March/April 2007 Edition

102 Attend Garden Grove's Women's Enrichment Weekend

From Friday evening, Jan. 12, through Sunday afternoon, Jan. 14, 102 enthusiastic ladies attended the sixth annual Women's Enrichment Weekend. The event was held at the beautiful Embassy Suites in Santa Ana, California, with the theme "Making a Difference." Most of the women were from Southern California, but some came from Arizona, Nevada and other areas.

The weekend began Friday evening with an optional dinner at a nearby restaurant, followed by a get-acquainted mixer at the hotel. On Sabbath morning, after inspiring special music selections by Ingrid Helge and Carol Wallauch, Larry Greider, pastor of the Los Angeles congregation, set the tone of the weekend with a theme-related uplifting message.

After lunch Saturday afternoon, Caty Seiglie, wife of Garden Grove pastor Mario Seiglie, welcomed the group. Esther Salcedo highlighted the theme with "No Woman Is an Island," followed by Leslie Schwartz on "Mentoring Relationships: Building Bridges Between Generations."

After a break we were moved by a presentation and slides by Sonali Fiske, who, with her husband, Kevin, and young son, went to Sri Lanka after the tsunami to construct housing under the umbrella of LifeNets.

After a wonderful meal at the Embassy Saturday night and a free evening of fellowshipping, Sunday morning began with a heartfelt and valuable presentation on hospice care by Sue Black, a hospice nurse. Afterward five presenters spoke on who or what made a difference in their lives: Shelly Thomas (adopting a child), Jean Marini (those who made a difference in her life), Dr. Natalia Anguiano (importance of shifting our paradigms on health), Erika Schmid (lessons from immigrating to the United States) and Elaine Carlisle (random acts of kindness).

Jean Updegraff opened the afternoon session with "Women With Women—a Special Bond." Dianne Clark followed with "Turn Your Wick Up," linking our theme with our logo of a candle/light. Caty Seiglie then wrapped up our sixth Women's Weekend with positive comments and remarks. Sylvia Kennedy provided the continuity among our many presentations for the weekend as moderator, adding her zest and humor.

The group learned many ways we can make a difference, and as a group we did just that! We held a silent auction featuring about 20 items, many handcrafted works of art, and had a donation can for outright donations. We were happy to send over $3,000 to LifeNets, an organization that truly makes a difference in so many lives.

This year on the evaluation forms attendees listed their number one reason for attending the weekend as: "I enjoy sharing special time and fellowshipping with other ladies in a ladies-only atmosphere." One lady on the registration form under "Special Requests" wrote "hugs and laughter." I am sure that request was amply filled—for her as well as the other ladies who attended.

Jean Updegraff