April 2025

President’s Message

The NC State Women’s Basketball season came to an end earlier than we wanted, but they had a great year. We are so proud of the team and their accomplishments on and off the court. Still, it would have been FANtastic if they had gone further in the tournament. It is sad to see Madison Hayes, Saniya Rivers, Aziaha James and Lizzy Williamson leave, but we have outstanding players returning and new recruits joining the team next year. The future looks bright! Go Pack!!!

April is a special month. Plants and trees show off their gorgeous blooms and we celebrate the Easter holiday. The week before Easter my mom would always take my sister and me shopping for new outfits to wear to church. Then the night before Easter we colored eggs for the big Easter egg hunt party with all the cousins. Joey’s mom had a huge Easter egg hunt for her grandchildren and the neighborhood kids. She wouldn’t allow Joey’s dad to mow the yard at all before Easter so the grass would be tall enough to hide the large number of eggs. When he finally got to mow the yard, you can just imagine how many eggs he ran over with the mower!!! We all have our special Easter memories that we cherish.

I look forward to seeing all of you at our last meeting of the year. We have a great program planned and the officers for next year will be sworn in. I hope to see everyone on Thursday, April 17th at 11:30 a.m.

– Dean Simpson, President

April 17 Meeting at a Glance

Speaker: Julie Moore, Board Chairman of NC Plant Conservation and Coordinator for Venus Flytrap Champions
Program: “Conservation in North Carolina”
Hostess: Dean Simpson
Lunch Menu: NC State Trio Salad with Tuna Salad, Chicken Salad, Pasta Salad and Fruit Salad. Rolls, Water, Tea & Coffee

Program Committee

Anyone who would like to be on the program committee for next year should plan to be at a program committee meeting at 10 a.m. before our April 17th meeting. We will be in the casual dining area.

Our March meeting on meteorology was so fun and enlightening. Again, members were still asking questions after we adjourned. We are in for another treat in April with our speaker Julie Moore on conservation. Plan to come and bring friends, husbands and neighbors.

– Grace Hodgson, Chair

Speaker Bio – Julie Moore, Board Chairman of NC Plant Conservation and Coordinator for Venus Flytrap Champions
For her work since 1972 as a botanist and ecologist, Julie Moore has earned accolades as one of the Southeast’s foremost champions of conservation as well as “The Flytrap Queen.” Julie will be enlightening us about the best-known plant species in the Carolinas, the Venus Flytrap, as well as briefly talking about her other work in conservation.

Did you know that the Venus Flytrap is native to only one place on earth? The flytrap only grows naturally within 100 miles of Wilmington, NC, along the Carolinas coastal plain.

Did you know that a better name for Venus Flytrap would be Venus ant trap or spider trap? Entomologists from NC State University have documented that these rare insectivorous plants are pollinated more often by flies rather than the plants consuming the flies.

Julie retired in 2019 from working at the Endangered Species Program, US Fish & Wildlife Service. Julie also worked for more than a dozen years with the North Carolina Heritage Program specializing in fire dependent systems and is the author of “Managing the Forest and the Trees.”

Julie is active in native plant conservation organizations and local land trusts, is the past president of the Triangle Land Conservancy as well as the Botanical Society of Washington, D.C., and is a founding board member of the Longleaf Alliance.

– Betse Hamilton, Program Committee Member

Membership

Renew Your Membership NOW!

The membership form is online using the link above. Those who receive the newsletter by mail can pick up
the form at the April meeting or print it from the website. My apologies for not having the form at last month’s meeting — I will try to remember this month!

Your membership checks should be submitted with the form (don’t staple, please) to me at a meeting or via mail (10017 Bushveld Lane, Raleigh NC 27613). Make the check payable to NC State University Woman’s Club and write “2025-26 Membership” on the memo line. Write separate checks for lunch payment and dues.

Some ladies did not pay for the 2024-25 club year, and I have sent multiple reminders. Why is this important?
 It isn’t fair for unpaid folks to enjoy the benefits of club membership like our meetings, newsletters and yearbook.
 With our membership numbers on the decline, we are no longer able to operate with a balanced budget.
 That means that we are spending more as a club than we receive in dues payments. It’s not sustainable.
 It also means that we cannot offer our grants supporting programs at NC State as we’ve done in the past because we have to hold on to our cash to ensure we have what is needed to cover expenses.

Please look at your checkbooks and if you do not see a check for this club year, get in touch with me  (cwessel@ncsu.edu or 919-306-4969). I’ll let you know if you should pay for both years right now.

Keep recruiting new members! We have only received payments from 26 for the upcoming year. With such terrific programs and a deep devotion to NC State — we can’t let our club just fade away!

– Chris Cammarene-Wessel, Membership Vice President

Slate of Officers for 2025 – 2026

Our newly elected officers listed below will be inducted at the April meeting. We look forward to another fabulous year with their leadership. Thank you, ladies, for stepping up to carry us through!
President…Dean Simpson
1st Vice President…Grace Hodgson
2nd Vice President… Chris Cammarene-Wessel
Secretary…Ada Payne
Treasury…Luann Peterson
Sharon Ayers, Nominating Committee

– Sharon Ayers, Chair

Feed the Pack – The Food Pantry at NCSU

Following is a thank you note from the Food Pantry to the NC State Woman’s Club: “Thank you so much for your generous donation of 6.9 pounds of food to Feed the Pack. Your time, effort, and dedication to collect food and other items is greatly appreciated and a substantial help to our pantry. It is through people like you that our pantry can thrive. Together, we can fight food insecurity on campus.”

Remember to bring donations to our April meeting. Any food and/or financial donation is very much needed and appreciated! Make checks out to: NC State Foundation and write Food Pantry on the memo line. Check the link here for the most needed items at this time: https://feedthepack.dasa.ncsu.edu/support-feed-the-pack/what-to-donate/ Thanks!

– Helen Hauser and Luann Peterson, Treasurer

Reservations/Name Tag Committee

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, April 17th at our NC State University Woman’s Club meeting. Your lunch reservation is due by either calling or emailing our President, Dean Simpson, regarding your attendance. As a reminder—Reservations are due by Fridays prior to our Thursday meetings.

Please have your checks ready and made payable to the “NC State University Woman’s Club” at the time of registration. If you are paying with cash, please have the correct amount as we do NOT have cash available to make change for you.

Also, if you’re paying annual membership dues, please provide a separate check as it tends to be confusing with our lunch monies when membership dues are mixed with one check. FYI…annual membership dues ($30.00) were due on April 1, 2025. Of course, if you missed the deadline, we’ll be happy to collect your dues on April 17th.

FYI….the same policy remains — If you make a reservation, but do not attend or cancel your reservation after the deadline, you must still pay for your lunch(es).

To make a lunch reservation, please call or email Dean Simpson as follows:
Email: jsimpson57@nc.rr.com
Cell: 919-616-3649
Cost: $27.00 per person
Make check payable to: NC State University Woman’s Club

Our meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. and lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, April 17!

– Helen Crane and Carolyn Bunn, Co-Chairs, Reservations/Name Tag Committee

Dean Simpson, President
919-616-3649
jsimpson57@nc.rr.com

Wendy Lapish, Editor
919-208-5399
Wendy.Lapish@gmail.com