READY TO LEARN ABOUT SPIRALIZING?

Join us at the August program where Randy Wade (owner, Tumacookery) will be doing a cooking demonstration and tasting, also offering his tips, tricks and taboos of spiralizing. This method of turning vegetables and fruits into noodles allows cooks of all skill levels to whip up creative, healthy, and delicious meals. Spiralizing offers great flavor without the processed ingredients. Mark your calendar so you don’t miss out! (TWOQC programs are offered to club members and first-time attendees only.)

HONOR FLIGHT #22 in September

September 17-19 will be Honor Flight #22 to Washington, DC with an all-expense paid trip for WWII, Korean War and Vietnam Veterans from the Tucson area to see the war memorials and a wall built in their honor. The day’s focus is about thanking our veterans for the service and sacrifice they made so many years ago for the freedoms we enjoy today. 

The Tucson Honor Flight team has requested that the residents of Quail Creek and TWOQC write letters to each Veteran traveling on this flight. Two are from Green Valley. This is our opportunity to thank the veterans for their service.

• Please write letters to all including initial of last name on the envelope.
• Please do not seal the envelope.
• Due to last minute changes, please include a couple of letters “To a Veteran”. 
• Names of vets scheduled to take the September 17 flight are in this LINK.

During the return trip, veterans are surprised with “mail call”.  The letters given during “mail call” are very meaningful and a blessing to each veteran. Please start writing! Letters may be delivered to Kay Robinson at 898 N. Kenneth Drive by August 29 or brought to TWOQC August program. Questions? Call Kay at 495-4173. For many of our veterans, “mail call” is not only the highlight of their day of honor, but is also a valuable and tangible keepsake of their trip.

Come to the Tucson airport September 17 by 5:30am to see the veterans off at the Southwest Airlines area and/or welcome them home Monday, Sept. 19 at 8:00pm. This is a very emotional and patriotic opportunity. 

SCHOLARSHIPS for Women Seeking Post-Secondary Education

The Scholarship Committee met recently to discuss its ongoing mission of providing scholarship funds for women seeking to continue their education. Feedback from TWOQC membership has made clear the organization’s commitment to this effort and has also demonstrated the need for a bit of additional clarification about our fundraising and awarding process.

In 2015, our first award cycle, TWOQC Board challenged our committee to raise $1,000 which would be matched by the Board if we were successful. This was of enormous importance because when we embarked on our mission, we literally had only a hope and a prayer. We announced our commitment to grant two $1,000 scholarships to graduating women from the Sahuarita School Districts high schools, believing that we could raise the $2,000 necessary, but having no guarantee of future abilities to continue this effort. Through the generosity of TWOQC membership and the Quail Creek community, we raised money which now allows us to make a commitment to future scholarships without relying on TWOQC general funds. Further, it allows TWOQC to promise Sahuarita District school graduates that they will be able to compete for scholarships in the future.

The awarding of scholarships is a formal process and, by nature, contractual. It relies on our best judgement at every step, creating the application, working directly with guidance counselors and teachers, reviewing the applications, paper screening with criteria, formal interviews with criteria, selecting recipients, and notifying all applicants of their status. To allow the applicants time to prepare their personal statements of application and to be consistent with high school counselor timelines, we begin the application posting process in early October for awards to be made the following April. Thus, we expect to put applications online in October 2016 for the April 2017 award.

We will continue to rely on the generosity of our membership to support the awarding of scholarships. The success of our efforts may result in the expansion of our scholarship opportunities; however, they will always be focused on making sure we can live up to TWOQC’s contractual commitments by awarding that which we say we will award.

This year we hope you will support our fundraising by attending new events currently being planned. We also hope to keep our direct appeals for contributions to a minimum, though we will always be happy to accept your generosity!

For questions, please contact Pat Neal, Scholarship Committee Chair at patneel1@me.com.

FASHION SHOW

The 2017 TWOQC Fashion Show will be held on February 24! Profits from the show are used to raise funds for cancer research and support services for those in the local area. This year’s theme is the Power of Purple.

If artisans and crafters could think about making items in purple for the raffle baskets, we would really appreciate it. Suggestions include purple jewelry, scarves, ceramic pieces, art glass, and place mats. We won’t be collecting raffle prizes until January but you might try thinking of ideas while you are stuck inside during our monsoon rains.

CLOTHING DRIVE FOR HOMELESS VETERANS

The annual clothing drive is only 2 months away.

• Please start checking your closets to see if you have any items that you no longer need so you will be ready for the drive on October 15.
• Particularly needed are men’s clothing in sizes small and medium as well as sizes 2X & 3X.
• Backpacks are greatly appreciated.
• Socks & underwear must be new.
• Please make sure that all other items are clean and in good repair.

We are looking for one or two persons with a pick-up truck who would be willing to put any bicycles donated into their trucks on October 15 and then drive them to the VA on October 17 in the morning, the exact time to be determined. If you can help, please contact Laura Colbert at 625-4033.

HOSPITALIZED VETERANS

The VA has an immediate need for reading glasses.

If anyone has any that are not being used, they may be dropped off at Peggy’s house at 1908 E Longspur Place or brought to our program on August 29.

COUPONS FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD

Coupons for the National Guard should expire September 18 or later. Coupons destined for overseas should expire July 1 or later. Coupons may be turned in at the program on August 29 or dropped off at Judy Poffenbarger’s (2390 E Bluejay Bluff Lane) or Peggy Richmond’s (2731 E. Eba Court) at any time. Both have a box by their front doors.

Total coupons for England Base for July were $4,915.10. [PREPPING COUPONS]

UPCOMING EVENTS

♦ August 29 – 6:30 p.m. – Why Spiralize? ::: Discover the Tips, Tricks & Taboos of Spiralizing! Presenter: Randy Wade from Cooking A-Z by Tumacookery (Tubac, AZ).

♦ September 26 – 6:30 p.m. – Dr. Manny Valenzuela, Superintendent of Schools, High School Jazz Group

♦ October 31 – 11:00 a.m. – TWOQC Membership Appreciation Brunch – Presenter is Heather Rowe, Channel 13 Newscaster

[MORE PROGRAMS – download a complete schedule of events]

♥ Follow us on social media: Facebook.com/twoqc ♥