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Home and Family Connection for Alumnae
 A Resource for Parenting and Family Information, Events, and Networking
As a mom of school-aged children or teens, or as a daughter of aging parents, you are facing some issues your mother never faced -- Internet safety questions, cyber bullying, new drugs accessible to kids, varying care arrangements for parents, etc. We would like to make this site a place to post information, speaker and workshop events, resources, and networking opportunities. If you would like let us know about something for posting, click here:
 Trish Windschill Marx '70 Launches Her Newest Book for Youth: Steel Drumming at the Apollo. Learn about her literary journey...
" I attended St. Kate’s as a REAP (Re-Entry Adult Program) student and married. Therefore, I didn’t really get to know anyone & didn’t really hang around campus. However, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Homemakers Group through the Alumnae Association for a few years. That was a lot of fun and led to friendships that lasted. Thanks for offering this to those of us who chose to make homemaking a career. After many years of childrearing, including homeschooling my four children, I’m now in graduate school! Hello , career #2!"
Laurie Weisler Sansom '83
 Louise Gradstein Dillery '49 visited the Home and Family Connection to tell her story of surviving Nazi-occuppied Paris and coming to Minnesota, where the Sisters of St. Joseph at the College of St. Catherine "saved her life three times." For more...
Topic Ideas for Home & Family Presentations
- Invite the oldest member of your group to talk about what life was like on campus when she attended. Include what lead her to choosing St. Kate's.
- Hire someone, perhaps another alum, to do a professional presentation for the rest of the group. The group could pitch in money to help pay the cost of a presenter.
- Host a creative get-together. One member shares a demo on how to do a craft, needlework, or fine art. The other members pitch in money to help pay for the supplies and work on the project together during that meeting.
- Go on a field trip/tour with members carpooling to the location.
- Develop annual seasonal events, such as for Christmas, Lent, summer, etc.
- Pick a service project and/or adopte a family.
Tips for Having a Successful
Home-Family Alumnae Group
- Go beyond your immediate friends to attract/invite a diversity of members in terms of ages and neighborhoods (parishes and schools) to provide more perspectives in discussions – you gain new friends and wider support.
- Set calendar schedule (dates, topics, events) in the fall for the year, so everyone has the dates and delegated responsibilities. Have the same time of day and month for consistency.
- Select educational topics of interest to group to discuss, avoid becoming just a “coffee clutch” or children’s playgroup.
- Take time off in the summer, too hard to meet.
- Ten to fifteen members are ideal for discussion size. If your group is larger, you can break up into small groups.
- Have babysitters to take care of the children.
- Go to the same place each time, a place where no one has to host – parish center, community center, coffee shop, etc.
- Have some variety in activities – say annual Lenten retreat meditation; one session for a creative activity, such as stamping or scrapbooking, or gardening; a speaker for a topic of interest, etc. Draw on the strengths and skills of group members for events/activities.
- Spread the work around in terms of arranging discussions and activities, to have everyone participating. Rely on every person to follow through.
- Share email addresses to make meeting announcements easier. It also helps to alert everyone about members in need. Prayer and other forms of support prove very valuable through times of trouble.
- A home-family alumnae group can prove a source ongoing education, balance, and support through life’s many stages.
- Have one or two people act as leader/coordinators and shift those duties around over the years.
These tips came from the Home- Family Alumnae Group that has been meeting monthly for more than 20 years. They are mix of stay-at-home moms, part-time and full-time working-outside-the-home moms. See story below. | Opportunities for Alumnae
MOMS NETWORKING
Do you treasure your time with your young children, yet feel isolated sometimes or wonder how other mothers balance all the elements in their lives? Or how they face some of the challenges?
Now's your chance to network to find out! Wherever you live, there are probably other alumnae moms in your area thinking similar thoughts. You may want to start a breakfast, coffee break, lunch, or play-date Alumnae Home and Family Group.
To find out if there are other interested alumnae moms in your area, you can contact your chapter leaders or post a call for other interested alumnae moms in your area on this Web page by contacting the Alumnae Office.
Alumnae-to-Alumnae Advice
Post your tips for developing assests in your children by contacting:
Family Tanka
Like changing seasons
friends come and go,
wax and wane.
Friendship holds no bond
as with family
knowing you from the moment
you awaken from the womb.
~Julie Gondringer Devich
Mpls. ‘01 |
Susan Hepburn Huberty '75, Shirley Mueller Linstroth '72, Julie Gondringer Devich '01 Mpls, Marie Uschold Winker '73, Mary Wolcyn Larsen '71, Mary Beth Marzolf Kissling '86, Diane Waldoch '87, Mary Jo Durand Kattar '79, Mary Louise Beskar McDonald '66
Alumnae Moms' Group Meets Enthusiastically
for Over Twenty Years In the 1980s, Kathleen Korol Flick and Billie Berthiaume McQuillan, both '72, gathered together some alumnae mothers in the Twin Cities area to discuss topics related to child-rearing and taking care of oneself as a mom. They called themselves "The Homemakers" and met at St. Kate's from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. A long-time member, Mary Wolcyn Larsen SP '71, remembers: "Back then we had babysitters to watch our children while we met. Most of the members do not have young children anymore but we continue to meet and discuss topics of interest to us."
Over the years, the group has covered many different discussion topics and events. They have drawn on the interests and expertise of their members for the content of their meetings. Mary explains about the some of the annual highlights: "Generally we have one craft day (we have an accomplished stamper as a member), a retreat during Lent (we have an adult religious education teacher), a Christmas party, an exercise/health day (we also have a Pilates instructor as a member), and a book discussion."
Several members noted how the regular meetings have assisted them in finding and maintaining a healthy "balance" to their lives. "This group helps us maintain parts of ourselves that get lost in family life," said Mary Louise Beskar McDonald '66. The members all encourages other alumnae to form Alumnae Home and Family groups, for similar support and ongoing education.
| BOOKTALK
by Julie Gondringer Devich '01
Are you looking to for a small town where life goes at a slower, simpler pace? Do you want a place where you'll find heartwarming (slightly eccentric) and engaging people?
Well, the women of St. Kate's Home and Family Connection Alumnae group found it! Just pick up a copy of Jan Karon's At Home in Mitford. Replenish yourself with words so delightfully descriptive, you'll begin to smell fresh brewed coffee in the first chapters and visualize green valleys so lush, you'll feel the sun shine down on you. |
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