2009-2010 Meetings

September - Welcome Meeting

Join us for a fun night to reconnect to old friends and meet new ones!  Bring a couple of photos to help us get to know you or your family ... pictures from picnics, vacations or any summer activity.  GNNC Member, Cheryl Bliss will be there, with supplies from Creative Memories, to help everyone create a scrapbook page for framing or using in your own album. 

October - Mosaic Vase

Learn to make a mosaic stained glass and tile vase! Member Diana Stephens, will teach us to create a beautiful vase decorated with stained glass and mosiac tile. Supplies are provided but please bring a popcicle stick or similar item to use for spreading the caulk/glue. This program will start promptly at 7PM!

November - Pottery Night or Game Night

The Granby Newcomers and Neighbors Club’s November 12th meeting
 will be held in two places at the same time! How? One meeting place will be at the pottery studio of Avis Cherichetti of Honey Hill Pottery, 31 Barn Door Hills Road , Granby.  Avis will show her pottery and give a demo.  There will be an opportunity to make something independently with the expert guidance of a talented potter.   This meeting has a head count limit of 14 people.  At this time, all 14 places have been taken and a waiting list has been started.    To be added to the waiting list, please email Fiona at FShack@cox.net 

The other meeting place will be at our usual site, First Congregational church at 7PM.  Come join us for a Game Night, some Fall Treats and Social time!  Games TBD, but will be something like group Pictionary or  group Outburst …other game suggestions  are welcome!

December - Cookie Swap & Ornament Exchange

You won't want to miss one of our most popular meetings of the year! Bring as many packages containing a half dozen cookies as you wish to trade in our cookie exchange, along with a wrapped ornament ($10 in value) for our traditional Yankee Swap. Participate in one or both events, or just come and socialize with your friends. And don't forget to bring an extra ½ dozen cookies for our sampling table!

January - Antique Buttons Roadshow

Remember going through Grandma’s button box? Remember playing “Button, button, who’s got the button?” Interested in history? Then join the Acorn Button Club of Central Connecticut as we revisit the art, history, and beauty of antique buttons. 

Arlene Creswell will be presenting an informative and visually interesting overview of antique buttons and the hobby of button collecting, for the novice and the curious. Antique buttons from various materials, eras and genres will be reviewed. Questions welcome! 

Let’s take a trip together down memory lane to see these buttons as they were meant to be–miniature works of art. If you have any old buttons, bring them along, and we’ll help you learn about their age and history. Want to know some more? Visit the web site for the National Button Society.


February - Bingo & Fondue

We've brought this favorite back for another year!
Come join us for a night of fun and excitement!
We'll dip fruit, bread, veggies, cookies, pretzels, our fingers, and anything else we can come up with in sweet and savoury fondues, while we play Bingo to win a variety of prizes. Cards will be sold for $5 each, as this is one of our fundraisers. So come with your appetite and some good luck! Click to see Last year's Prize list.

March - Lost Acres Vineyard

   This meeting will feature Michelle Niedermeier who will present her new venture, Lost Acres Vineyard. This is a sustainable Farm Winery located on 65 acres in Granby. Note that this meeting is off-site and will be held at Holcomb Farm ( 113 Simsbury Road, West Granby). Here we will partake in a tasting of wines which Michelle will discuss in her presentation. We very much look forward to hearing all about the plans for the future vineyard and hope that you can join us for the evening.

April - Get Organized!

Learn from professional home organizer, Eileen Perrotti. She'll present several topics including organizing mail and closets (as requested by our members!).

Eileen was born a compulsive organizer and became a professional approximately 7 years ago. She is experienced in organizing whole houses, from attic to basement to closets to offices, as well as staging, downsizing, paper management and time management. She has designed closets to fit clients' needs and has someone who does the carpentry available. Additionally, she has worked with compulsive hoarders and those with ADD.
     

May - What makes a Terrific Children's Book?


     Join us for a lively conversation with award-winning author and educator Barbara Mariconda about what makes a terrific children's book!  From board books to picture books, beginning readers to the middle grade and young adult novels, find out what's hot and what's not!  Learn how to select books and how to use them to your best advantage in inspiring in your child a life-long love of reading!  After the session you'll have the opportunity to purchase your personalized, autographed copy of Barbara's most recent picture book, "Sort it Out," winner of the 2008 Moonbeam Award and a National Best Books 2008 finalist!

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2008-2009 Meetings

September - Kick Off Meeting

Join us to kick-off our new program year. Our theme---Places to Go, Things to Do, People to See---will engage members to share and learn about fun family activities in the region to take us into the fall and beyond. James Little, from CT Forest and Park Association, will speak to us about the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System in CT. Come join the fun and hear about what we have planned for the year.

October- Decorating for the Holidays

A designer from our local Granby florist, Flowers-N-Such, will come to teach us about decorating with flowers for the holidays. She will make a centerpiece and then donate it to be raffled!

November- The Holidays Food and Photos

Join us for a Thanksgiving theme cook-off. Members are encouraged to bring holiday inspired dishes and all members can vote to award a prize for some of the best dishes. Don't feel like cooking? Please still join us to sample the goodies, socialize and cast your vote.

Capture some tips on capturing some perfect holiday photos. Wendy VanWelie of Indigo Images Photography Studio and Gallery and a member of the Granby Artists Association be speaking on Photography.

December - Cookie Swap & Ornament Exchange

You won't want to miss one of our most popular meetings of the year! Bring as many packages containing a half dozen cookies as you wish to trade in our cookie exchange, along with a wrapped ornament ($10 in value) for our traditional Yankee Swap. Participate in one or both events, or just come and socialize with your friends. And don't forget to bring an extra ½ dozen cookies for our sampling table!


January - Zumba!

Debbie Orex from the YMCA will teach us Zumba! Zumba fitness is a dance-fitness exercise program that motivates its participants by incorporating a party-like atmosphere. Zumba instructors guide their students to
follow a combination of dance steps such as salsa, merengue, and
reggaetone. Zumba also uses fitness exercises such as squats, knee-lifts,
and bicep curls. Zumba fitness is characterized by "booty-shaking"
moves that make people smile, laugh and let loose! Zumba music uses
mostly latin rhythms but also uses other upbeat music from calypso to swing.


February - Bingo & Fondue

We've brought this favorite back for another year!
Come join us for a night of fun and excitement!
We'll dip fruit, bread, veggies, cookies, pretzels, our fingers, and anything else we can come up with in sweet and savoury fondues, while we play Bingo to win a variety of prizes. Cards will be sold for $5 each, as this is one of our fundraisers. So come with your appetite and some good luck! Click to see Prize list.


March - John Michael Hair Salon

Join Granby Newcomers and Neighbors members at the John Michael Hair Salon, 15R Hartford Ave. for a fun-filled evening. Jack and two stylists will graciously provide three haircuts and styles that evening. There will be plenty of refreshments (wine and catered appetizers) and socializing, too! You won't want to miss this meeting!

April -Live in a Healthy Environment and Book Swap

The video, recipes and educational handouts for this program are provided by Women's Voices and the Earth (WVE), a national organization that engages women to advocate for the right to live in a healthy environment. WVE’s goal is to educate the public about the harmful effects of chemicals, particularly those that affect women, and provide them with the tools they need to protect themselves and effectively advocate for a healthy environment.
http://www.womenandenvironment.org

The program will consist of a short intro video and then we will make some of our own safe cleaning products to take home.

Educational materials consist of the following fact sheets:
--Chemicals in Household Cleaners
--Reproductive Harm and Household Cleaners
--Asthma and Household Cleaners
--What Your Can Do - 7 Simple Steps to Help Reduce Your Exposure to Toxic Chemicals in Household Cleaning Products

Stock up for summer at the GNNC “recycle summer book swap” at the APRIL meeting.   Anyone interested can please bring in up to five adult and five children books to swap.  It will work much like the cookie swap, put ‘em all in a pile and pick out how many you brought.
Any extras will be donated to the Granby Library book sales.

May - Get Fit


Join us for the End of Year Celebration on June 11th at Granby Pub and Grill, 7PM.

2007-2008 Meetings

September - Meet and Greet

It’s time to get reacquainted and welcome new members as we host our first meeting of the season.  Come socialize, meet the board members and enjoy delicious desserts.  You’ll have a chance to win a prize with our “icebreaker” game and hear about what we have planned for the upcoming year. Bring a baby picture of yourself and a wedding or grown-up picture too for another game. Don’t miss the kick off to what will be another successful year of Granby Newcomers and Neighbors.


October- Come Learn to Vote at the Newcomers Cook-Off

Come join us on October 11th while the Granby Registrar of Voters gives us a quick demonstration on how to use the new voting machines. There will be a short presentation with some test voting and time for questions and answers. In addition, to go along with our “Voting” theme, we will be holding our ever-popular Newcomers COOK-OFF. There will be three culinary categories: Appetizer, Crock-Pot/Soups and Dessert. Plan to bring your dish and a few copies of the recipe to share. Too busy to cook? Just come and sample and collect some new recipes. At the end of the evening, we’ll vote a winner for each category. Even if you do not have an entry you are eligible to vote! So, come and learn to vote on the new machines and pick your favorite recipes. See you on the 11th!

November - Raising Financially Responsible Children

Would you like to know how to teach children about the value and responsible use of money? If so, don't miss this free seminar created by noted financial expert, television personality, and New York Times Best Selling Author, Neale S. Godfrey.

During this informative program, you will discover age-appropriate ways to teach kids how to…

Earn And Appreciate Their Allowance,
Develop Good Savings And Investing Habits,
Separate Wants And Needs,
Become Disciplined Shoppers…And So Much More

This seminar is sponsored and presented by agent Erica Fearn from your local New York Life Insurance Company, Windsor.

December - Cookie Swap & Ornament Exchange

You won't want to miss one of our most popular meetings of the year! Bring as many packages containing a half dozen cookies as you wish to trade in our cookie exchange, along with a wrapped ornament* ($7 - $10 in value) for our traditional Yankee Swap. Participate in one or both events, or just come and socialize with your friends. And don't forget to bring an extra ½ dozen cookies for our sampling table!


January - Poison Control

Please join us for an informative and interactive discussion on Poison Control. We will discuss what information is needed when you call the Poison Control Center and what the center does with that information. There will be examples of poisons that have been disguised as common household items. Poisoning can happen to anyone, anytime and anyplace. While 60 percent of all calls to the Connecticut Poison Control Center involve children, adults can make mistakes too -- taking medications, at work, or at play.

February - Bingo & Fondue

We've brought this favorite back for another year!
Come join us for a night of fun and excitement!
We'll dip fruit, bread, veggies, cookies, pretzels, our fingers, and anything else we can come up with in sweet and savoury fondues, while we play Bingo to win a variety of prizes. Cards will be sold for $5 each, as this is one of our fundraisers. So come with your appetite and some good luck!


March - Safety for Women

Clay McNally owner of East West Karate of Granby will discuss safety tips for women and will give us a demonstration of some self defense moves.

April - Going Green

GOING GREEN - for your family, the environment & our future.
Have you been thinking about making changes that would have a positive impact on your family's health and our environment? Come join us on 4/10/08 to learn more. Michelle from Granby Village Health & Kimberly Huot will discuss ways to clean your home, reduce your trash, composting, the importance of reusable bags, and more. All with the goal of helping us identify changes that we are able to make that will decrease the toxins released into the environment, reduce waste and save us money!

May - Clean Food

Terry Walters, author of CLEAN FOOD, will speak to us about making positive physiological changes through whole food cooking instruction, and programs designed to support and facilitate change to a healthier life.

CLEAN FOOD will inspire you to celebrate the beauty and bounty of the changing seasons. No matter what your dietary preference or needs may be, these recipes will provide a feast for your senses, and will nourish your mind, body and soul.

Terry draws from extensive educational and life experiences including training from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition, The Natural Gourmet Cookery School, The Kushi Institute and The Chopra Center. She is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor.

Her cookbook is available at Granby Village Health and will also be available for sale (and signing) at the May meeting.

June - End of Year Celebration Out

We’ve had another great year and want to celebrate with an event for all the members of the Granby Newcomers and Neighbors.
Come to the Granby Pub and Grill
on Thursday, June 12th
from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

In addition to having one last time to get together as a group before the summer, we’ll have an opportunity to thank the incumbent Board Members and introduce the new members.

The celebration will be held in the banquet room where we’ll have a variety of appetizers, delicious summer cocktails, and a wine tasting for our wine lovers. The cost is $25 per person.

Click here for Meeting Dates

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check out some of our past year's meeting topics!