March-ing forward with the UMW

Unit officers at the ready

An energetic gathering!

Carole Koval shares a new prayer shawl

Special recognition for Betty Lowell

Laurie Ball shares the program

Twenty were on hand today for the monthly gathering of the UMW on a delightfully sunny afternoon in the Bitterroot Valley!

Hostesses for this month were Shirley McKelvey, Marcia Prather, and Bonita Ziegler.

Coordinator reports:

+Spiritual Growth - Bev Schneider shared a reading from the folk at Blue Mountain Group.
+Mission Edcation & Action - Hazel Smith shared the Bishop's letter asking for the Yellowstone Conference to stand in solidarity with those being targeted by the rise in hate/phobias in our society. The Unit accepted the proposal to participate in the gathering of items for UMCOR Health Kits. A list of needed items is on the bulletin board and will be placed in the Glad Tider.  We'll begin on March 12th and continuing until Mother's Day in May. The collected Health Kits will be taken to Annual Conference in June.
+Spiritual Growth & Membership -Twenty women and Pastor Charles were on hand from Stevi UMC at the Yellowstone Conference UMW event at Fairmont Hot Spring. Charline Siphers and Betty Lowell were mentioned during the celebration of "Persistent Women."
+Reading Program Circle -Marcia Prather mentioned that a large number of books have arrived and will be added to the library shelves by Mary Nelson. The reading program includes books for children which count toward the reading levels.
+Saturday Morning Circle - The Saturday Circle meets the third Saturday of each month, 9:00 for refreshments, 9:30 for meeting. The plastic recycling effort (at the parsonage) is going very well! A large donation was made for both WIC supplies as well as clothing for women at the Blackfeet Reservation.
+Prayer Shawl Minstry - Carole Koval presented a new shawl created by Sharon Brown. To date 217 shawls have been presented.

Program: Western Mountains UMW District president, Laurie Ball, shared this month's program. Laurie spoke about "Expanding our UMW horizons to strengthen our local units."

Upcoming Events:
+18 March - Saturday Morning Circle with Becky Boykin providing the program.
+22 April - Western Mountains UMW District spring gathering at Flathead Lake UM Camp.
+8-10 June - Yellowstone Annual Conference in Billings.
+17 June - Western Heritage Days rummage sale (in cooperation with the UMM).
+21-22 July - Mission u Summer School at Aldersgate UMC in Butte.