Literary Club

I belong to a Ladies Literary Club.  Whenever I mention that to someone, they inevitably say,  "Oh, what book are you reading?"   And then I have to explain to them exactly how the literary club actually operates.

We don't read and discuss books at all.  Rather, we research a particular subject which is related to an overall theme, and write and present a ten page research paper.   I might possibly enjoy the club if it was about discussing a book we have read,  but I enjoy it so much more because it involves writing a paper!

Today we enjoyed our end of year celebration at the Benn Conger Inn.  I was last there in 2010, the location of one of my daughters' weddings.  The ceremony was outside, and I officiated.  The reception was inside.  It was a most lovely day.

Our Ladies Lit "President's Day" party was also delightful.  It is the occasion of the 'changing of the guard' from the outgoing officers to the in-coming ones.   We also received our program booklets for the upcoming season, beginning in September, listing the names and titles of all the papers to be delivered for the 2013-2014 year.  I've already started working on my paper and am very excited about it.

Today's program consisted of of a slide show taking us on a journey through some waterways around the St. Lawrence River and the lock system, and various lakes in Canada.  Our overall theme for this past program year was  O Canada.  The variety of papers was most impressive---from provinces, to art, to authors, to musicians, to UNESCO sites to Canadian and United States military alliances and beyond.

This club is well over one hundred years old, and originally provided a forum for well educated women to continually learn and share.

Back then, though educated, most women did not have employment opportunities.  Now the club is made up primarily of women who have had careers, and now in retirement, continue to learn and grow.

 And I really love that!