of members and friends met at Muskegon Museum of Art to tour the “Dressing the Abby” exhibition on Thursday, July 28. The clothing was worn by the actors in the Downton Abbey television series. The exhibit included some actual vintage clothing and some made by costume designers. There was one design made from a vintage tablecloth!

About half the group had carpooled together, and stayed for an early dinner at Hearthstone Bistro, where we were able to sit outside on their flower-bedecked patio. Excellent food and great conversation were the perfect finish for a lovely day out.

Dressing the Abbey

Intro to the exhibit

Cleverly designed from a vintage tablecloth!

Hearthstone Bistro

Celebration 98!

We celebrated our 98th year at Watermark Country Club on May 12. A short video of events we have enjoyed over the past year was shown after a delicious meal and a sinfully rich chocolate dessert. Good friends and great conversation made for a great evening!

Women’s City Club Presents the 2022 Impact Award Recipients!

L-R: Ashley Garrido, Susan Jacobi, school counselor, Aaron Roussey, principal, Azucena Valasquez

Who inspires you? Express yourself!

This challenge went out to juniors at Union High School in Grand Rapids. The prize is a cash award to help the students with expenses related to their plans after high school. We are pleased to present a $500 cash Impact Award to 3 students this year! The students applied by submitting an entry using their choice of media along with a personal statement describing the person who inspires them.

Ashley Garrido wrote an essay describing her exploration of those in her life who she might consider as role models, finally coming to the realization that her best friend Kelease inspires her and is her role model. Kelease’s support and encouragement to work hard and achieve at school made her a perfect choice.

Azucena Velasquez created a 3D drawing of her father. The drawing, which must be viewed with special red and blue glasses, depicts in blue, Azucena’s father as a young man crying as he covers the eyes of a little girl (Azucena) and in red, the father and daughter smiling. In a moving statement, Azucena described her father as her role model who inspires her to stand up for her beliefs and to never give up no matter how bad things get.

Doris Sanchez Pineiro, who was on a class trip in DC and not able to attend in person, sent in a video statement explaining her entry which is a drawing of her father who is her role model. The black and white drawing of her father is surrounded by colorful plants and flowers which he loves. They remind Doris of her father who taught her to be strong, be herself, and care for others.

We are honored to present the award to these 3 deserving young women!

For more information on the Impact Award click here.