The Erie Chapter held a meeting on March 9th, 2011 at Decision Associates' offices and called to order at 5:30pm. In attendance were Sue Moore, Marian Taylor, Yvonne Horn, Diana Denniston, and Terri Koebe.
Marian provided delicious sandwiches and Sue provided delightful chocolate brownies complete with chocolate icing and well as beverages and chips. It was decided to reschedule the presentation from Marian "Downsize Your Purse" until the chapter's next meeting on April 13, 2011.
The focus for this meeting was for members to continue to get to know each other and eventually evolved into a very dynamic discussion regarding health, wellness and environment. Some of the highlights included:
Weight loss: People need 20 grams of protein needed at every meal and 70% of weight loss comes from diet, while 30% comes from exercise. Free range chicken is best as there are no steroids or antibiotics and cow milk and dairy products causes belly fat on women.
The hazards of plastic: Carcinogens cause cancer, plastic should not be heated in microwaves and people should always look for plastics that are BPA free. The group also discussed how the lack of preservatives, more manual labor, and less stress were contributors to older generations living healthier lives but noted this generation is living longer. The chapter also noted that European countries do not use plastic bags for groceries, rather they use reusable cloth bags. They also typically purchase their food fresh daily and do more home cooking.
Clean water: Kangas is a new water system just hitting the market that provides variety of different Ph levels. People need good balance with acidic and alkaline. An interesting fact was shared that lemons and limes are alkaline and blueberries are acidic.
Gluten: It appears more people are developing sensitivity to wheat and barley and this may be caused by the genetic altering that has been going on for some time. FOOD INC is a movie that discusses what has been done to people's crops, starting with soy beans.
The chapter noted that moderation is key with all foods and that people should limit sugar intake. Some dieticians recommend alight snack containing protein every 3-4 hours.
The chapter's discussion moved to the idea that children appear to be more and more over stimulated. The group's observations included that children are easily bored and like to watch TV or play video games; Christmas as a prime example that children are programmed to expect more gifts. Some members have experienced Christmas celebrations with gift opening that is an all day event. Members suggested limiting gifts to one per person and buying gifts for an underprivileged family and involving the children so they have a better appreciation of what they have.
Excess seems to be rampant in America. Many cases of hoarding in Erie, some of the possible causes include people who have lived through the Great Depression are more likely to hoard, people may be lonely or elderly with no visitors and may be prone to buying QVC or HSN so they will be visited by the UPS or USPS delivery person.
Sue also noted important upcoming events for the chapter:
- March 27th, 3pm
- Free concern
- First
- First United Methodist Church, 707 Sassafras Street, Erie
- Celebrating 100th anniversary of International Women's Day in support of the Ophelia Project
- March 25, 2011
- Women In Leadership Development (WILD)
- Erie Bayfront Convention Center
- Cost $125 per person
- Sponsored by Gannon Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
The group's next meeting will be held on April 13th at Decision Associates. "Members will learn about organization and undoubtedly have an interesting and lively presentation from Marian on how to 'Downsize Your Purse'," Sue said. The meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.
The Erie chapter then held a meeting on April 13, 2011 at the Decision Associates' offices and was called to order at 5:45pm by Sue Moore, President.
Members in attendance included Sue Moore, Marian Taylor, Yvonne Horn, Nicole (Barber Institute), and Katie (Barber Institute). Marian agreed to send out postcards or a flyer to increase member attendance to meetings.
Marian suggested that in June, the group have a meeting which would include a walking tour. This would be of Millionaire Row. Gloria Booth is the contact person for the walking tour.
Sue brought two new people from the Barber Institute up-to-date regarding the Chapter's activities: The chapter writes their own minutes and sends them to National. National will review, approve and post them to the website. The Chapter will not be meeting in July or August. For the September meeting, the group plans to have a style/fashion show and then send out invitations to solicit more participation at the monthly meetings. They also plan to put together a program for the first three months of the new fiscal year.
Marian talked about a short news clip entitled "I'm a Dirty Little Secret" that discusses the hazards of school buses using regular gas versus bio-diesel fuel. She pointed out that a local company, previously called Lake Erie Bio Fuels, mostly ships out of the country – because we do not use it much here in the US.
At 5:55pm, Marian started her presentation. In consisted of three components: chicken salad preparation, sample shakes and simple solutions to clean out of the clutter in your purse.
Chicken Salad Preparation
Marian shopped at Wegman's and purchased the ingredients for the salad which she agreed to prepare for the meeting. The ingredients were already sliced and/or stored in individual containers or plastic bags. She mixed them together, as part of her presentation. They included: spring mix with herbs, rotisserie chicken, cucumbers (Pink Lady), apples, craisins, almonds and salad dressing. Note: Marian tries to get three meals out of a rotisserie chicken – chicken pieces, chicken salad and chicken soup.
Sample Shakes
The shakes that Marian made for us to try utilized a powder mix from Visalus, for whom she is an independent distributor. The following comments were noted: The shakes are a complete meal and there are non-genetically modified things in the shake. Each shake is gluten-free, heart healthy and heart smart. Marian normally uses almond milk or coconut milk in her shakes. Pure Almond Milk by Silk can be purchased at Wal-Mart. She instructed to add eight (8) ounces of milk to two (2) scoops of shake powder. Marian used a Hamilton Beach blender that costs approximately $14. She drinks two shakes a day, which takes care of two of her meals. Note: This costs $99 for two bags of shake powder, or $49 each.
Marian also suggested to burn fat, one should eat every three hours. She purchases her deodorant and toothpaste from Tom's of Maine. Marian also briefly talked about Asbury Woods and passed around a document outlining some of their activities.
Simple Solutions to Clean Out the Clutter in your Purse
- Dump out everything in your purse
- Get two bags- One for trash and one for stuff to go someplace else
- Sort items in the purse, by type (eg, money, ink pens, make-up, etc.)
- Get a container for your make-up
- Get a plastic envelope for your receipts and coupons
- Wallet – Marian showed an example of that she likes which is by Lotus. It is sold by Trellis in Erie and costs $109
- Get a purse key finder – These can be purchased at All That Glitters or Charming Charlie's (next to Macy's), where everything is organized by color.
- Get a card wheel, to collect business cards
- Select a day to clean out your purse (and your car) each week. Marian picked Friday.
Marian provided pointers on how to select a purse. She suggested getting a purse with a lighter lining, and getting a purse with feet on the bottom. Anyone can take an existing purse to a shoe maker to have feet put on the bottom of their purse. This reduces the amount of filth/germs with which someone will come into contact when handling their purse. She also suggested getting a purse with pockets to help you organize your things.
Marian distributed handouts of the following:
- "Tips To Keeping An Organized Purse" (by Marian Taylor)
- "Why kangen water?" (from mykangentools.com)
- "Is Your Drinking Water Toxic?" (from mykangentools.com)
- &nb fashion coats online sp; "Plastic" (from MedicineNet.com)
- "BPA Receipts Bombshell: Paper Slips Contain High Levels of Bisphenol A"
- "15 Ways to Make Your Food Safer" (from MedicineNet.com)
- "Choosing Cleaner Products to Clean Our Bodies" (by Suzanne Somers, Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat)
The Erie Local Chapter will hold their next meeting on May 11, 2011 at 5:30pm. They plan to eat at 5:30 and begin their formal meeting at 6:30pm. Nicole offered to find someone to speak about gardening. Sue told everyone about her business, Decision Associates. She and her husband have been in business for 27 years. They do Strategic Planning, Marketing Plans and Coaching. Also, they sponsor Peer Groups –and have done so for fifteen years. Case studies are used with these groups.
Sue received an email from Kyle at Lowe's as they want to increase the number of women on their team. Marian suggested that they sponsor an NAPW meeting at their store on Peach Street.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15pm. However, the chapter continued to discuss various things until about 7:40pm.
For additional information regarding the NAPW Erie Local Chapter and/or NAPW, please visit http://www.napw.com.
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