The Ram Rebellion(48)
At any rate, I'll find whoever is doing this someday.
Have you heard of any possible nominations for officers of the League? Surely, Veleda will be president, as well she should be. But, who is going to be willing to be secretary and publish notes of the meetings?
Looking forward to seeing everyone,
Your friend,
Flo Richards
* * *
Dear Flo,
Gosh, I hadn't gotten as far as thinking about nominations. I'll have to think about secretary, but what about Jeannie May Glazer for treasurer? She never says anything, but she's a real good bookkeeper.
Yours,
Fran
Dear Mary Ellen,
I really appreciate the old 4-H pincushion pattern. We've made a few and found that they sell very well.
To be honest, as much as I'm enjoying using my own new pincushion, we don't really have the capacity to produce very many. All these kids, the sheep, the rabbits, and so forth have all of us stretched to the limit already.
I wonder if your shop wouldn't be a better place to make and sell these pincushions. I can provide the untreated wool, if you'd like. What with unauthorized breeding going on around here, there's a fair bit of less-than-perfect wool to go around. The latest lamb crop had a certain number of crossbreeds that I didn't expect.
Do let me know.
Your friend,
Flo Richards
Dear Flo,
What a generous offer. I took it to Karen and she'll be getting in touch about the business part—about whether you want to be paid for the wool up-front or want a percentage of the sales on the wrist pincushions. It won't be lots of money, because in addition to the wool, there's the cloth (luckily we can make these out of very small scraps) and the labor.
She's having most of these smaller pieces that we sell as "notions" made by the women in refugee housing. Lots of them used to do spinning part-time in their homes, but of course they lost their spinning wheels when they were burned out or whatever. She pays them the equivalent of minimum wage, which is apparently more than the people they did spinning for ever paid them.
Karen's looked into buying more spinning wheels and setting up a shop, but those things are expensive! The refugees say that after the bed and kettles, they were the most valuable thing the average woman owned.
See you at city hall!
Your friend,
Mary Ellen Shaver
Dear Veleda,
I really had to let you know that the response to a League of Women Voters is tremendous. I know you've moved the meeting location to city hall, but I'm not sure that will be big enough. The local women I've spoken to seem to be very taken with the idea.
I've heard that the Baptist ladies are going to provide refreshments. I'm so looking forward to something besides soup. Just a little bit of uptime treats will do so much for my morale.
J.D., in his usually grumbly way, mentioned that street cleaning could be done as a community service by a certain element of the population. Especially those who use community services by winding up in jail on Friday and Saturday nights. It does seem like it might be a deterrent for some of the less staid members of the population.
Of course, scooping it up is one thing. Where we're going to put it is another. Have you heard anything from Christie Penzey yet? We certainly don't want to contaminate the ground water. I've noticed that animals produce a surprising amount of waste product.
Looking forward to the meeting.
Your friend,
Flo Richards
Dear Veleda,
Wednesday, Mary Ellen Shaver announced to the Baptist Ladies that you're organizing a League of Women Voters. We think that this is wonderful. I don't know what you're thinking of tackling first, but somebody really ought to do something about the horse manure on the streets!
Of course we're all hoping for a wild success, but if a lot of people come, space could get to be a problem. I hope that you don't think that I'm butting in, but I talked to Archie and he is going to invite you to meet in the cafeteria here at the middle school. That will give you more space and the Baptist ladies can put the Jell-O salad in the refrigerators.
I also mentioned it to John, of course. The VOA is willing to make free announcements as a public service, if you would be so kind as to send him a paragraph.
If you're still looking for nominations, I suggest Liz Carstairs for secretary. I realize that she's Mike Stearns's personal assitant, but you know what they say. "If you want to get something done, ask a busy person."
Your friend,
Carole Ann Grover
Dear Veleda,
The Presbyterian ladies are very excited to hear about the League of Women Voters project.
We talked about it this week and Beryl Lawler is willing to write up a piece for the Grantville Times and then cover the meeting. Because of the society column, you know, she has a lot of contact with the down-time families—my goodness! Have you ever seen so many birth announcements and weddings in Grantville for as long as you can remember? And sometimes in that order, I'm sorry to say!