A Little Background. Bonsall Woman's Club originally evolved from a bridge group. A pert little Irish lass named La Verne Conrad moved to Bonsall in the late '70s from North Hollywood, CA, where she was a member of the North Hollywood Women's Club. At that time, Bonsall was mostly avocado groves, farms, horse property, back roads and empty rolling hills. It could get pretty lonely out there, so La Verne and a few other ladies who lived in this rural area somehow got together to play bridge. La Verne invited them to go to the Vista Woman's Club. Not long after that, the women decided that Bonsall should have its own woman's club.
Becoming Federated. At the first meeting, held at the old Bonsall Schoolhouse on January 16, 1980, twenty-two ladies gathered to form Bonsall Woman's Club and fill the various offices. The club was federated with the General Federation of Women's Club (GFWC) and the California Federation of Women's Club (CFWC) on February 15, 1980, making it a member of the largest and most effective international organization of women in the world that promotes education, civic, welfare and social work.
Community and Other Life Enriching Activities. Major areas of interest to the club--where we strive to help people have a better life and help provide agreat community in which to live--include education, home life, conservation, public affairs and arts.
· We sponsor scholarships and provide leadership opportunities.
· We work to beautify our environment.
· We make it a priority to help our youth, elderly and needy through financial aid and personal service.
· We encourage creative talents (art, music, sewing, crafts, photography, literature) within the community and ourselves.
· BWC is a member of the Bonsall Chamber of Commerce and often times joins forces with other community organizations to further causes that benefit the community.
SPECIAL PEOPLE IN OUR CLUB
BWC President - Pat Harvey
Pat Harvey, 20th president of BWC, is one of the club's hardest working members. With her energy and enthusiasm, she tackles projects with a zest almost impossible to match. She has a soft spot in her heart for any project that benefits children, needy families and the military families. We can depend on her leadership to expand our volunteerism into many new areas.
Her theme is "Focus on the Future: Great Expectations"
Pat Harvey joined BWC in 1998. Since then, she has held positions on the club's Board of Directors, including secretary and dean of chairmen, and has been the guiding force for the club's highly successful projects "Literacy for Children" and the "Girl of the Year Awards". Involved in these and chairing several other projects over the last 10 years, she has also served on the Palomar District Board of Directors which represents 13 women's clubs including BWC. Working her way up the ladder as chairman of literacy, health, ways and means and membership, she is now dean of chairmen for the Palomar District. She has also attained the distinction of being named BWC's Volunteer of the Year for 2002.
Pat's outside interests include her spouse Neil Harvey, membership and active interest in the San Diego Zoological Society, reading, crossword puzzles, Sudoku and singing in her church choir.
BWC Volunteer of the Year 2009
Beverly Thompson
Beverly is always available to help whenever called upon and always does so with a smile. Congratulations to a very deserving member of the Bonsall Woman's Club
and a dear friend to all of us.
BeverlyThompson is a supreme example of club devotion and participation. A 20-year member of BWC, she chairs the club's Domestic Violence Committee, working with representatives of Casa de Amparo, the Woman’s Resource Center and Camp Pendleton in their areas of need. To help provide baby clothes for needy families, Beverly heads up the club’s Babies Warm and Cozy Program. She participates in the Blue Bear Project, helping to make the stuffed animals which firemen use to lessen fears that children may have in emergency situations.
A consideration of awarding Beverly volunteer of the year was her varied involvement in club activities, including the nominating committee, newsletter, writers group, and Bonsall Woman’s Club choir. She is also BWC’s crafts chairman for the Palomar District’s art festival, where 13 North County GFWC women’s clubs submit entries in the crafts contest. As one of the contestants, she particularly excels and has many awards for her quilting and gourd designs. At the district and state level of the GFWC California Federation of Women's Clubs, she serves as a delegate.
Recalling her past service, Beverly held the positions of BWC president, first vice president-dean of chairmen, presidential advisor as well as chairman of amenities, leadership, spiritual values and historian. She donated many hours of work over the past 15 years to the “Magic of Christmas” teas, a BWC fundraiser that benefits scholarship recipients and contributes funds to the Boys and Girls Clubs of North County.
2009 BWC Big Heart Award
Bettye Burns
Bettye has a way of working her magic
into each of our hearts.
The Big Heart Award is given to a club volunteer who typically works very hard and puts in many extra hours of work on events and/or affairs of the club, but is not always in the forefront. Bettye, who has been a member of BWC since 1999, faced many health challenges over these years with courage and an unwavering calm and cheerful demeanor. As a breast cancer survivor, she willingly shares her experiences and offers support to others.
Despite health health problems to distract her over these past 10 years, Bettye served as First Vice President -Dean of Chairmen, Chairman of Today's Living and Yearbook Advertising, and continued to serve on fund raising projects and in many other capacities.
Currently, she organizes our greeters and with a passion calls members who have not attended our meetings to find out how they are and to keep them abreast of happenings in the club. She has a love and commitment to the members of Bonsall Woman's Club that is remarkable.
Bonsall Woman's Club
P.O. Box 545
Bonsall, CA 92003
E-mail: BWC@vcweb.org
This page last updated 10-1-09
