On Saturday, May 13, we had the opportunity to publicly recognize our Named Branch Gift Honorees. Three of these wonderful ladies have done and do so much for the branch but their names and accomplishments are not well known. The fourth honoree is known and vocal but no less deserving. Only two could make the meeting, but all were enthusiastically received. Thank you to our committee and members who submitted the following honorees:

Sharon Anderson – Membership Treasurer Extraordinaire

Since the 2009-2010 branch year Sharon has processed our dues payments, sorted and notified all the other directors and chairs of monies donated in their areas, and published and maintained the membership directory. As Funds Directors we have witnessed first-hand her excellent work. After she sends us a spreadsheet she upon request will also supply mailing and return address labels for our thank you letters. A branch member submitted Sharon’s nomination, and we were stunned to note she had not been previously recognized. Please keep reminding your Funds Directors of members who have gone the extra mile.

Jean Bonar – Past President and continuous branch supporter

Jean supplied us with a perfect paragraph that we read at the meeting and is repeated here: “When I joined AAUW in 1973, I found it to be a place where I could learn, grow, and contribute to important issues, and it has been a strong presence in my life ever since that time. Even before I became involved, my mother was an active AAUW member. I can remember her enthusiasm about AAUW activities and her dedication to the various offices she held throughout the years, including the presidency of the Marin branch. Now, the establishment of a Research and Projects grant in the name of our branch is an exciting possibility, and I was energized when Nancy Lawrence and Ruth Burgess challenged us with this project at a Past President’s meeting. I am happy that I was able to contribute to the fund and help make this grant a reality.”

Nancy McCabe – President 2015 – 2017

Nancy was possibly the least senior member to step up to leading our branch and do such a fine job. Nancy was asked to be President-Elect during Cherril Peabody’s presidency and then continued as president for two years, a three-year commitment! During a time when it has been so hard to find members willing to join the board at all, this was truly wonderful. Additionally, Nancy leapt in to take a very active role in moving our branch to collaborate with others and introduce Sacramento, once again, to our presence and mission. One example is our participation in Take Back the Night, with Nancy downtown heading our table and marching. Another is revising our Mission Statement to more clearly and concisely reflect the branch. Thank you, Nancy; you are a hard act to follow!

Angela Scarlett – Communications Director, Happy Hour Coordinator, Newsletter Team, Webmaster, Facebook, Twitter and Eventbrite, plus she works full-time!

Angela is amazing! Another member put her name forward and, once again, Marty and I smacked our heads! Besides all she does, like Sharon, she is often invisible to our members except for the results. She has taught and tutored many of us on computers. For example, thanks to Angela I know how to update our website — no simple task. Angela was instrumental in working with the AAUW National web team in our current website’s development, and her work has saved the branch considerable amounts of money. She willingly finds time to work with others to improve branch communication, including standardizing e-blasts, use of Survey Monkey, and simplifying production of the newsletter. An example on the newsletter is that all information had to be into our previous newsletter editor by the 8^th of the month. Now our deadline is the 15^th with the ability to make changes until the 22^nd.This allows the newsletter to have far more timely content. We cannot thank Angela enough!