JULY 2021 PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Dear North Fork Women Friends,
President Chris P’Simer
Last week we lost a longtime member of North Fork Women, Jere Jacob. Although I didn’t really know Jere, I certainly knew of her. Jere was a part of our community since its inception in 1992. She served on the NFWFWF board as treasurer from 2002 until 2006 and was well known for her role as MC at the NFWFWF talent shows in the 2010’s. She was intelligent, funny, and a tremendous asset to our organization. I know many of our members knew Jere very well and are truly touched by her passing. Our thoughts go out to her loved ones, especially those who worked tirelessly with her to make North Fork Women the organization it is today.
This past month, we had an extremely successful “Pride Day at the Beach”. More than 75 members brought chairs, umbrellas and breakfast items to MacCabe’s Beach in Southold to enjoy North Fork Women’s first live get together since March 2020. We celebrated being vaccinated and had a fabulous time talking with friends we had not socialized with in many months.
Speaking of socializing, we will hold a First Friday Friends gathering at Greenport Harbor Brewing Company in Peconic on August 6 at 6 pm. Greenport Brewery has a large outdoor area and has music on Friday nights. We hope to see you at the Brewery on Friday, August 6th.
And on Saturday, September 4, we will hold our 30th Annual Labor Day Benefit at The Wharf House at Founders Landing Park in Southold. As an organization, we continue to follow the Covid crisis closely, and we tailor our events to keep everyone as safe as possible. As such, we changed the event from our regular evening buffet to an afternoon event with box lunches, prepared by Ellen’s on Front, a Greenport restaurant. Ellen’s has been very generous in their offering, and we are grateful to them for their support of our organization.
The Mudflats!
The afternoon will be full of fun activities. We are very happy to announce that the Mudflats will be joining us to provide their foot-tapping singalong sounds to enliven the afternoon. We will hold our annual $10,000 raffle where only 300 raffle tickets will be sold. Please purchase a raffle if you can — we must sell all 300 to reach our fundraising goal. With your continued generosity, you will help our organization keep serving lesbians on the North Fork.
The Silent Auction will have an array of items on display that will include art pieces, gift cards, special activities and gift baskets. The Silent Auction will be set up in the Wharf House with Covid-caution in mind. Face masks, hand sanitizer and individual pens will be provided for you to feel safe inside the building as you browse the auction items. The Labor Day Benefit was announced in a blast this week so you can now go to NorthForkWomen.org to purchase entry, raffle tickets or donate.
Although we have not raised much money during the current year, we have still provided support for our community. We held seminars as part of our Connection Series, and in all, over 250 members enjoyed workshops on poetry, health, fitness and staying positive through Covid. We provided the opportunity to watch the film The Archivettes and had the filmmaker lead a Q&A about the film and the Lesbian Herstory Archives. We also learned about the life cycle of the oyster and its impact in the local waters. So far, we have awarded over $6,000 in grants to three of our members and provided Lifelines to eleven members at an annual cost of over $4,000.
Since the September 4th Labor Day Benefit will be our first significant fundraiser this year, I ask you to be generous. If you have something you would like to contribute to the auction, please send information about the item or service to Barb Pfanz at barb@northforkwomen.org.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you at First Friday Friends on August 6th and at the Labor Day Benefit on September 4th.
Sincerely,
Chris P’Simer
President
North Fork Women
cpsimer@northforkwomen.org