President’s Message

March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers … and lots of Vista Friends activities!

Our Membership meeting/breakfast will be held Thursday, May 12 at the Broken Yolk Cafe, 2434 Vista Way, at 9:30am.   At the May meeting we will elect the Board of Directors for 2022-23; the Budget Committee will present the Board-approved budget for 22/23; and the Meeting Location Committee will update us on next steps and the voting process.  Saving the best for last, we will have a Program given by a special guest speaker—see the announcement from Jan Zacharias for details.

See you soon!  Shirley

Welcome April!  We have so much to look forward to this month, including warmer, longer days, spending time in the garden, and Easter.  Our Membership meeting/breakfast will be held Thursday, April 14 at the Broken Yolk Cafe, 2434 Vista Way, at 9:30 am.  This promises to be a lively meeting as our Meeting Location Committee will report on their research and recommendations for our standing Membership meeting place.  The Nominations Committee will announce the slate for the proposed Board members for 2022/23, which we will vote on in May.  And last, but certainly not least, we will have a brief and interesting program from Jan Zacharias on dolls.  See you soon!  Shirley

Happy Spring!  Even though it seems we’ve had a taste of Summer already, the official first day of Spring this year is March 20.  I’ve been doing some Spring cleaning at home, and found some old magazines with feel-good tips for every month.  I thought I’d share a few from March:

• For good sleep, the best time for women to exercise is early in the day.  According to a study conducted in Seattle, women to exercised at a moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes in the morning has less difficulty falling asleep than those who exercised later or not at all.
• For a quick pick-me-up when you’re feeling sluggish, massage your ears for one minute.  There are 200 accupressure points in the ears that correspond to various parts of the body and that stimulation may energize you.
• Eating a serving of 8 strawberries provides more than 140% of the daily required vitamin C.

February promises to be a busy and exciting month for us!  Vista Friends & Newcomers will celebrate the anniversary of our founding with a gift exchange at our general membership meeting.  We will meet at a new restaurant this month—the Broken Yolk on Vista Way in Oceanside.  They offer a  large private room where we will be free to share news and gifts.  We will also celebrate Valentine’s Day.  I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon.

— Shirley Higgins

I LOVE the holidays.  I like decorating, shopping, baking, visiting, and partying.  I go all-out to celebrate.  My proudest non-work accomplishment at work was producing a CD of holiday music that was performed by my colleagues.  One piece was composed by a friend in the Music Library and performed by a local orchestra—my friend let me add it to our CD.  It took me months to talk people into singing or playing musical instruments, to obtain permission from rights owners to perform the songs selected, to schedule practices, and to get each piece recorded.  A group of four instrumentalists formed a klezmer band because I wanted to include a Hanukkah song.  I persuaded the University Librarian to read “The Night Before Christmas.”  He has a very nice speaking voice and I needed him to fund me $500 to produce the CDs.  My Administrative Assistant created original artwork to print on the CD and I found a guy down in San Diego that would produce 350 CDs for $500.  Everything was done on non-work time and nobody except the CD guy was paid for their work.  It was a labor of love produced by about 30 people who allowed me to cajole them into helping with my project.  At the Library Holiday Party that year each staff person received a copy of the CD.  I still have the CD and play it every Christmas.

I hope your holidays are filled with family, friends, and lots of love.  Shirley

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November is a time to reflect on all that we are thankful for and I thought I’d take this opportunity to share my thanks with you all.  I am thankful for my family: my sister, four cats, and two dogs who bring me joy and new challenges every day.  I’m thankful for the many friends I made during my working career and I’m happy that I still enjoy their friendships and have lots of fun adventures with them.  Finally, I am very thankful for the many new friends that I’ve made by joining Vista Friends and Newcomers.  I appreciate your warmth, camaraderie, and all the many activities we enjoy together.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Results of the Newsletter Poll
We had 13 participants in the Newsletter Poll.  Here’s a brief summary of the responses:

1. The respondents all read all of the Newsletter.
2. Things they liked most include: “Getting to know you,” the variety of activities we provide, the recommendations for what to stream on TV, the new devices and tips column, and weekly reminders of upcoming activities.
3. Nobody skips reading any part of the Newsletter.  Seven people suggested that an editor or proofreader might be helpful.
4. There were several suggestions about what could be added: a cooking column; a brief description of the functions of the groups and what acronyms stand for; and a humor column.

This November issue of the Newsletter will include the debut of the humor column, edited by Bonnie Armstrong—you are sure to get a chuckle from her first piece!  Linda Mueller will edit the recipe column.  With her experience in the LEI (Let’s Eat In) group, we’re in store for a tasty Thanksgiving.

Thank you for your helpful suggestions!  The Board will work on implementing all of them.

Greetings Vista Friends and Happy October!
Now that the weather is turning cool, it makes me think of making soup.  I thought I’d share my favorite soup recipe with you all.  It comes from America’s Test Kitchen, but it’s not too fussy :)It is delicious.  Enjoy!
Sweet Potato Soup
4 tablespoons butte,r 1 shallot, chopped, 4 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 lbs sweet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and chopped—reserve 1/4 of the peels,1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large pot, sauté shallot and thyme (just toss in the whole springs) in butter until shallot is translucent.  Add 4 1/4 C water to the shallots and thyme and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat!  Add chopped sweet potatoes and 1/4 of the peels.  Steep 20 minutes.
Add brown sugar, cider vinegar, salt and pepper and turn on heat to med-high.  Cook 10 minutes, remove from heat.  Remove thyme sprigs.  Puree soup WITH peels 45-50 seconds in batches of 1/2 blender-full.  Always cover blender lid with a towel, to control hot liquid.
I hope you enjoy the cooler weather and this soup as much as I do.

See you soon—Shirley

Happy September and Happy Fall!  Autumn arrives on September 22nd, and marks the beginning of my favrote time of year.  Cool weather, crisp apples, and lots of activities leading up to the holidays.
Our annual membership renewal is almost complete—just a few more dues to collect and we will have a final roster.  I will send everyone a new directory on email (and paper mail for members without email) as soon as we have confirmed our membership for 2021-22.
We have lots of fun in store for everyone, as each of the Vice Presidents and Committee chairs have plans for outings, meals, crafts, games, and even tea!  I’m looking forward to spending time with you all in the coming months—vaccinated, with a booster, and masks, of course!