Hello my dear wonderful women,

I do hope you all have been practicing the exercises we learned from Francoise's talk last month. I especially find it very helpful to remember how to breathe. It's something we do unconsciously all the time, and yet one of the most important tools for helping us to relax.

Thank you Francoise for a very stimulating and important topic.

The month of April is upon us and we have a meeting on Wednesday, April 10 again at the Panorama Hotel. Our guest speaker will be our new member Zarin Hainsworth who recently moved to Poligyros with her husband from the UK. Zarin has been actively working with the

United Nations and various women's rights.

We also will be joined by Stephanie Giantsis who will be showing her lovely summer jewelry, and Mrs. Tina Paralis with posters of her late husband's work.

We will also be hosting a special IWOG event on Wednesday, April 17, offered by our very own Dorothee Mesander who will be teaching us the art of collage. There will be a sign-up sheet available at the April meeting for anyone who is interested.

Due to the Easter holidays our May meeting will be held on the third Wednesday, so stay tuned.

Wishing you all a wonderful spring as the flowers are blooming, and the bees are buzzing!

All the very best

Christine

Good morning dear friends,

The IWOG board has been trying to sort out some unfinished business we have with the Periferia and maintaining our legal status as an NGO. As my good friend Christa says “she doesn't know anything” which is partially true, but I do know how to surround myself with very competent and knowledgeable women. I love working with the team we have created on the IWOG board.

Each of you will be receiving an invitation to attend a general assembly of IWOG members where we will give you an update on IWOG activities, and a financial report on the year 2023. You can also find this same report in your February newsletter. This meeting will be held on March 13 at 10 AM in the Panorama Hotel. 

In addition to the general assembly reports, we will also hear our member Francoise Falise speak about her work in Sophrology.

I know many of you miss our monthly meetings at Ingle Hall and especially the free coffee, but at the moment we have no option, but to have our meetings take place in different parts of the city. There is a certain cost in using different venues like the YMCA and the PANORAMA Hotel and the IWOG Board decided to cover 50% of that cost and the other 50% would be paid by each of you, which is roughly 3 euros per meeting. Thank you for your understanding.

Please try to make an effort to attend our March 13 meeting as it's important to have a quorum.

Wishing you all a happy Women's Day on March 8.

All the very best,

Christine

Welcome to the month of Love,

It was such a joy to see you all and share together over coffee and bingo in January.

IWOG meetings are always about catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

As our February meeting falls on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February 14, we will meet once again at the YMCA basement and each board member will share with you how she met her loved one.

And if there's anyone in the audience who would like to share her story with us, we are more than happy to hear you.

Stay warm and healthy and spread love and good cheer.

All the very best,

Christine

Happy New Year to all my favorite ladies!

Looking back on 2023 I feel that IWOG achieved its many goals, most importantly of bringing our members together and serving our community. The board has already chosen some charities, and has given Sklavenitis vouchers to several organizations.

I was especially privileged to be able to visit the Breath of Hope headquarters in Triadi and deliver all the many goods contributed by our members at the December meeting. I was delighted to see that with just the help of volunteers this organization feeds 100 families at Christmas time.

I look forward to seeing you all at our January meeting at the YMCA, where we will play bingo and cut the Vasilopitta.

Please note that the meeting will take place on January 17 from 10-12 am.

May 2024 bring peace and good health to all.

Christine Willis

Dear Friends,

I want to reach out to each and every one of you and thank you for the hard work that made our Christmas Bazaar such a huge success. The hall was beautifully decorated and the baked goods were a special treat to all who tasted them. It was our first taste of Christmas.

Please note that our Christmas meeting will take place on December 13 at the Perrotis Dining Hall at the American Farm School from 10-12 am. We will be giving a scholarship to a young woman from the High School.

IWOG also made a contribution to the archives of the American Farm School and the School librarian, Damiana Koutsoumicha, will speak to us about how they are digitizing the archives today.

There will also be a mini Bazaar of only IWOG members selling their goods.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy Christmas season. And may the New Year bring in a much needed Peace to our troubled world.

Chronia Polla to all.

Christine Willis

Hello dear Friends,

It's hard to believe that November is upon us when I just went swimming yesterday.

But November is a busy month for our IWOG members !

Most importantly, we have our big fundraising event , our Christmas bazaar which will be held on Sunday, November 26 from 10:30 to 5 PM at the PANORAMA Townhall. We are kindly asking all IWOG members to please participate, and, especially by contributing a very specific food made in your country. For instance, I will be making American brownies which can be sold either by the piece or by the platter.

At our November meeting, there will be a sign-up sheet and we will be asking for volunteers to help serve coffee , mulled wine, hotdogs and help with both setting up and cleaning afterward. There is also the opportunity to volunteer for the children's corner.

We need as much help as we can get to make this event a very fun day for the whole family!

Art history classes featuring French Art, with Amalia Spiliakou will begin this Thursday, November 2 at the American Farm School Library from 11-12.

And don't forget to come to our November meeting on Wednesday, November 8 to vote for the new IWOG board .

All the very best to each and everyone of you .

Christine Willis

Dear Friends, Kalo Mina!

I've just returned from an extraordinary adventure in Uzbekistan, where I was invited as a ceramic artist to represent Greece in an International Pottery Forum.

It was an honor to receive an award, acknowledging my work as the "Potter, who revived ancient traditions".

My heartfelt thanks go out to all the volunteers who helped man our IWOG table at the Connected We Stand Festival.

We received a lot of recognition and interest in our work, and had the opportunity to meet other NGOs in Thessaloniki, who we may potentially support in the future.

I was delighted to see such a wonderful turnout at our coffee morning in September and I can see a need for us to socialize together more often. Perhaps an evening drink would be appropriate.

Our next meeting in October, we will have a delightful speaker, our very own Vittoria from Italy, who will be speaking about Laughter Yoga. I'm sure it will be one of our more fun events. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend as I will be in Italy on a ceramics course.

Please put on your thinking caps about what you can make for our Christmas bazaar, which will take place on November 26th at the Municipality of Panorama. Specifically, we are looking for eatable delicacies from all the different countries that IWOG represent.

All the very best,

Christine

Hello lovely ladies,

I hope you are all safe from the fires and the excessive heat we've been experiencing throughout Greece.

I look forward to seeing you all at our first Coffee Morning on Wednesday, September 13 at 10 AM. It's always fun to get together and catch up after our long summer break. We will be meeting at a lovely spot on the water front of the Nea Paralia called Omilos. 

For the second time, IWOG will be participating in the Connected We Stand Festival for the many different NGOs in Thessaloniki, many of whom we support. And we are looking for volunteers to help set up the table and also man the table on  Saturday September 16, from 10.30-7pm. If you are available, please reach out to any board member and let us know.

From my experience last year, the festival was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet many of the various volunteers who work in different organizations.

I look forward to seeing you all in September and catching up on your news.

Christine

Hello dear friends,

It's hard to believe that June is already upon us and we are thinking ahead and planning our Christmas bazaar.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our June luncheon and enjoying the fun fashion show. We will also have the great privilege to watch Terry and Sharon share their Tango dancing techniques. Also, Diane has 20 extraordinary raffle prizes so there will be a little bit of fun for everyone.

Please feel free to bring a significant other, as there will be a few men in our audience.

I am deeply grateful to Shirley for her wonderful talk at our May meeting and sharing stories from her very full life.

If we don't see you in June, have a wonderful summer and look forward to being in touch again at our coffee morning in September.

All the very best,

Christine

Χριστός Ανέστη dear friends,

I would like to thank you all for attending our mini Easter bazaar and especially for your generous contributions of shoes and socks, which were so deeply appreciated by the young unaccompanied refugee minors. Also, many thanks to our energetic Diane Holdsworth for a wonderful Easter raffle.

Our May meeting will be held at the Boy Scouts venue at the very end of Vasileos Georgiou just next to the Thessaloniki town hall, where there is plenty of parking in the basement.

We look forward to hearing from our very own Shirley Lightfoot Milojevic and her adventures throughout life. We will also be remembering our beloved, Vasso Chris, who passed away 10 years ago in May, and was a stalwart supporter of IWOG.

If there are any, IWOG members who would like to say a few words about Vasso please don't hesitate to share your thoughts.

Please make a note in your calendar that the June luncheon will take place on Wednesday, June 14 at the PANORAMA Hotel. Special guest stars will be Terry and Sharon Theocharides, from Santa Cruz, California, who will perform a special tango duet for us. Also, if you would like to be one of the models for the fashion show, please contact Christina Scragg.

I wish you all a very happy month of May with good health and joy in your heart.

Christine

Dear Friends,

I would like to personally thank each, and every one of you who took the time and made the effort to attend our very successful gathering at IRIDA on Women's Day in March. It was a delightful morning in which we had an opportunity to see how this women's shelter works, and how our members can possibly volunteer there. The morning ended with lots of dancing and kefi and sharing stories.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our April 5 meeting at the American Farm School where we will also be having a mini Easter bazaar. Please note that due to the Easter break, our April meeting will be held on the first Wednesday in April.

In May we will be hearing from our very own Shirley Milosevic, an accomplished woman, who herself was President of IWOG in Paris. We will be trying a new venue for our May meeting. It is the Boy Scouts meeting hall at the very end of Vasileos Georgiou. Please join us there on Wednesday May 10 from 10 to 12.

Wishing all of you a very blessed and holy Easter celebration.

My very best wishes,

Christine

Hello dear Friends,

One of the perks of the job as President of IWOG is the Joy of giving. This past month we met with Chloe Kousoulas, the CEO of IRIDA, and discussed various ways that IWOG members can help her organization. We will be visiting IRIDA on March 8, international women's day, so that our members will have an opportunity to see for themselves how they can volunteer.

A few days ago we visited the new purpose built home for Down Syndrome youth in Kalamaria and delivered a projector and wireless phone, which IWOG had purchased on their behalf. It was a very joy filled visit, and I was extremely impressed with the quality of their facilities and programs they provide for their students.

An old adage says you can't change the weather, just like in today's world we can't change Covid. Thank you for your understanding and patience about canceling our February sing along event however, we have rescheduled for Wednesday, March 1. I look forward to seeing many of you and singing together at the Café Bazaari.

Happy spring solstice on March 22.

Christine

A very Happy Valentine's Day to All.

I am deeply grateful to Fannie Samaras and Foteini Sarafianou from the Welfare Committee who joined our Board meeting in January to help us allocate our IWOG funds to various charities and NGO's in Thessaloniki.  We have roughly 6.000 Euros to give away and you will see from the many thank you letters how grateful these organisations are for our support.

Instead of a coffee morning in February we decided to have an evening of song to celebrate Valentines Day and each other on Wednesday February 15 after 8pm.   We will meet at the Idees Bar, Lordou Vironos 6, near Plateia Navarinou and accompany the beautiful voice of Anna Kalincheva with love songs from the past.  We are asking for a 5euro donation at the door to pay the musicians and support the work of En Dynami. You pay at the Bar for whatever you drink. Please join us for an evening of fun and feel free to bring your significant other.

We have been invited by IRIDA, the Women’s Community Center for Refugees, for a coffee and light lunch on Women's Day March 8 at their premises on Venizelou 59.  This will be a wonderful opportunity for our members to hear from the founder Chloe Kousoulas about the work that they do and also explore the possibilities of how IWOG members might volunteer.

For all of our IWOG members who make lovely Easter decorations we will have a mini Easter Bazaar on Wednesday April 5, at the Perrotis College Dining Hall, AFS.  Please note that the meeting will be held on the first Wednesday in April due to Greek Orthodox Holy week.

It is a great honour to share with all of you that I have been invited to have a Retrospective Exhibit of my work at the Refugee Museum in Sykies.  The exhibit will open on Friday March 3 and will be open for the whole month of March.  I will be posting a series of events and lectures that will be taking place throughout the month.

I wish you all a very joyful month of February.  Stay warm and healthy.

Christine

Kalimera kai Kalo Mina to all,

I hope you all had a wonderful summer full of family, friends and quiet moments in beautiful places.

In early August, I had the great privilege to be invited to attend the Lykaion Games in the ancient stadium of Ano Karyes in Arcadia. This is an event that takes place every four years and was the precursor to the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. Dr. David Romano, Professor from the University of Arizona, is the leading archaeologist and has a long term vision of creating a cultural heritage park in this area which would include mountain paths connecting the various villages and the magnificent site of the Temple of Apollo Epicurius. The whole area is worthy of a visit.

The IWOG Board is looking for volunteers to help organise the various parts of our very successful Christmas Bazaar. It’s our big fundraising event of the year so please contact us if you are interested in helping out. If you are interested in booking a table for the Christmas bazaar please contact Christa Anemoudi at +306972899400.

I know many of our members are struggling with health issues, either for themselves or their loved ones. Please don’t hesitate to contact one of us if you need any assistance whatsoever.

I look forward to seeing you all at our September coffee morning in one of my most favorite spots in Thessaloniki, the Allegro - Megaro Cafe. Great time to catch up with old friends and meet some new members.

All the very best and stay safe, 

Christine Willis