Thank you, Members!
It’s our last Draft of 2019. As the year draws to a close, our organization is ever grateful to the community of members who support and sustain us. Weavers Guild of Minnesota members lend their expertise, demonstrate and represent the guild at events across the Twin Cities, serve on the board, committees and work groups, teach and mentor in our classrooms, and contribute in innumerable ways. Your actions ensure our guild is a place where weaving, spinning, and dyeing continue to thrive, and that these arts are vibrantly situated in our present and future, not lost to the past.
It’s impossible to list all the ways in which members contribute to WGM, but here are a few: Serving on and leading the committees of the Board: Education, Executive, Finance, Development, Outreach & Volunteer, Nominating; Equity and Inclusion Work Group and participants; Interest and Study Groups leads; State Fair Volunteer coordinator; Fiber to the People; Office Help; Fiber Source donation volunteers; Wool winders; Fiber Fair Revisioning Team; Supply purchaser; Archive Committee; Exhibitions and installation; WGM Librarian; State Fair ribbon makers; Volunteer Appreciation event host; the many, many demonstrators at the WGM MN State Fair booth; Donations of goods and supplies; Membership volunteers; Providing engagement at events like Shepherd’s Harvest, Northern Spark, fairs and festivals; Roc Day host; Sustaining members; Member meeting setup/teardown; Workshop homestay hosts, and more.
We are also in debt to WGM’s Board: Celeste Grant, Maddy Bartsch, Linda Soranno, Brittany Pentek, Matthew Schutz, Carol S Carter, Sarah Nassif, Anna Landes Benz, Barb Heath, Katie Oberton, Karen Mallin, Beth Varro, Dawn Gillette-Kircher, Melba Granlund, Elizabeth Schutz, Mary M Mateer. A special thanks to the Board members who finished their terms on August 31, 2019: Jan Nelson, Barb Ungs, Heather Mackenzie, Becka Rahn, Susan Larson-Fleming, Roberta Zeug Shell, Doreen Hartzell.
Members are the often unseen hands that do the metaphorical work of our organization: You spin the fiber, warp and weave, and dye and finish the cloth, all to make a beautiful piece–WGM–that holds together so seamlessly. Your membership contribution is a reminder of your steady support. You also buy locally in our small shop, donate your gently used equipment, books, and unneeded yarn, and ensure our guild remains in good standing with your financial contributions. Thank you.
Our members are near and far. Thank you members from Wisconsin (23), Iowa (3), Massachusetts and Illinois (2 each); and members in the following states: South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, Montana, South Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, New Jersey, California, Florida. And Manchester, UK, too.
And of course, Minnesota. We couldn’t do it without all 588 of you. We love to see the happy faces of those who swing by on their neighborhood walks, and the voices of the far-flung members who call annually to pay their dues or to add a loom to the classifieds.
In 2020, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota celebrates its 80th year. We have a series of exciting programs in the works to celebrate our past, present, and our future. We are honored to be on this journey with you.
Warmly, on behalf of WGM’s board and staff,
Karin
WGM staff
Karin Knudsen, Operations Manager
Betsy Konop, Education Manager
Becca Foster, Fiber Source Associate
Laura Nelson, Fiber Source Associate
Ever Woodward, Operations and Education Assistant
