Avante January Newsletter
BBarbara Bellingham Program Director Avante Women’s Centre
efore the holidays, Avante staff worked diligently at preparing our programming so that you could have our winter newsletter well in advance…if you are a registered member, you should have received it in the mail. Please contact us if you have not, and of course if you would like to become a member, we welcome your calls. Our centre will be open again on January 8, and activities begin the following week.
We start right in on Monday, January 15 at the Knowlton Community Centre, when Kayla and Barb will present “Winter Life Hacks” — tried and true ideas that could prove useful to you throughout the cold months, including power outages. We will welcome any survival tips you may have tried yourself to share. Starts at 1:30. Kayla will be covering the same topic in Bedford the next evening, January 16 for her under 40s group from 6 to 8 p.m.
By popular request, Gayl will be starting a new class on Tuesday, January 16 for women who would like to get better acquainted with their sewing machines! She invites you to bring your machine (with thread), along with the manual if you have it, to sew colourful quilt blocks that will eventually be put together into a fundraising quilt, or to work on a project of your own. Sewers at all levels are of course welcome. Learn, share and create. From 9:30 to 11:30. For those of you who have a conflict with the timing, Gayl is offering it again on Thursday, January 25 from 3 to 5 p.m. All are welcome to come again, as everyone will be working at her own pace.
On Wednesday, January 17, Kayla will be offering a workshop on creative expression — learn how to convey your emotions through painting. Kayla’s workshops are specifically designed for women under 40, so please contact her directly (through Facebook, text, or phone) for more info. The class starts at 6 p.m.
Thursday, January 18 is our monthly Soup Café, from noon to 1 p.m., when we offer free homemade soup and buns to any woman who would like to join us. Following that is our monthly “DIY” at 1:30. This month, we will learn how to repurpose a sweater into a useful hat, scarf, and mittens set. Registration is requested, along with a $2 donation, and please bring your own sweater.
Friday, January 19, we are at the Cowansville CLSC for the monthly Health Matters workshop, starting at 10 a.m. “Forgetful, Not Forgotten” – is a DVD presentation of one man’s journey through Alzheimer’s as his father’s caregiver. Followed by a free soup lunch. Open to the public.
Responding to the requests she received at her “Meet & Greet” sessions, Kayla is offering a four-part stress management course on Mondays in Knowlton. Again, designed for women under 40, topics will cover dream journaling, yoga, relaxation techniques, and mindfulness, all the while exploring the causes and symptoms of unmanaged stress. This will be a closed group, so please contact Kayla to register. The first class will be on January 22, from 12:30 to 2:30.
Learn how local plants can help with cold and flu symptoms from our guest speaker, Yana, on Tuesday evening, January 23 at 6 p.m. for Kayla’s workshop on Home Remedies.
“What is Cancer?” is our Health Matters: Revisited presentation at the Lac Brome Community Centre on Monday, January 29, starting at 1:30. A DVD previously shown in Cowansville, Dail Jacob gives a clear definition of the dialogue and terminology of types of cancer, diagnoses, treatments, and resources.
Mona will be Kayla’s guest on Tuesday, January 30 for the Coupon Challenge: Learn all about couponing and how to save money! From 6 to 8 p.m.
We have come to respect the general consensus that nobody really wants to venture out at night during the winter months, so we have changed our scheduling to daytime activities for January, February, and March. Therefore, our monthly potluck suppers will be potluck lunches. Our first will be at noon on Wednesday, January 31.
A quick heads-up for February, that we are selling tickets for our cultural outing to see “Calendar Girls,” presented by the Lakeshore Players in Dorval. Based on an uplifting true story of a group of women who posed for a charity calendar, Avante has tickets for the matinée on February 17, so the bus will be leaving at 11:45. Twenty-five dollars includes cost of admission and bus transportation. Places are limited, so don’t hesitate to purchase your tickets now.
Avante Women’s Centre has been operating since 1997 with the mandate to reach out to anglophone women in the Brome-missisquoi area. Our services include monthly workshops and coffee breaks, popular education programs, and special activities aimed at encouraging women to expand their limits of experience. In a largely rural community, Avante offers an opportunity to meet
other women, and discuss issues that concern them, where they can feel comfortable socializing in their own language. We aim to assist English women reach their fullest potential, empowering themselves to become all they wish to be.
Our centre is located in Bedford, but we are in Knowlton twice a month at the Lac Brome Community Centre, and monthly workshops at the Cowansville CLSC covering current health matters. Our winter newsletter is now available with our threemonth programming schedule included. Please drop in or call at 450-248-0530 to keep in touch with our services being offered. You can also visit our webpage – www.avantewomenscentre.org, or find us on Facebook.