Another wonderful season in PPWA is coming to close. This year has been fun and enriching and exciting in so many ways. May 31st also brings with it the end of my term as your PPWA President. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve and support the membership and work with all of the fantastic volunteer leaders in our organization. I appreciate all our leaders and especially the Board members who work so hard to make our organization great. It has been a great pleasure to be part of that team for the past four years as Vice President and President. I am very happy to pass the gavel to our new team and I look forward to continuing my PPWA involvement in other roles. To all PPWA members I say thank you for everything and I hope you enjoy a happy and healthy summer full of fun times with loved ones. Safe travels north and come back soon! For those staying here all summer, I will see you "around the pointe" as we continue to have fun together in many of our year-round activities and events. Best wishes to all.

 

Our membership is now at 667 ladies – all able to enjoy the 40+ Activity Groups PPWA offers. 

We encourage all to renew their membership in early June, as this helps PPWA with financial planning and reservations for events in the coming year.

• To renew, members simply have to sign on to ppwavenice.org on June 1 and click Renew.  You’ll be guided through the few screens required and prompted for payment.
• When renewing your membership, take a look at your list of Activities and see if there are some new ones you’d like to try.  From your Profile at the top right of the screen, choose More Member Options > Groups Additional Members. 
• Ladies are asked to upload a photo to your profile.  To do so, from your Profile choose Standard Member  Directory > Photo > Select Photo.

If you need help renewing in June, contact Membership Chairs Karen Proctor or Lisa Murphy.  Both are happy to assist.

Please welcome our new PPWA members!

This month we WELCOME 3 new members!

Geri Allard

Bonnie Malone

Susan McLean

 

 

 

Lisa Murphy

Karen Proctor

Thank you Marty Dych for volunteering to run (MEL)!  

 

Members who are willing to store equipment in their homes may contact Deb Bevis. The equipment would be divided up among homes so no one person has to store more than they are able.

PPWA ByLaws and Policies

 At the recent Annual Meeting held on April 21st the membership ratified an amendment to the PPWA ByLaws concerning the residency requirement for Executive Board members. The Board has also worked to update PPWA Policies & Procedures to accurately reflect all of our current rules and operating practices. Both of these documents can be found on our website under the Members tab > Documents. Please follow the links for easy access to our updated ByLaws Amended 2025 and PPWA Policies & Procedures 2025. 

 

Garden Elementary School Donations

 

Once again PPWA will join forces with the PPG&CC community at large to collect much-needed school supplies for our youngest neighbors across Center Rd at Garden Elementary School. There is greater need for assistance by local families in Venice than many of us realize. Details about what items are needed and how to donate purchased supplies or make a monetary donation will be sent out by email later this month by this year's coordinators Robbie VonSalzen and Vicky Ahern. Donations will be collected during June and July.  We appreciate all donations and thank you in advance for your generosity. 

 

 

On Friday, April 4^th, twenty-five members of the Art on the Run Group spent a whimsical day in Sarasota.  After enjoying a lovely lunch at the Tripletail Seafood and Spirits Restaurant, we made our way to the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy.  We were greeted by the museum’s founder, Marietta Lee, and she provided a wonderful description of the history and purpose of her family’s museum, which started in Connecticut and made its way to southwest Florida.  Each piece of art is selected with one major goal in mind – make the viewer smile!  Marietta is both a nurse and an artist, holding a Master’s degree in each field.  We spent nearly two hours visiting the indoor and outdoor exhibits and gardens experiencing the eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures and mixed media which demonstrate that art can be a positive force in our lives.  When you look at the pictures of our group throughout the day, we are sure you will agree the goal of making the viewer smile was certainly achieved!

We would like to thank all of the members who joined us this season for our four events.  It’s been a great year, and we have already begun to plan for next season.

Symphony O’Keefe

Deb Parker

 

 

 

Thinking of Joining a Book Club?

Studies have shown that staying socially active as we age positively impacts our personal health and happiness. What better way to stay connected with others and meet new friends than by sharing our love of reading with other like-minded individuals.      

PPWA currently boasts 19 book clubs with almost 200 members. If you are thinking of joining a book club, here are some things to know: 

• Most groups meet monthly at a specific time beginning in October, November or January.  The meeting schedule is usually established prior to the start of the season.  Members should try to make a commitment to attend meetings on a regular basis.  RSVPs are requested as a courtesy to the meeting host and to help ensure an optimal group number for discussion.    
• Host responsibilities are shared by all group members so you should be willing to host a meeting or partner with another member to co-host.  Light refreshments are often provided by the host.   
• In addition, the facilitator role is a shared responsibility of all group members.  Often, the host also serves as facilitator for the book discussion.   This means gathering information about the author and book including questions for discussion.  Today, you can find standard questions for stimulating discussion on the internet for almost any book.  Your group leader can help support you in this role.  
• You should make an effort to read and complete the book being discussed.  When recommending a book for discussion, you should have read the book. 
• Meetings should be a safe place for all to express their point of view.  Discussions should focus primarily on the book.

On the PPWA Member Application check “Book Club.”  If you are new to book club, the Activity Leader will be in touch with you to provide more information prior to assigning you to a group.

 

 

 

 
If you are a year-round resident and would like to participate in a book club over the summer months, we have two groups that continue to meet in the summer.  You do not need to be a current book club member to participate.  If you are already in a group that does not meet in summer, you may participate in one of these groups as well. You do need to renew your PPWA membership to participate.   
The Cover Girls meet at 3:00 PM on the first Monday of the month.  Contact the group leader, Mary McKay for more information. 
The BIG Book Club meets at 7:00 PM on the first Tuesday of the month.  Contact the group leader, Karen Benning, for more information.

 

Cynthia Herbrandson

Mary Jane Bergman

The Pelican Pointe Lending Library is maintained by PPWA volunteers as a service to the Pelican Pointe community.  It is open to all residents.  All the books in the library have been donated by residents of Pelican Pointe.

When you renew your PPWA membership, please consider checking Lending Library as a service volunteer.  As a volunteer, you will sign up for a week of Library Duty during which you will visit the library once or twice (or more if there are a lot of books being returned and/or donated) and sort returned books from newly donated books, shelve returned books, and make sure the shelves are in good order. 

As a reminder, we accept both hardcover and paperback works of fiction and nonfiction published after 2020 that are in good condition and appeal to the general population.  We also accept jigsaw puzzles that are not missing pieces.

We cannot accept audio books, magazines, textbooks, coffee table books, cook books, or foreign language books due to constraints of space.

Returned and donated books should be left in the trunk in the library.  Library volunteers will organize and shelve book.

If you have a significant number of books (15 or more) please email Flo Liedel to arrange to drop them off.

Our April destination dinner was held on April 29th and began with cocktails and a fun party game relating to our "secret" destination.  We were hosted by Bob and Sheila MacGregor.  Our destination restaurant was the British Open Pub.  This was the final event for this season and the most successful. We had 12 participants and everyone had a great time!  We are hoping for more starting up in November.  Don't forget to sign up to join our group.