My love affair with the KLA began in 2003 when Doreen  McGuff asked if I wanted to join. She shared her passion of the Auxiliary with  me and I will always be grateful to her for that. I found the ladies to be so very welcoming and dedicated to the cause. What is really great is that we never loose sight of the goal, to help kids living with disabilities. Next thing I knew, I was 3rd Vice-President and going up the line to President in 2007. I'm not sure if I knew what I was getting into but everyone was very patient and helped me through that year. I hope that I am a little more prepared to serve as your President this year.

2012 is off to a great start. Eve-Anne Kristjanson and Ruth McCorrie did a beautiful job of installing all of the new officers. I followed Eve-Anne as President in 2007 and Ruth was a dear friend of Doreen McGuff so I felt it appropriate to ask them to do this  task. We managed to rope in June Krochenski to serve as our Vice-President with  the promise that we will all help her (and I am confident that we all  will). We will never let go of  Vera as Treasurer, Cathy is doing  a great job of her second year as Secretary, Carolyn is so organized at  Membership and Marj does a wonderful job in charge of our Charitable Giving.  Darryl Gill will watch over us all as immediate Past President. What a  team!

I missed the February meeting, as I was off chasing my grandchildren through Disney World, but I understand Craig Houston brought us up to date on Shrine Information and also invited along a patient for the ladies to  meet.

March is always a favorite meeting where the ReHab brings us all to tears by showing us what our hard work has accomplished. There is  always a little person in attendance who has benefited from some of the equipment that we have bought. We all leave with a lovely flower as a thank you (mine lasted about a month). 
 
Our first fundraiser of the year was on March 17th.  Irene Campbell and her team put together an evening of Irish Music that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. I was standing by the door at the end of the evening to thank everyone for coming and was greeted with miles and miles of  smiles.  Every single person really enjoyed the event and it was a total sellout.  Have a look  at the pictures and write up in our photo section. 
  
On March 24th I represented the KLA at the Daughters of the Nile Installation of Queen Patti Hillier. It was a lovely evening and I loved seeing all of the creative ideas she had for her installation. It's obvious that shoes are her thing!

The April 2nd meeting at Shrine House is when the Divan honor the KLA and it is such fun to see those men pouring tea! Not to mention those wonderful sandwiches and dainties that they make especially for us. Okay, I think we have to thank the ladies of the Divan for the wonderful food!

April 12th was our Annual Bridge & Card party chaired by Ruth McCorrie and Eve-Anne Kristjanson. This event is almost sold out before the tickets even arrive at a KLA meeting. There is such a following of Bridge enthusiasts and I can understand why - those fabulous dainty  sandwiches, delicious deserts (made by our ladies) and great prizes!  What more
can you ask  for?

I have really thought it beneficial, as President, to attend the Masonic Family meetings, so far on Jan 14th & Mar 3rd. It is there that we have representatives from all of the Masonic Family groups getting together to share information, get to know each other and support  each other's events.  So far this year I have enjoyed a Masonic Grand Lodge Dinner  Theatre, a Spaghetti Dinner, an Eastern Star lunch, and an Eastern Star dinner & fashion show.  It has been lots of fun and opened my eyes to what each of  the groups does.  I think it is very valuable for us to be represented at  these things if we want people to know who KLA is.

Our Annual Dinner is coming up on April 26th and I'm looking forward to our May 7th meeting where Gertrude Hambira will be speaking of her experience "Out of Africia". Hope to see lots of ladies out!

Stay tuned....

Darlene

Welcome to my blog.  I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts, experiences and passion as they relate to the Khartum Ladies' Auxiliary and the wonderful work they do for children with special needs.  I hope you come back and visit this site often and read about our activities and fellowship.