We have a couple of great events coming up that I hope you will be able to attend. Our branch needs the support of all of us in order to be successful.

The Speech Trek Contest is scheduled for Saturday, February 21, at Valley Hi-North Laguna Library in Elk Grove. Students from several Elk Grove high schools will be speaking on a very interesting topic for our membership: “College: Is It Worth the Time and Expense?” AAUW has always promoted higher education as a way for women to achieve financial equity in the world, but it has become so expensive that it often takes many years to pay off college debt. Therefore, the topic is a pertinent question for not just young women but young men as well, and the answer may be different for different people, depending on their goals. Come and see what our local young people have to say.

I hope you will join me on March 15 in supporting live theatre and our AAUW projects when we have a date to see “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” at the Sierra 2 Center. This fun musical show tells the story of a real character, Molly Brown, who grew up poor in Colorado and married a man who became rich mining for silver. Her adventures came to be widely known and inspired this hit Broadway show as well as a popular movie musical featuring Debbie Reynolds as Molly. Proceeds from the show will benefit our local programs as well as the national AAUW Funds. Please invite your friends and family to join us, too. It is a way to do something good for our community while having a great afternoon at the theater.

Finally, I want to thank two of our members for stepping up to fill two of our vacant positions: Charlotte Luallin has agreed to take over the position of Secretary from Susana Mullen, who had to resign for family reasons. Thank you for your service, Susana, and thank you for agreeing to finish the year for us, Charlotte! And Robin Howlett has offered to take over the vacant Public Policy Director position. Thank you, Robin!

Cherril Peabody, AAUW Sacramento President for 2014-15