Barbara Shiley was hostess to 12 members of the Progressive CEOS when they met for their November meeting. Patty Gray opened the meeting with her word of the month, “Citizenship.” She said this word was more meaningful this month since it was Election Day.
This is the month that all committee reports are clue. Patty handed out the forms which we then filled out and got ready to turn in.
The Motivator Tip was given by Patty Gray. The spices for this month are Cinnamon, Ginger and Clove. These are all used in pumpkin pie spices. These can be used in cakes and hot drinks. Ginger is the most important spicy spice.
A “Thinking of You”’ card was signed by all to be sent to Ella Yeager, a club member who is in an assisted living home in Charleston. A “Thank You” card was also sent to Janet Johnson who has done the county scrapbook for years. We wanted her her to know we appreciated her work on the scrapbook all of these years.
Patty reported on the Craft Day. Kitty Loudermilk showed her finished Japanese paper cutting project. Colleen Walton, Batty Jo McNeel, Kitty Loudermilk, Barbara Shiley and Patty Gray all did the Barn Quilt project.
The Holiday Show and Share Workshop will be Nov. 14 at Rupert. It is a covered dish meeting with a Council meeting following. Barbara will have the flag salute and also do a show and tell. Kitty will furnish a breakfast snack. Barbara and Patty will each bring a door prize.
For the county project, “Quilt for a Kid,” Patty brought a quilt she had made to be given to the Family Refuge Center.
Betty Rutherford brought the Traveling Basket which was given to Betty McNeel who will bring it hack next month.
There were 143,585 exercise minutes recorded for the year.
there were 647 books read plus 18 books read from the reading list.
Barbara had the program, “The Story of Chocolate.” She said chocolate originated in what is today Southeast Mexico around 1000 BC. When the Maya inhabited the same area 1,000 years later, the chocolate history began. The cocoa beans were used as currency in parts of Latin America until the 19th Century, but they only used chocolate for drinking. Over the next 100 years, the Spanish then the French discovered the most amazing thing: adding sugar produced a whole new taste and milk softened the spicy flavors! No longer was chocolate a bitter drink, but could now be enjoyed hot and sweet much like the cocoa we still drink today. In England, special “Chocolate Houses” opened in the mid-1500s so anyone with money could drink chocolate. These were popular places to socialize, discuss intellectual topics, and gamble: much like coffeehouses would be later.
The next innovation was solid chocolate candy, first created in 1830. During the Industrial Revolution came the invention of complex machinery that could grind and process the beans. The heavy labor of the past was no more. And in 1910, the United States banned any cocoa beans derived by slave labor. This greatly improved the quality of life for the millions of people involved in production. Chocolate was becoming affordable for everyone and cacao plantations spread around the world to keep up with demand.
During the 1800s and early 1900s, Stephen Whitman; Henri Nestle, Milton Hershey, William Cadbury, Harry Burnett Reese, Forrest Mars, and Theodore Tobler invented candies that still bear their names and are loved by millions today. The rest is history so go grab a piece of chocolate and enjoy thousands of years of heritage behind your candy.
The next meeting will be our Christmas meeting at Food & Friends on Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. We are to bring a donation for Penny Pitch instead of bringing gifts.
For our refreshments, Barbara sprinkled chocolate over cake and several fruits topped with whipped cream. Yummy! Our drink was Wassail.
As we were leaving, Barbara surprised Patty by singing Happy Birthday to her and giving her a birthday cupcake.
Enjoying the refreshments were: Colleen Walton: Patty Gray, Thelma Berkley, Betty Rutherford, Ginny Arthur, Kitty Loudermilk, Dot Feamster, Faye Honaker; Mary Liz Richmond, Jean Foley, Betty Jo McNeel and Barbara Shiley.
