It seems like I've spent most of the month of September refusing to accept that Summer was really over, so I guess it's about time I accept that it's October and fall has officially arrived!
I know as moms, we all made sure to pack the summer with as much fun and adventure we could handle, but it was especially fun to make new memories with the More Than Mom crew this year!
Our 2nd Annual 4th of July Anything with Wheels parade was a great success with lots of patriotic spirit from the kids and new coffee food truck this year! We made playgroup visits and train rides at The Depot a regular thing, had our kids exploring the creek at our End of Summer Bash at Hampden Memorial Park, and was able to enjoy a beer while the kids danced around Fern Valley farms! I'm also proud of our group for supporting the Longmeadow Fall Festival at our own booth working to reach more moms who are looking for support and last weekend coordinating an amazing kids clothing and toy swap, that not only supported families in the community who needed help but also donated 15 boxes of clothes to Lydia's Closet to help clothe many children in the foster system.
I can't reminisce about all the great things we did this summer without acknowledging the people who donate their time and effort to make these things happen!
We've grown our More Than Mom Board members this summer and continue to have amazing women help drive and create the vision that More Than Mom stands for. Thank you to Amanda (Vice President), Ashley (Secretary), and Kristine (Treasurer) for continuing to serve the board and put all the work into making these events happen! Welcome to Courtney (Membership Chair) and Jessica (Community Outreach Chair), and thank you for taking this extra work on to support the group.
I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize our founder and former President, Janine Rosenholm. In July, Janine had to make the difficult choice to step down as President, driven by the need to put her family, work, and overall life balance first. None of us would have this community of support if it wasn't for her drive and vision to make it happen. Her decision to step down from this role just further demonstrated her commitment to this vision, in that our goal is to always support each other's needs in order to be more than mom, and sometimes that means making choices to put ourselves first. Thank you Janine for everything you've done and the vision that you have set in motion.
So what's next for us? Well that is entirely up to you!
Our organization only exists to serve our members, so we want each of you to engage and participate in shaping this group into something you all want! We encourage anyone who is interested in joining the board or playing a more active role in the group to reach out, we have plenty of ideas on how you can get more involved!
We last met together back in January for our member meeting, and heard your feedback around more communication, more variety and frequency of events, and a buddy system for new members. We've really focused this year around improving communication, offering more variety in times and types of events, and we'll be launching our new Buddy program for new members this month!
Our next member meeting is Friday, October 13th! We want to see all of you there! We'll have some fun and explore getting to know each other more! Our membership meetings are conducted twice a year, and are critical for us to get to know what our members want and share with you what we have planned! So if you are a new member or have been with us for awhile, we want you there!
I look forward to seeing many of you there, and if you know me, I'm looking forward to sharing a glass of wine with you too! Keep an eye on our calendar, we have lots of fun things planned for the next few months as well!
See you soon! If you need to find me, I'll be watching the leaves start to fall, and sipping a glass of wine while beginning to dread the idea of raking and figuring out how many times my son will change his mind on what he wants to be for Halloween...
Thank you, and I'm grateful to be a part of this amazing community!
Lindsey
(Acting President)
Comments