January 2006 Newsletter

Important Announcements

ALL Italian classes will meet on January 6. Nina’s trip to London will not interfere with your studies as substitute teachers are lined up.

La Causerie now has its own snail mail address—a box that is checked at least weekly. Using the church’s mailing address was not always timely for us. Our NEW mailing address (which you might want to add to your Livret) is: 6320 Brookside Plaza, #253, KC, MO 64113.

Also add to your Livret our new associate member : Jane Carver. Her contact information is the same as Thad Carver’s (who is already listed in the Livret).

Rosemary Hoffman’s punch recipe is provided at the end of this newsletter. Don’t miss it!

New Spanish Instructor

Bill Lozano has been hired to teach an additional section of Advanced Spanish Conversation (a class that had gotten too large). This class meets at 11 a.m. Because of his help, there is now room for students to join the Advanced Spanish Conversation classes. Contact Annette Howard, Spanish Department Chair, with questions.

Be sure to introduce yourself to Bill and welcome him to La Causerie.

Seeking volunteer help.

· A first vice president is needed for the executive board. The major job of this office (the Livret) is completed but the board needs input and involvement of this officer.

· Someone to head up History and Archives (organizing digital and paper files, photos). This is a flexible position that someone can do on their schedule.

· Membership Chair who will work to streamline and manage the enrollment process for next year.

· A member to take charge of our digital projector. You would learn how to use it (it’s very easy) and coordinate with speakers who need to use it.

Maps. We are also looking people to donate wall-sized maps of Italy, France or Spain. If you’re an eBay expert, perhaps you might offer to find some online.

Please contact Inez Pennington if you want to know more or if you can help.

Do you have an answer to this question?

La Causerie regularly receives calls asking if we provide language classes for children (which we don’t). If you know of available tutors or classes we could share with these callers let Inez know. We want to help them cultivate future La Causerie members!

Holiday Fête enjoyed by 75 members

The annual Holiday Fête took place on Friday, December 16.

• Seventy-five members attended, including former instructors Kate White and Margaret Ramsey.

• Fifty people participated in the wine tasting (and their monetary contributions covered the complete cost of this activity).
• Twenty members contributed glorious and interesting travel photos to a slide show that was shown on a continuous loop.
• Door prizes were awarded to more than a dozen members through a drawing. The first grand prize went to Carolyn Skelton who won dinner for four at Aixois, tickets for two to the KC Ballet, the Bach Arias and Quality Hill Playhouse. Jan Cohen won the second grand prize: two tickets to three different Friends of Chamber Music performances. Other door prizes included tickets to the KC Repertory Theatre, the Coterie Theater, Heartland Men’s Chorus, UMKC Conservatory, UMKC Theater Department and the Screenland movie theater. Gail Cunningham won the RSVP prize (i.e. did not have to be present to win) of two tickets to the Screenland movie theater.

The Holiday Fête would not have been such a success without help from these folks:

• Anastasia Thompson and her team of volunteers who organized the party
• Joyce Angelos Walsh, CSW of Premier Cru who conducted the wine tasting.
• Sponsors of the International Food Tasting: National Bank of Kansas City, Gilmore & Bell Attorneys at Law, and Thompson's Search, Inc. (an information Technology search firm).
• Dalene Bradford who assembled the door prizes.
• Carol Dirkes and Joan Gastinger who organized the food tasting.
• Thad Carver who handled registration for the wine tasting.
• Rosemary Hoffmann who prepared her wonderful fruit punch. (See her recipe below.)
• A bunch of cheerful volunteers who helped at the party and did set-up and clean-up.

Keep an eye out for an article about our Fête in the Independent Magazine. We submitted photos and information to them after the party.

Got Livret?

Quite a few lonely Livrets await pick-up by their owners in the Fireside Room. Class rosters are available, too.

Have a suggestion related to your class?

Then tell your department chair who is responsible for taking care of issues that need attention (such as class schedules and curriculum ideas). Here’s who they are and how to contact them:

Department Chairs:

• Italian – Carol Dirkes
• French – Peggy Rooney
• Spanish – Annette Howard

Snow Policy

La Causerie Française follows the Shawnee Mission School District practice on snowy or icy days. If the Shawnee Mission District closes its schools due to bad weather, La Causerie will also be closed. In case of inclement weather, please listen to the list of school closings on television and radio.

La Causerie Calendar: Looking Ahead

Jan 6, 2006 Classes resume. All classes will meet, including Nina’s Italian classes.

Jan 20 Spanish Program, Kathleen Villafuerte (Mary Lou McCarty’s aunt) will speak about her childhood in Chile and life in the US. She and her husband, who now live in Mountain View, MO, used to raise guinea fowl, sheep, Angora rabbits and goats along with the more ordinary horses, pigs, chickens, cattle, dogs and cats.

Jan 27 Italian Program Debra Karr, KU professor of Italian and Lyric Opera guild lecturer. She will speak about Italian opera and use a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate her presentation (which will be made in Italian).

Feb 3 Spanish Program

You asked for it…

Many people have asked for the punch recipe Rosemary uses to prepare her delicious drink for our parties. Here it is…along with some helpful preparation hints. Rosemary says many make their own variations to this recipe. Have fun with it.

Rosemary Hoffman’s Fabulous Fête Punch

Makes approximately 100 cups of punch.

Punch Rings

Make frozen punch rings at least a day in advance of serving the punch. Use bundt cake pans or punch ring molds (or improvise with Tupperware or Cool Whip containers). Place small amount of punch mix (see below) in the mold along with maraschino cherries and pieces of lime. Freeze this layer until hard. Repeat layering process with punch mix and fruit until ring is full (maybe three layers). This layering process assures that some decorative fruit appears throughout the ring.

Punch Mix

juice of nine lemons

six cups of sugar

16-18 ounces of frozen lemonade concentrate

16-19 ounces of frozen orange juice concentrate

Mix together and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, put a punch ring in large bowl and add:

4-5 bottles of cold champagne (can be replaced with white wine)

two fifths of dry white wine

Ginger Ale and Lemon Lime Twist Up (from Sam’s Club) added to taste