{ Volume XXIII, Number 4 } July & August 2008 A Publication of the Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo

po County

Cover art by Amber Furr

Day With
Creative
Women

Saturday,
August 9, 2008
Mission Plaza,
10am-5pm
3 Day With Creative 5 Talk About It 7 Voices Around 13
Women Info the Table

4 Get Out 6 100 Years of the 8-11 Creative Women:

of “Overwhelm” Halcyon Store Poems and Art
2 Women’sPress
Dear Readers,
Welcome to our second annual Creativ-
ity issue. This is not to say that other issues
aren’t creative, but for the July-August issue
we include even more creative content:
short essays, stories, poetry, and images.
Our inspiration for the creative character of
the issue comes from the fact that the Day
With Creative Women is celebrated at Mis-
sion Plaza in August, and the event is the
annual fundraiser for the Women’s Com-
munity Center, our publisher. So enjoy
this issue’s many creative offerings from the
women in the county.
I take this opportunity to announce that
I have submitted my resignation as editor
of the Women’s Press to the WCC, effec-
tive December of this year. After six years,
I want to turn my time and attention to a
book I am writing and time available does
not allow me to write, perform my day job,
and manage the paper. It’s time for me to
move on and for someone else to step in
and continue. So we are seeking a new edi-
tor and welcome any leads or offers to fill
the job.
As I look back on my work with the
Press, it is the contact and conversations
with you women that have enriched my life
and made the job interesting and inspiring.
I know that in leaving the paper, I am not
leaving those connections and networks
of women behind—you will still be there
to expand my life and views. It’s just that
I have come to the point where I want to
enjoy you more in person, not in the pages
of a paper.
And what is my book about? It’s about
how single middle-aged women can work
together to build supportive community
for the last stage of their lives, including
options for living together, forming vir-
tual community, and how to organize and
finance the options. Our “retirement” will
not look like that of our mothers; it will, in
fact, not be a retirement, but a moving on
to the next stage of our lives. What will that
look like? How will we finance it? If you are
interested in talking to me about the topic
and would like to be considered for some
focus groups I will be holding, contact me
at kdbythesea@gmail.com.
Enjoy your summer and be safe.
Women’s Community Center Board
Angie King, President
Sonia Paz Baron-Vine
Robin Rinzler
MAILING ADDRESS:
Women’s Press
Women’s Community Center
880 Industrial Way
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
805.544.9313
Managing Editor: Kathleen Deragon
womensPress.slo@gmail.com
Layout & Design: Benjamin Lawless
Photographer: Lynda Roeller
Distribution Manager:
Charlene Huggins
Advertising Team:
Beverly Cohen, Carol Dawn, Benjamin Lawless
Submissions Welcomed!
Articles, essays, opinion pieces, letters, artwork, poetry
wanted & appreciated. The Women’s Press reserves the
right to edit all submissions for content, clarity &
length. Contact womensPress.slo@gmail.com or call
805-544-9313.
The opinions exPressed in the Women’s Press are those of the
authors & do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
Women’s Community Center. The Women’s Community Center
does not necessarily endorse products or services advertised
in the Women’s Press.
Drum Circle Magic
Part Two:
Feeling The Beat
By Francesca Bolognini  Do not be concerned if you are not edu-
In the first installment, I began by invok-
ing a sense of the all-pervasive nature
of rhythm.  Now it is time to personal-
ize the experience.  You have a unique gift
of rhythm that only you will contribute
to the universe or your local drum circle.  or in some back yard or living room on the
This exPression of self may be stimulated
in an infinite number of ways, bringing
your physical, emotional, mental and spir-
itual energies into focus for an equal vari-
ety of intentions.  If your initial purpose
for drumming is recreation, your approach
will be light-hearted.  In contrast, drum-
ming is also an extremely effective method
for mourning, recovering from and tran-
scending great loss.  In any case, one begins
or joins the rhythm in a way that exPresses
the internal and then goes beyond, allowing
the Greater to enter and accomplish healing
work. Rhythmic drumming dissolves the
boundaries between self and other, creating
Universal Consciousness.
We instantly respond to rhythmic stim-
ulus with our whole being, our brain waves
aligning immediately through a principle
of physics known as entrainment. Permit
yourself to experience this effect within
your body.  If you own a drum, give it
a single strike and let that sink in. If not,
almost anything resonant will do. I own a
wok lid with a particularly pleasant ring to
it. Empty plastic water jugs became drums
for joyful   guests at a recent Solstice cele-
bration.  The vibration created by the first
impulse to strike is internalized, motivating
the next move. Take note of where within
your body you feel this most. You will know
when you find your personal instrument
because it will resonate with you in a mag-
netic sort of way that will inspire, almost
compel you to interact again.   As you are
drawn to continue, a shift in consciousness
takes place.
Contributors
Beverly Engel
Jeanie Greensfelder
Hilda Heifetz
Charlene Huggins
Laura Grace
Angie King
Dianne Legro
Volunteers
Evelyn Adams
Barbara Atkinson
Barbara Baltimore
Dee Carroll
MaryAine Cherry
Kate Czekala
Joy Davis
Bailey Drechsler
Anne Dunbar
Cynthia Fatzinger
Angela Henderson
Margaret Hennessy
Jane Hill
Susan Howe
6000 free copies distributed in SLO County. Subscriptions available.
Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
cated in a vocabulary of ethnic beats. This is
essential only if you are planning on play-
ing for a wedding ceremony in Kenya or a
harvest festival on the Ivory Coast (I kind
of know that beat), but not at all necessary
to play a rhythm with friends on the beach,
Central Coast.  After becoming familiar
with where the heart of any beat resides, it
is quite easy to learn to listen for the space
in the rhythm that is yours to fill.  What
makes a rhythm a rhythm is a series of com- Photos by Kathleen Deragon
ponents that is repeated regularly. There
will be an emphasis, some space and some
filler.  Be sensitive to the other players, lis- Grandma’s Handbook
ten as much as you play, and let your part By Bonnie Young
be determined by what moves you.  Jam-
ming, as this is known among musicians, Don’t walk under a ladder!
is a great way to get a feel for drumming.  Better toss pepper over
Should you be so inspired later on to learn your left shoulder! Grasping
some of the world’s classic rhythms, you these floating gems in the world
could embark upon a great life study.  Until of Grandma Finnegan, I could
next time, keep the beat! avoid bad luck, maybe escape
kissing a fool—if there was
a fool who wanted to kiss me.
Drum Circle Keeps Growing! Grandma ruled supreme—shared my bed,
guided me down Federal Avenue
I am happy to announce that we have in Mason City, Iowa:
44 names on the list of women inter- in and out of The First
ested in drumming. We recently had National Bank, J.C. Penney’s,
14 attend at our AG gathering and Monkey Wards and sometimes, Damon’s.
many were new faces. If you would My favorite was the last stop,
be interested in joining us and getting Woolworth’s Five and Dime.
notifications of upcoming gatherings,
contact womensPress.slo@gmail.com. I didn’t expect any
If you want to host the group at orange slices or toffee wraps—
a certain location, let me know and I Ignore all those glass bins!
will notify the group. At the rear of the store Grandma
Almost half of the women on the boosted me onto a red stool,
list live in South County, so we will be greeted Mabel smiling behind
especially having both scheduled and the counter. “The same?” she cracked.
spontaneous get-togethers in this part I jiggled and twirled on the stool,
of the county. Join us! as excited about this monthly
event, as what was coming.
Even now,
“Egg salad on rye,
pickle on the side,”
sounds good to me.
ADVERTISING RATES
Heather Mendel for publication-ready ads:
Berta Parrish
Adele Sommers Business card:
Jill Turnbow $35/one issue $150/year (6 issues)
Jacqueline Turner 4" X 5":
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Quarter page:
$115/one issue $525/year (6 issues)
Half page:
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Shirley Kirkes Mar Full page:
Elizabeth McGregor $350/one issue $1575/year (6 issues)
Francesca Nemko Workshop Listings $35 an issue
Mary Norby 3.5” x 2” logo $10 extra
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Robin Rinzler
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July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
A Call For Artists, Musicians, Creative
Business Women And Craftswomen
For “Day With Creative Women,”
Saturday, August 9, 2008
See the current etnertainment line-up on page 11
Calling all Creative Women! The Women’s
Community Center of San Luis Obispo
County invites you to participate in the
34rd Annual Day with Creative Women, to
be held in Mission Plaza in downtown San
Luis Obispo on Saturday, August 9, 2008.
This event draws over 2500 people from
all around the Central Coast and beyond,
and features more than 80 vendors dis-
playing their own creative arts.
If you create art or handcrafted items,
you are invited to display and sell your
works. If you are creating something for
sale, please submit pictures of your work
with your application.
Entertainers of all types will be per-
forming throughout the day. Last year’s
line-up included African dancers, Middle
Eastern dancers, Hawaiian dancers, mimed
folk tales by Fran Dukehart, singers Sheri
O, Jennifer Young and Travis Larson,
Karen Tyler, Jill Knight, and the Motown-
ers. If you are a member of a woman-ori-
ented band, let us know and we can make
a spot for you!
This year we encourage women in busi-
ness to submit applications for a booth
to market your creative skills. Please sub-
mit a short essay (no more than one page)
describing how your business is creative
and how it benefits women. Non-profit
Our mission is:
• TO maintain an accessible center to
collect and exchange information of
interest and concern to women
• TO organize and facilttate workshops,
clinics, seminars, classes and support
groups on subjects of interest and need
• TO engage in and facilitate interaction
among local, state and national agen-
cies and organizations working to ben-
efit women
Call for Volunteers
Hear ye, hear ye! The Women’s Commu-
nity Center is looking for a few volunteers
to help with several projects. We could use
some help with general office duties and to
monitor family court proceedings (Court
Watch) We are still forming committees for
our annual August fundraising festival: Day
with Creative Women in Mission Plaza.
Call the office at 805- 544-9313 or call Robin
at 805-801-3235. Thanks!
organizations are also invited to reserve
a booth to provide the community with
information about your services.
This event celebrates women’s creativ-
ity in all spheres. We realize many women
have male partners and we welcome them.
However, we do require that all booths be
staffed by women during the event.
Space on the Mission grounds is lim-
ited so reserve your booth now! For more
information or booth space reservation,
call the Women’s Community Center
at 805-544-9313 or download the vendor
application form from www.wccslo.org.
Early-bird discount booth rates are $50 for
non-profits, $80 for a single 8’ by 8’ space
and $140 for a shared booth (2 or more ven-
dors in one space). These rates increase after
July 25, 2008.
Day with Creative Women celebrates
women’s creativity with music and enter-
tainment, arts and crafts for display and
sale, continuous entertainment, delicious
food, and children’s activities, and is a fund-
raising event to benefit the Women’s Com-
munity Center of San Luis Obispo County,
dedicated to the empowerment of women.
For more information, check the website
www.wccslo.org, call 805-544-9313, or email
us at dwcw2008@aol.com.
Family Law
Action Committee
Dealing With Divorce
3rd Wednesday of each month – 7 PM
Upcoming:
July 16, August 20, and September 17
Talk with other women who have
been there, done that in a supportive,
non-judgmental environment.
$10 donation
Self-Represented Litigants’ Clinic
4th Tuesday of each month – 5:30 PM
Upcoming:
July 22, August 26, and September 23
Get family law advice from local
attorneys and/or paralegals.
Reservations required. $40 donation
Call 544-9313 for information
Women’sCommunityCenter
The Time is Now!
Day with Creative Women, 10 AM – 5 PM
August 9, 2008 at Mission Plaza, SLO
It’s that time of year again. I’m talking sum-
mertime, with long days, soft dusky eve-
nings, the sounds of music and laughter
in the air. I’m talking Day with Creative
Women, the annual event in the Mission
Plaza that you won’t forget or ever miss
once you’ve been there.
Our poster (the cover art) says it all–
creative women enjoying the beautiful
weather and scenery, enjoying the company
of friends, listening to music, taking in all
the sensuous sights and smells gracing the
Mission Plaza with creative women’s arts
and crafts. This is a magical time, when the
reality of modern life, attendant stress and
jarring sounds fall away as we soak up the
energy of our talented sisters for the day.
Over the years, this event has blossomed
and evolved. It once was one of the only
places in the Central Coast that a woman
artist could have a public showing of her
work – there just weren’t the galleries and
art spaces there are today and women were
not equally welcomed in the arts world.
Some years, DWCW was actually 2 days,
and some years it was even 2 weekends!
Women’s Equality Day
Thirty-nine words. Thirty-nine words that
changed the face of American politics. “The
right of citizens of the United States to
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of
sex. Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.”
That’s it – the entire 19th Amendment to
the US Constitution, which passed in an
all-male Congress in 1920. And what a dif-
ference those words have made.
In the intervening years, we have had
women governors, local representatives, and
some US Representatives, and eventually
some US Senators (at one time there were
8); in 1984 Geraldine Ferraro was nomi-
nated to be vice president.
And now we have strong competent
women running for all the offices – from
President down to city councils. What
does that feel like? Is it different running
now than before Bush? Are the voters more
receptive to women’s issues?
Each year to commemorate this event,
NOW celebrates Women’s Equality Day,
by national resolution since 1971. Four years
ago we had a panel of local women in pol-
Women’s Press Seeks New Editor
Our current editor is resigning in Decem-
ber, and the Women’s Press is seeking another
woman to take the reins of managing the
paper. The job is a volunteer position.
A manual that overviews the processes,
tasks, resources, and contact informa-
tion for doing the work will be available
to guide you. You will be working with a
small advertising team, a distribution man-
ager, and a layout designer. Proofreaders are
available.
You will have the opportunity to meet
interesting and committed women writers
and community figures. Here briefly is a
list of job duties:
• Confirm print dates
• Set themes (or not); enrich current
content; create new content categories
• Send out e-mail soliciting content and
notifying distribution manager and
advertising team of print date
3
This year it is one day, August 9, from
10 AM to 5 PM, a non-stop day of art,
music, food, and children’s activities, fea-
turing women in business as well as the arts.
Over 80 vendors and non-profit agencies
are expected to exhibit, including a number
of creative women in businesses providing a
range of services for county residents.
Come join us and experience the exu-
berance and warmth of spirit that cre-
ative women bring to share. Attendance
is free. You will be awestruck by the intri-
cate designs of the jewelers and potters;
amazed by the audacity of artisans in fibers
and cloth; pleased by the variety of foods
for your palate; amused by the wonder the
children bring to their own area to create
their own art, or to interact with the pet-
ting zoo animals.
Day with Creative Women is a fund-
raiser for the Women’s Community Cen-
ter, a non-profit agency serving women and
their families in San Luis Obispo County.
For more information, contact 544-9313 or
DWCW2008@aol.com.
August 26, 2008, 6 PM
Meadow Park, SLO
itics and this year, another big election
year, we are presenting another aspect of
women in politics.
While Hillary couldn’t work our event
into her schedule, we do have a number
of women in office, retired from public
office, and seeking office joining us to talk
about how it feels, as a woman, to be a
politician today.
San Luis Obispo chapter of the
National Organization for Women pres-
ents an interactive discussion among
women politicians in San Luis Obispo
county, probing some of the overt and tacit
assumptions people make about women
candidates, the effects of the sexism in
our culture as exPressed in the media, the
problems of finding child care, how run-
ning for office has changed (or not) in the
last 10 years, and whatever other topics are
raised by the panel and the audience.
Join us at Meadow Park Community
Center on Tuesday, August 26, 2008, at
6 PM for this free event, open to the pub-
lic. Refreshments will be served. Bring
your friends and your comments.
• Arrange for cover art
• Monitor submissions, which includes
communication with writers as needed
• Edit submissions (or arrange for edit-
ing)
• Send to layout designer with content
list
• Proof PDF files of layout (or arrange
for proofing)
The paper comes out every two months,
so the bulk of the work occurs the last two
weeks before printing, usually at the end
of the month. The paper’s website needs to
be developed, so one future task could be
to work with someone to enrich the web-
site. A database also needs to be developed.
Choose to work alone. Build an editorial
staff. Form an editorial collective.
The outgoing editor is available to
answer your questions. Contact her at
womensPress.slo@gmail.com.
4 WomenatWork
Are Men Welcome at the
Women’s Business Partners’ Center?
By Andrea Zeller
Men often ask me if Mission Community
Services Corp. (MCSC) and/or the Wom-
en’s Business Partners’ Center (WBP) allow
men to access our services. The answer to
this question is a resounding yes!
The reason we call attention to women
lies in basic Marketing 101 theory. MCSC’s
WBP Center program’s primary target mar-
ket is Latinas because they are growing busi-
nesses at six times all others in our nation.
Second, women in general are growing
business at twice the rate of men. By focus-
ing on these target markets, MCSC hopes
to generate the highest potential economic
growth and wealth in our community.
While we focus on providing specialized ser-
vices to a particular market niche, women,
we also we value and treasure the potential
men offer to economic growth.
Marketing is how you define, promote
and distribute your product, and how you
maintain a relationship with your custom-
ers. The true compass of marketing is peo-
ple – ultimately your business succeeds best
when you are in touch with and are respon-
sive to your customers’ needs. Marketing
theory is made up of the 5 P’s; Product,
Positioning, Place, Price, Promotion.
Product is what (items or services) you
have to offer to the customers, understand-
ing your product from the customers’ point
of view. Women in general are more rela-
tionship focused and like to bounce ideas
with others before they arrive at solutions.
So WBP’s services are very relationship ori-
ented yet at the same time, focused on bot-
tom line results.
Positioning is how your target market
defines you in relation to your competitors.
MCSC gives basic, step-by-step skills and
resources to elevate visions into successful
ventures, simplifying the complex and mak-
ing opportunity accessible to all.
Place, or distribution channel, is the
method for making your product or service
available to the consumer. MCSC uses rela-
tionships, classrooms, professional coaching
and mentorship programs to build skills,
knowledge, and networks that enhance
opportunities for success.
Price is the amount of money charged
for a product or service or the value
exchanged for the benefits of the product or
service. As a non-profit tax exempt organiza-
tion, MCSC structures its pricing formulas
on a graduated scale based upon household
income and family size thus allowing low to
moderate income individuals easier access
to MCSC’s important programs.
Promotion is the specific mix of adver-
tising, personal selling, sales promotion,
and public relations a company uses to pur-
Treating Children with Autism / Sensory Disorders
Lawrence Bardach, OTR / L
Pediatric Occupational Therapist
sue its advertising and marketing objectives.
Because MCSC’s target market is largely
relationship based, our strongest promotion
method by far is word of mouth. Successful
MCSC clientele continuously tout praise
and give examples of successes as a direct
result of their experiences with MCSC pro-
grams.
As you consider the five “P’s” of MCSC’s
marketing approach, it is clear to see why
women are easily attracted to our services.
But here’s what some of our male graduates
have to say about MCSC:
“After several years of small business
struggle, the Vision to Venture course pro-
vided a tremendous amount of information
that has helped us focus, organize and prob-
lem solve. The course was a great oppor-
tunity to help our business grow.” Sean
Beauchamp, Founder of Southpaw Sign
Company, Inc.
“The MCSC is a valuable community
business resource and the Vision to Venture
class, in particular, was perfect in assisting
me to prepare a well thought-out business
plan.” Jeff Marcove of Marcove Executive
Training
The Women’s Business Partners’ Center,
hosted by MCSC under a grant with the
U.S. Small Business Administration Wom-
en’s Business Center Program, offers all its
programs and services to the entire commu-
nity. Call today and see how we might help
you achieve your entrepreneurial dreams!
. launched three months ago. And in con-
Andrea Zeller, Executive Director of Mission
Community Services, coordinates Women’s
Business Partners (WBP) to ensure all com-
munity resources are leveraged and optimized
to support entrepreneurial women. WBP
serves everyone interested in establishing self-
sufficiency through small business ownership.
WBP can take you step by step towards suc-
cess and can help those who speak only Span-
ish. Visit www.MCSCorp.org or call 595-1357
to find out more.
Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Handling Q&A After Presentations
By Dianne Legro
What do you do when, at the end of
your presentation, you ask if anyone has
questions and no one raises a hand?
Not to worry, there are several fixes for
this that create easy audience interaction.
We need to remember first, that audience
members are shy, too! They don’t want to
risk looking foolish in front of anyone any
more than we do. So they may keep quiet
when you invite their interaction and then
ask you their question after you finish your
talk.
Here is one great technique I use all the
time and teach to my clients to solve it.
Do this:
• Memorize three questions that you
have heard in the past or that you This way, you break the ice and give
think your audience might like to them the time they need to warm up their
know about but maybe would feel sen- courage to ask you their question. You may
sitive to ask. need to do this twice, with two questions.
• Rehearse the questions and the answers And if they still haven’t asked you one, then
as if they are part of your talk and have you smile and say “GREAT! That means
them ready. I was completely clear! I am so glad!” Big
• When you ask your next audience if hint, ask questions that you want them to
they have any questions and no hands know the answer to!!
go up – Smile and say this, “While This technique works to your great
you are thinking about the question advantage for another reason as well. You
you want to ask, let me share with you can bring up specialized information about
a few questions I am frequently asked your business that they will hear in a fresh
that might help you. A lot of have peo- way because they are not feeling “presented”
ple have asked me _____.” (My own to. Be honest, be real, be sincere in helping
example is: A lot of people ask me how them over their shyness.
I work with my clients.) “And what I
tell people is _____.” (My example: I Dianne Legro is a national speech coach to
work with clients one on one in per- individuals and corporate groups. She is a key-
son or by telephone. Both are equally note speaker and will help you to speak like a
successful. I help craft their unique pro and increase your business. Contact her at
message and help them deliver it with Dianne@diannelegro.com.
success.)
How to Get Out of “Project Overwhelm”
By Adele Sommers
It’s two weeks before the deadline, but your
project is at least six weeks behind! Every-
one is sweating bullets. As project leader,
you’re wringing your hands. A volcano
of surprises has erupted since the project
trast to everyone’s prognostications, no one
foresaw the lava flow of trouble ahead. So
what in the world can you do?
Couldn’t you try a last-minute, heroic
maneuver? Well, you could, but should
you? A misconception about projects is that your situation is that you won’t be able to
you can remedy every late delay by adding complete everything you started out to do
people or increasing effort. In certain cases, per the original schedule. The answer is not
you can. In others, adding people at the to hide behind your desk; it’s to re-plan the
eleventh hour — or working 24/7 at a fren- tail end of the project so you can smoothly
zied pace — brings chaos, frustration, and carry over the unfinished tasks to a later
errors. phase.
This article explains how to get out of Here is a simple but effective strategy
“project overwhelm” and restore sanity to for applying this sanity-saving approach.
your endeavor. It’s time to get real, regroup, Review all outstanding tasks and require-
and swiftly chart a new course. It’s time to ments, then sort them into these categories:
reframe success! #1 “Must-have” within the remaining
Reframe success? What exactly does that schedule, because you need them
mean? very soon
Well, initially, you and your team #2 “Nice-to-have” within the remain-
defined a set of requirements for complet- ing schedule, but they could be car-
ing the project. There were four types of ried over to the next agenda
criteria involved (some of which may have #3 Can’t do yet, even if you wanted to,
been simply implied): as there isn’t enough information
• Time (the speed or schedule for doing available
the work) Review this reprioritized list with your
• Cost (in terms of the funding, the team and management, making any changes
resources, or a combination) needed. If you execute your plan accord-
• Quality (how well the effort needed to ingly, you’ll sleep soundly again at night!
be done)
• Features (how many components or Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is a business per-
deliverables there were, and how com- formance consultant who helps entrepreneurs








!
www.Playpaththerapy.com plex) align their life passions with their business
805-481-7529 On this project, however, it seems you’ve purpose. She also guides organizations through
run into a common situation in which the “tactical tune-ups” and “strategic makeovers”
features (and perhaps quality) have col- in individual or group sessions. Contact her
lided with time. Too much to get done on today for a free initial consultation at Adele@
too short a schedule. So the “disconnect” in LearnShareProsper.com, or 805-462-2199.

A Loved One’s Guide To ‘Talking About It’:
By Ali Hatcher, SARP Center Education Services Coordinator
W
e understand that sexual assault can be very
difficult to talk about. Because of this we are
usually not prepared when someone we care
about experiences sexual violence. It is at this time that
our response becomes an integral part of their heal-
ing process. There are important things to understand
about a survivor of sexual assault in order to best help
them.
Every survivor is unique in their experience, reaction,
and healing process. However, there are common feel-
ings that almost all survivors experience at some point,
and responses that they find comfort in.
There is no blueprint for the way an individual will
react to sexual assault. However, survivors commonly
report going through similar phases of recovery. This
process is called Rape Trauma Syndrome. The first
phase is “The Acute Stage” where a survivor experi-
ences a wide range of emotions and physical reactions
immediately after rape. Common feelings include fear,
humiliation, guilt, shame, anger, revenge, disbelief,
shock, and feelings of powerlessness. The survivor is
being constantly haunted by the memory of the assault.
The second phase is “Denial” and is characterized
by the desire to go back to the way things were before
the assault. Survivors may say things like “I want to
pretend it never happened, I just want to move on with
my life.” This period may last months, years or in some
cases, a lifetime.
A Daughter’s Way: A Short Story
D
anya, my precious child, he is your Papa. There
is nothing to be gained from your tantrums. Do
you hear me, Danya? Stop this now.
Danya, it does no good, Daughter. He is your Papa.
So long you have followed in my shadow, watching me
with the babies. So much the helper. Only, now, I think
how angry you have become. Can you not stop?
So many bad words come from your mouth, Danya. I
won’t have it. The little ones, they need their sleep, too.
And the neighbors? What must the neighbors think?
Papa is shamed at the noise you make, when the world
thinks to sleep and our house is filled with the noises of
the day. You must obey him, Danya. He is your Papa.
Someday you will be grown, with a family like ours, and
you will know how hard it is to have such a daughter
who refuses to see the way of it.
Stop, daughter, or Papa will get the lash again and
this time he means to use it. It leaves stripes, this I can
tell you. Stripes upon your legs that will cause ques-
tions at school and trouble for your Papa and me. Stop
now, before the authorities come to cause trouble. Too
many questions—already the neighbors ask about the
screaming in the night.
So much do you resist, my Danya. Come, lean your
head against Mama and let me soothe your brow, here,
where sweat dampens your curls until they kink like the
Gullah woman at the ice cream parlor. Do you remem-
One of the most difficult things a family can go through is to watch their loved
one struggle with the use of alcohol or other drugs
families dealing with substance abuse
For More Information Contact: Pam Miller, LMFT
(805) 473-8311
Photo by Lynda Roeller
Sexual Assault
The final phase is “Healing and Resolution.” In
this phase, the survivor may experience strong flash-
backs, nightmares or the resurfacing of emotions from
the assault. Generally during this time they will start
counseling and begin to recover. Eventually, a stronger,
more self reliant and confident individual emerges.
As a friend or significant other, all of these stages
can be extremely difficult to watch your loved one go
through. It is common for friends to feel helpless. It can
also be hard when the survivor disconnects or isolates
herself. Instead of taking this personally, we must be
patient and understanding of their behavior.
When talking to a survivor, there are three very
important things to remember:
First, never blame her. She has already blamed
herself. Typically we don’t intend to blame, but by
questioning their behavior, we can sound judgmental.
Avoid asking questions like “Why did you walk home
alone?” or “Why were you hanging out with those peo-
ple” or “Why did you drink so much?” or “Why didn’t
you yell or fight back?” Everyone has the right to live
without the fear of rape. Survivors need reassurance
that no matter what their actions were, it was not their
fault.
Second, believe her. Not being believed may have
been her biggest fear about telling someone else. The
decision to share this information is huge and a vital
part of the recovery process. It can be especially hard
By Anne Schroeder
ber her, Danya, the bright orange robes she wore, the
rings fixed upon her fingers like twists of wire? Hush,
girl, and I will twist a wire ring for your finger.
No? What is it you want, my precious? I would give
you anything to make you smile as you used to, while I
heat the olive oil and add the eggplant, slowly, so not
to toughen the flesh. So many things we cook together,
do we not, my Danya?
There, that is better. You are calmer. A woman now,
Danya. Your body does not lie about these things, and
everyone can see that it is true. Uncle Rehar, he men-
tions it to Papa only last week, that you have become a
woman.
Stop the sobbing. Papa waits and the hour is late.
Come. I will lie beside you. Do not cry to me for help
because I cannot, Danya. I cannot! Don’t ask it of me
or you will get the strap, the same as I did. See? See
the scar? I have it still, in the soft skin behind my knee,
where it is hidden by the skirt that I wear, always. Do
you want a scar for all time, Danya? Do you?
No—you do not want something this hideous,
something that will remind you every time you look
at it! Every time your hand passes across your body,
you will remember what it was like—this time and all
the others. Without the scar, the memories will fade. If
only I do not have this to remind me. This hateful scar
that aches so. Sometimes I wake in the night because I
dream that I am on fire.
A SUPPORT GROUP
for
Lic.#MFC35690
5
for the survivor when the perpetrator is someone she
knows, either in her family or social network. When sur-
vivors aren’t believed, they experience it as if they are
being re-traumatized.
Lastly, empower her. Every victim of sexual assault
experiences some degree of powerlessness. An assault
takes away one’s right to choose. When we begin mak-
ing decisions for her, we are contributing to those feel-
ings of powerlessness. Instead, we can offer options
and resources then support any decision she makes. In
doing this we must also remember to be patient, allow
her to heal at her own pace, and support that entire
process.
T
he Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention (SARP)
Center’s mission is to transform the lives of sexual
assault survivors, their families and the community
through hope, healing and empowerment. Their vision
is to create a world that is free of sexual violence. They
are contributing articles regularly addressing issues
around sexual assault.
The SARP Center has been serving SLO County for
over 31 years. We offer a 24-hour crisis hotline, coun-
seling, advocacy/accompaniment, education, and self
defense. All services are free, anonymous, confidential,
and available to survivors or significant others, ages 12
and up. For more information contact the SARP Center
at 805-545-8888 or online at www.sarpcenter.org.
The scar is the thing, Danya! You must never fight.
Never! Promise me on the memory of your grand-
mother. Promise now.
I will lie beside you in the bed and I will pray. My
prayers will rise to Heaven. So strong my lips will
form the words that I will send prayers roaring like
a wind through the trees. Do you hear me, Danya? I
will squeeze my eyes so tight that they will be sealed,
welded shut so that the night cannot tear them open.
You think that I am weak? A silly woman with no
spine? Do you know what it costs me to bite my tongue
and to keep my silence? You think I don’t want to find
a better way? What is it that I tell him? What is it he is
to tell Uncle Rehab when the question is asked? How
I have tried to ignore the signs, to think of you as my
little girl still, even to convince your Papa. But Uncle
Rehar, he knows. They all know, Danya. And so do you.
Come, Daughter, it is time. Climb into bed beside
Papa and be still. You are a woman now. Uncle Rehar
was saying so, only last week.
A
nne Schroeder’s inspirational memoir, Ordinary
Aphrodite, is a baby boomer’s reflection of the
Social and Sexual Revolutions of the past 40
years. She will be selling her books at Day for Creative
Women. A percentage of sales will benefit battered
women.
Looking for...
A BETTER
CARE
One of the most difficult things a family can go throug
one struggle with the use of alcohol or o
PROVIDER A SUPPORT GROUP
for
families
Connecting dealing
you to SLO County’s with substa
most gifted caregivers.
For More Information Contact: Pa
CALL US FOR A FREE ASSESSMENT
(805) 473-8311
805-528-7778
Caregiver Registry
6 LocalPerspectives
A Nurturing Conversation
By Jeanie Greensfelder
Last December I spoke with a friend and
teacher who asked, “What do you want in
the new year?”
“To feel good,” I hazarded. I hated that
kind of question.
“Great,” he said, “what would make you
feel good?”
“For my neck not to hurt.”
“Oh,” he said, “that won’t do. If it’s not
your neck, something else might annoy
you.
I’m lucky. The thing that makes me
happy is stupid jokes and my brain provides
a constant supply of them.” He smiled and
continued. “A scientist might have a happy
life with three breakthrough moments. An
opera diva might need a dozen accolade
moments per hour to feel good. How many
moments do you need in a day for it to be
a good one?”
Halcyon Store’s Authors’ Festival
By Anne Peterson
Twenty-some local authors set up their
tables under the old walnut trees behind
the 100+ year old Halcyon Post Office and
Store. The first-of-its-kind event was spon-
sored by Susie Clark, proprietor of the Post
Office/Store, who admitted that she needs
help with publicity. A small contingent of
viewers and buyers found ample oppor-
tunity to talk with the authors as they all
enjoyed the cool Saturday weather on June
26th.
Many history writers displayed their
works.
Mary Moses featured her Morro Bay
Remembers, vols. 1 & 2. In addition, she dis-
played No More Baglady Fears and 52 Ways
to Manage Your Money, which should prob-
ably appear with other Self-Help books but
what should I do with a crossever? Alto-
gether, Mary has written 9 books: 4 novels
and 5 nonfiction books. She often pairs up
with Judy Martindale.
Gordon Bennet displayed his history of
Arroyo Grande (written with John Loomis),
The Old Days, illustrated with fine photos.
Anita Shower showed her history of
Grover Beach, one of Arcadia Publications’
series of 4001 titles, Images of America.
Norm Hannond wrote the definitive
narrative of the creative, marginal people
who lived in the Oceano dunes in the ‘20’s
and ‘30’s, The Dunites. He has followed it
up with a history of Oceano. Both are illus-
trated with old photos.
Loren Nicholson regaled onlook-
ers with fascinating narratives of old-time
trains and planes as he displayed his his-
torical books, Rails Across the Ranchos and
Romualdo Pacheco’s California and Carrillo’s
Defiant Daughters.
Irene Kooi Chadwick wrote of the his-
tory of the Dutch Immigrant settlement of
Iowa in Iowa Images. She also showed her
volume of poems, Dawn Pearl.
Gordon Snider’s history appeared in the
form of historical fiction with his novels,
Sigourney’s Quest and The Separatist, adven-
turous creations from the past.
There were also several Self-Help books.
Phyllis Davies published the notebooks
she wrote after the death of her 13-year-old
son in a plane crash, Grief, the Climb Toward
Understanding. She has gone though several
printings, meeting people here and in her
travels who have been helped by her work.
I felt stupid but said, “How about ten?”
“Good,” he said, “how about one every
waking hour? If we look back on fulfilled
days when we die, we’ll feel satisfied with
our lives.”
After our talk I discovered my source
of happy moments is a smile. The impact
of that facial exPression amazes me. An
instant endorphin, a smile alerts me to
look and make a joyful moment happen. I
smile at flowers, leaves, my husband, traffic
lights, and at being alive. Such abundance.
Through colds, aches, and pains, I insist
on my ten plus happy moments and I am
grateful.
“How we spend our days is, of course,
how we spend our lives. What we do with
this hour, and that one, is what we are
doing.” Annie Dillard
What signal works for you to alert you
to have a good, special moment?
Several hospice organizations have used her
book.
Ken Helfant, a retired psychologist and
teacher, wrote a practical exercise book,
Questions to Grow By, A Path to Emotional
Maturity.
Holly Ziegler’s Buy Your Home Smarter
with Feng Shui and Sell Your Home Faster
with Feng Shui seem to be full of timely
advice and help.
Daya Sarai Chocron gives healing help
with Crystals and Gemstones, Healing the
Heart, and The Healing Power of Seashells.
She also has a line of healing essences.
Suzan Vaughn, psychic counselor, has
books taken from notes from her experi-
ences with people and animals, Pages From
a Pet Psychic’s Notebook and Dispatches From
the Ark. She has years of experience as a psy-
chic guide.
The rest of the authors displayed their
books, which were unique.
Kevin Patrick Sullivan, noted local
poet, showed his latest work, The Space
Between Things.
Nancy Walter’s little books for small
children, Bumpsie’s Neighborhood and Bump-
sie’s Garden are delightfully colorful and
full of illustrations designed to stimulate
children to want to read. There are many
appealing three-dimensional aids, too.
Susanne Champeau’s short story, “Les
Soeurs en Crime,” appears in the anthology,
Gone Coastals, published by the local Sisters
in Crime Chapter.
Janine Carter displayed her book This Is
a Good Day to Live.
Marion Wolff’s memoiric book is Shed-
ding Skins.
Mel Warner’s soulful book about but-
terflies all over the world, A Butterfly World
After All, had lovely illustrations.
Cecelia Frances Page had an array of
books from her 34-publications of fantasy,
romance and other fiction genres, one of
which was Awesome Episodes.
Ella Thorp Ellis, the only surviving
Dunite, showed her books of fiction, Swim-
ming With the Whales, Riptide, and The Year
of My Indian Prince. She has written 9 and
has 3 more in the works.
The authors’ gathering, in its pleasant
surroundings, was delightful and somewhat
rewarding to the writers, since many sold
books, even though the crowd was meager.
With more robust publicity, another such
event might be even more successful.
Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s Woman President
By Sonia Paz Baron-Vine
Although here in the USA we have lost our
bid for a woman to be the first president,
my birth country, Chile, elected a wonder-
ful smart woman as president two years ago.
I am proud to be her friend. Here is a pic-
ture of us, taken on her last visit to the USA
on June 13 of this year.
Michelle Bachelet was born in San-
tiago, Chile in September 29, 1951. She is
the mother of three children, ages 26, 21,
and 12. She is a medical doctor a surgeon,
with graduate studies in military sciences.
In addition to Spanish, she speaks Eng-
lish, German, French, and Portuguese.
Her mother, Ángela Jeria, is an archaeolo-
gist. Her father, Alberto Bachelet, was a
General in the Chilean Air Force. He was
later imprisoned by the military junta that
deposed the democratic elected President
of Chile, Salvador Allende. General Alberto
Bachelet died in prison in 1974 of a heart
attack as a result of the strain on his body
from the torture to which he was submit-
ted.
Michelle Bachelet and her mother were
also arrested by the military junta and
imprisoned and tortured as well. Once
freed, Bachelet and Jeria traveled to Austra-
lia as exiles. From there, they continued on
to East Germany, where Michelle Bache-
let studied German, in Leipzig, and then
enrolled at Humboldt University medical
school in Berlin. While living in Germany,
she married a fellow Chilean exile, architect
Jorge Dávalos. 
Halcyon Store Celebrates 100th Anniversary
By Barbara Ricardo
The Halcyon Store and Post Office will be
100 years old in August and will celebrate all
month long starting with an open house on
August 6, complete with barbeque, refresh-
ments, raffles, store-wide discounts, old pic-
ture albums, diaries, and more. On this date,
the store will change hands, making Jennie
Foremaster, daughter of Susie Clark, pres-
ent proprietor, the new owner and postmas-
ter of The Halcyon Store and Post Office.
The store has changed hands only nine times
in its 100-year lifespan, Susie, being the lon-
gest owner at 24 years. As all new owners
have done, Jennie will put her own particu-
lar vision into the store. Although she plans
some exciting new changes, she will keep the
“community aspect” of the store.
Some entries from History of the Halcyon
Store, Post Office, and Library September
1993, compiled from writings of Joyce Hedin,
the store’s proprietor from 1957 to 1971, reveal
the following.
“The store and post office date back to 1908,
although the original building, which housed
the store, stood about one block north of
where it stands now. It came into being in
response to a request made by The Temple of
the People, a philosophical, religious, and eth-
ical society, which established its headquarters
on this coast in 1903.
In August 1908, the following announce-
ment appeared in the Temple Artisan, official
publication of The Temple of the People:
The general Post Office Department at
Washington, D.C. has granted our appli-
cation for a post office which is now estab-
lished under the name of Halcyon. Therefore,
from this time on, all Temple mail should
be addressed to Halcyon, San Luis Obispo
County, California. No mail should hereafter
be addressed to Oceano.
When the Oceano Depot was a mail drop,
Herman Volz, a long time resident of Halcyon,
was employed as mail carrier. When Volz
arrived in Halcyon in 1920, Edgar Cheatham
was mail carrier. Herman recalled the familiar
sight of the old man in his cart, pulled by his
ancient white horse, bumping along over the
sandy hill road to the Oceano railroad station
Sonia Paz Baron-Vine and President Bachelet
Returning To Chile. In 1984, she
returned to Chile and worked to restore
democracy. During this time, she consulted
for the Pan-American Health Organiza-
tion, the World Health Organization, and
the German Technical Cooperation Agency
(GTZ). In 1994, she joined the Health Min-
istry as a consultant on primary care and
healthcare services management issues. She
was Minister of Health in 2000 under the
first democratic government. Later she was
the first woman Minister of Defense.
First Woman President. On Octo-
ber 1, 2004, Dr. Bachelet stepped down as
Defense Minister to run as a presidential
candidate. Following a 438-day presiden-
tial campaign, she and her three contend-
ers squared off at the polls on December 12,
2005. She received a massive, but not yet
decisive, 45.95% of the popular vote.
On January 15, 2006, a final election
runoff vote was held, and Michelle Bachelet
won with 53.5% percent of the vote. After
476 days on the stump, she became the first
woman in Chilean history to hold the high-
est office in the land.
where he met the mail train twice a day. (Her-
man had a Model T flatbed truck).”
On September 1, 1983, Susie Clark (pres-
ent owner) officially took over proprietorship
of the Halcyon Store and Post Office, with
a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and
apprehension at the large responsibility await-
ing her. She began right away putting her spe-
cial touches and particular brand of energy
into what was by now a rather venerable insti-
tution, and through her tender loving care, it
has grown to what it is today.
All the owners have worked hard to cre-
ate an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, so
that those who come to do business go away
feeling a little better than when they came in.
It always was, and still is, a place where neigh-
bors meet while collecting their mail from
old- fashioned mailboxes on the wall. There is
no home mail delivery in Halcyon, so all resi-
dents must come to the Halcyon Post Office.
Postal customers from everywhere are called
by name and treated as friends. The store cus-
tomers are welcomed with smiles and offered
any help they might need in finding just the
right gift for themselves or someone else.
Friends meet to shop or sit and have coffee
or a cold drink and snack and visit, either at
the small table under the window inside the
store, or on the patio table outside under the
walnut trees. It is a step back in time where
things are slower and quieter and softer. The
store always smells good and shopping is
actually fun, as the store carries gift items not
readily found elsewhere.
A lot of stories have gone through the
Halcyon Store and Post Office in the past 100
years. Hopefully, a lot more will pass through
in the next 100 years. It will be exciting to see
what happens when the new owner begins her
tenure. Knowing Jennie, it will be inspiring.
July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Voices 7

Voices Around the Table: What do you do to nurture your creativity?

Heather Mendel
I take the time to play with new ideas
and materials, walk out in nature, listen to
beautiful music and converse with other
creative friends.
Evelyn Adams
I collect interior and craft books and
visit galleries and art shows. Not to copy,
which is counter creative, but it helps trans-
port me to my creative zone. Most nur-
turing is my collaborative work with
eco-artisans, for our cre-
ative synergy.
Barbara Atkinson
I nurture my
creativity with
stillness and a quiet
mind, by writing
questions to myself,
and by walking and
reveling in nature.
Jill Turnbow
By putting it on the
stage. I’m blessed to be
part of a theatre company
(Houselights Theatre) and
I enjoy challenging myself with
projects I’m not sure I can do and
then watching it all come together.
Sonia Paz Baron-Vine
I remind myself that the arts, painting,
writing or singing are like riding a bike...it
just comes back to you. All I have to do is
grab some silk and do a painting, or sit in
my garden under the trees and the poems
will come along a melody....
Delia Horwitz
I make sure I have enough quiet, inner
time to listen to my creative impulses, then
make sure there is some space on the calen-
dar so I can act on those impulses.
Sometimes dancing as I clean the house
or do a chore will feed my creative urge--at
least for a little while.
Know what feeds my creative
needs, and make
sure a
few of
them actually
get scheduled
and experienced.
I do something
ordinary in a differ-
ent way.
Anne Dunbar
I create space for
my creativity. I take
time out. I provide mate-
rials and let the juices flow!
Roberta Kay
I never thought I had artistic creativity
due to a second grade teacher who insulted
and laughed at my efforts. At 60, I over-
came that life-long hang up when my dear
friend, artist Simone Viola, introduced me
to silk painting. It was easy to learn, quite
fulfilling and fun!
MaryAine Cherry
I walk the hills to rejuvenate my mind,
heart and body as I put my mind at ease
in nature. On the quiet mountains, I find
wonderful insights to my desires and inspi-
ration to follow through with them. It
seems so easy to be in touch with that
which brings me tranquility simply
by putting my feet on the ground
and allowing the beauty of our area
to fill and rejuvenate my creative self.
Anne Schroeder
My creative non-fiction and mem-
oir often comes with a price--often, I’m
pulling secrets from the soul. I nurture
the quiet spaces by meditating, praying
the rosary, taking solitary walks, and filling
myself with joy. When I’m balanced, my
writing is balanced.
Anne R. Allen
Two words: down
time. I schedule time
to do nothing. Noth-
ing is the rich, dark soil
that new ideas need in
order to germinate.
T.C. Wits
I go to all the auditions I can,
even if I’m not clear about what I’m going
to do or know little or nothing about the
show or roles. I trust my intuition and
imagination to figure something out in the
moments when I’m there. I leave the rest
to the director’s vision and the theatre and
music Gods and Goddesses.
Kathleen Deragon
I dance around the house, take a dance
class, put on some music to dance to, drum,
walk on the beach. Basically I get out of my
head and into my body!
Carol Stern
The most powerful way of nurturing my
creativity is to meet regularly with my writ-
ing partner, Janice. We sit around her din-
ing room table with our laptops, journals,
photos, current writing project, and inspi-
rational writing materials. We start with
our favorite activity, which is to choose a
“prompt” and then each write about it for
about 15 minutes­—without any planning
or editing, just the simple joy of exPressing
ourselves with words.
Kathy Myers
I am an “action-ori-
ented” person, so my
creativity usually takes
the form of action. I am
the head of a small non-
profit group that raises
money to help build schools
in Afghanistan. The work I do
organizing, creating events and
working with our volunteers pro-
vides a tremendous nurturing factor in my
creative life.
Jeanie Greensfelder
I nurture creativity by asking myself
questions to think about on walks, to
answer in meditation, and to sleep on at
night. Regardless of the answers that come,
I jump into a project, fumble around, and
delight in whatever shows up.

Where to find Women’s Press

All Libraries and the following exceptionally fine establishments!

• NORTH COUNTY: Atascadero – The Coffee House and Deli, Starbuck’s at Von’s

Plaza, Green Goods, Player’s Pizza, Harvest Health Food Store, North County
Connection, Senior Center, Women’s Resource Center/Shelter Office, Curves. Paso
Robles – Cuesta College North Campus, Café Vio, Curves, DK Donuts, Panolivo
French Cafe, NCI Village Thrift Shop, Paso Robles Health Foods; Templeton – Twin
Cities Hospital, Templeton Market & Deli, Affinity Chiropractic, Kinship Center,
Jobella’s Coffee; Santa Margarita– Santa Margarita Mercantile.
• NORTHERN COAST: Baywood – Coffee & Things; Cambria – Cambria
Connection, Cambria Pines Lodge, Chamber of Commerce, Gym One, 7 Sisters,
Azevedo Chiropractic, Lilly’s, Alloco’s, Cambria Drug and Gift, Bob & Jan’s Auto
Shop, Linn’s, Donna’s Nail Salon, Cookie Crock, Rainbow Bean and Coffee Shop;
Cayucos – Cayucos Super Market, Kelley’s EsPresso & Dessert, Ocean Front Pizza,
Chevron Station, Mobile Balloons; Los Osos – Starbuck’s, Baywood Laundry, Cad’s,
Carlock’s Bakery, Chamber of Commerce, Copa de Oro, Garden Café, Los Osos Deli
Liquor, Volumes of Pleasure; Morro Bay – Backstage Salon, Coalesce Bookstore, Coffee
Pot Restaurant, The Rock, Southern Port Traders, Sunshine Health Foods, Two Dogs
Coffee, La Parisienne Bakery.
• SAN LUIS OBISPO: Broad St. Laundry, Cool Cats Café, La Crepes, Edna Market,
Art Café, Booboo Records, Creekside Center, GALA, Marigold Nails, Palm Theatre,
Susan Polk Insurance, Utopia Bakery, Unity Church, Zoe Wells, Naturopath, Cal
Poly Library and Women’s Center, Center for Alternatives to Violence, Chamber of
Commerce, Cuesta College Library, EOC Health Services Clinic, HealthWorks,
Healing Alternatives, Laguna Laundry, Linnaea’s, Monterey ExPress, Natural Foods
Coop, New Frontiers, Nautical Bean, Outspoken Beverage Bistro, Phoenix Books,
Planned Parenthood, Rudolph’s Coffee & Tea, San Luis Obispo Housing Authority
Office, SARP, The Secret Garden, SLO Perk Coffee, Spirit Winds Therapy, The Studio
Fitness for Women, Uptown Cafe, Yoga Centre, Ahshe Hair Salon, Apropos Clothing,
Soho Hair Salon, Tom-Mel Beauty Center, Hempshack, YMCA, KCBX, Fairchild
Salon, Jaffa Café, Med Stop (Madonna Plaza), World Rhythm and Motion, Steynburg
Gallery, Correa Chiropractic, High St. Deli, Sunset N. Car Wash, Jamaica You, United
Blood Services.
• SOUTH COUNTY: Arroyo Grande – Natural Balance, Mongo’s, Act II Boutique,
Central Coast Yoga, CJ’s Restaurant, Curves-AG, Cutting Edge, EOC Health Services
Clinic, Girls Restaurant, Grande Whole Foods, Kennedy Club Fitness, JJ’s Market,
Chameleon, Brave New Wares; Avila Beach– Avila Grocery, Custom House, Sycamore
Hot Springs, Inn at Avila, Joe Mamma’s; Grover Beach – World Gym, Back Door Deli,
Cindi’s Wash House, Nan’s Pre-owned Books, Therapeutic Body Center, 30-minute
Fitness; Halcyon – Halcyon Store; Nipomo – Anna’s Creekside Coffee House, Healing
Touch Spa, Curves, La Placita Market, Healthy Inspirations, World Gym, Trendy
Sister Salon, Senior Centers; Pismo Beach – Honeymoon Café, Pismo Athletic Club,
Zadok’s; Shell Beach – De Palo & Sons Deli, Seaside Cafe, Steaming Bean.
• SANTA MARIA: Café Monet, Hunter’s Landing, Library, Curves on Main and on
Broadway, Lassen’s.
• ORCUTT: Loading Dock, Oasis Spa.
8 CreativeWomen Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

Day With Performers

Julia Mitchell has performed profes- Tribal Mosaic is an eclectic group of

Creative Women
sionally in San Luis Obispo County over
the past 10 years, singing songs of the
female jazz greats: Ella Fitzgerald, Etta
James, Diana Krall and others. She has per-
formed many weddings, fund raisers and
concerts, including the Cambria Jazz Festi-
dancers and performers from different
tribal belly dance genres, backgrounds, and
troupes who have come together to cre-
ate a mosaic of sound, movement, color,
and texture. Their dance form celebrates
the strength, beauty, and power embodied

Saturday, August 9, 2008 val and as a featured artist at the Jazz Feder-
ation concert in San Luis Obispo. She has a
deep, rich voice that is ideally suited to jazz
and torch. She will be accompanied by her
Mission Plaza, 10am-5pm
husband Brett Mitchell, an accomplished
pianist/composer.
Debra Windsong is a well-known local
musician on harmonica and vocals. She’s
often seen sitting in with the best bands in
our area, and has played with some famous
musicians as well. She currently has two
duos, one with Ted Waterhouse as “Cat-
alina Eddy & the Breeze” and one with
Chris Roullard as “Chris & Mrs. Jones,”
and often hires out as a freelance performer.
She is still working on some original songs.
Photo supplied by Debra Windsong In the meantime she’ll keep you very enter-
tained with popular blues, light rock, r&b
and jazz standards.
Flutists of the Central Coast: a group
of women who love to play flutes! Who
are they? Maybe one is your doctor; maybe
one is your child’s math teacher; maybe one
is your next door neighbor, or the person
you see walking a dog in the morning. This
group of creative women is going to delight
you with music you may know, but per-
Photo of Inga Swearingen by Barry Goyette form it with a distinctive sound you prob-
ably haven’t heard before.
in and by all women, and the music and
costumes reflect the world’s cultural diver-
sity. They dedicate our performance at this
year’s Day with Creative Women to all the
creative women in our community and
around the world who have inspired, chal-
lenged, and encouraged them to be the best
they can be.
Inga Swearingen began her career as a
singer/songwriter, accompanying herself in
alternate tunings on the guitar. Transition-
ing to jazz was natural for her; she scat sings
with agility and grace, infusing the genre
with fresh life.
Currently performing, recording, and
teaching at Cuesta College, she has per-
formed on NPR’s broadcast “A Prairie
Home Companion,” with internationally
known pianist, composer and improviser
Art Lande, at Carnegie Hall with the Leon
Anderson Quartet, and locally with the
San Luis Obispo Symphony conducted
by Michael Nowak. She has also written
and composed for the Central Coast Chil-
dren’s Choir.
The Chrome Addicts, a women’s steel
drum group, will also perform.

Photo supplied by Brett & Julia Mitchell

Coppertone
 by Patti Sullivan
Summer mornings
found us at Newberrys
buying Tangee lipstick in bright coral
ancient popcorn from the greasy glass
dome
root beer floats at the fountain
finally sitting in the car
“watching the people”
my mom’s favorite pastime
we’d go home
put on plaid or floral cotton sun suits
get out our tanning lotion
Photo by Jeanie Greensfelder COPPERTONE!
which promised to turn
Day With Creative Women our pale soft roundness
into perfectly bronzed angularity Photo by Lynda Roeller

By Sonia Paz Baron-Vine We’d lounge around on towels

We arrive from near and far And the old sisters

in the backyard
reading movie magazines Affinities
smiling, hugging and laughing visit us with tenderness full of endless stories about By Jean Gerard
happy to see each other happy to see our unity Debbie, Eddie and Liz
blessing us with smiles Sometimes combing peroxide into our hair Part of me runs with squirrels and coyotes
Every year under the sycamores aiming for a Connie Stevens or Yvete up canyon draws to shadowed springs
by the creek we meet Welcome sisters Mimeux look fragrant with sage and chaparral.
bringing our creations old and new our results always missing by a mile  
sharing our art here we meet again   Sometimes I sun with snakes on stones
to show our art, After the heat built a mountain of discon- that smell of ash from summer fires,
Creative women we all are to make new friends tent hunt mice, dally with lizards
our hands magical tools to sing along in my mother  
our voices sweet melodies the ancient she’d turn our patio into a tropical paradise or sometimes peck at bits of wood and dodder
our words pure poetry song of sisterhood garden hose flung over the French doors sticking to my tail feathers.
trickling over the banana tree that never In my excrement I drop seeds of flowers
A day with creative women bore fruit  
our banner announces   and in the happenstance of dying,
and the young girls We’d hide out in the house leave flesh and bone behind as trace minerals
walk among our art listening to “Pearly Shells” and the sound of for generations born in such holy places.
with bright eyes water outside
filled with wonder waiting to enter the evening
in our hopeful new skins.
 July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
UnsungHeroine
Joanne Ruggles:
Art Mirroring Soul
By Berta Parrish
“Larger than life” was my first imPression
when I saw the artwork before our inter-
view. Huge canvases with vivid colors, inter-
twined sensuous figures, and intense energy
symbolize the human condition as seen by
Joanne Ruggles, Cal Poly Emeritus Pro-
fessor of Studio Art, artist, and workshop
leader. “I draw and paint the human form
so I can better know myself - that in itself
is a fulfilling journey,” is how she explains
the resonance between her art and her own
emotional passages.
Retired from Cal Poly with the Dis-
tinguished Research, Creative Activity,
and Professional Development Award in
2004, Joanne began an unanticipated jour-
ney – the challenging path back to well-
ness overcoming breast cancer. Never one
to shy away from the paradoxical existential
questions, like her 9-11 series depicting fear,
shock, and grief in a world gone mad, she
began illustrating her anguish in the Stone
of Hope Series. Painting during the che-
motherapy treatments and surgery gave her
relief; it transported her out of pain into
the creative realm. “Telling your story is
the first step in healing,” she explains. “My
world was turned upside down. The global
became very personal.” The canvas became
the storyteller’s medium to exPress the
stages of recovery, from rage to resignation
to healing to joy.
With such relief and renewal, she won-
dered how individuals without the balm of
a creative outlet deal with such adversity.
This inquiry and desire to help others with
cancer led to a James Irvine Grant for the
“Indomitable Spirits: Giving Face/Voice to
Courage” Program. This inspiring exhibit
Horse Women
By Lani Steele
Where are the winged mares?
Heads high, sifting the wind in their nostrils.
Time is passing, memories are being murdered
Under the hooves of centaurs.
I want to be a horse-woman,
Winged, flying through the clouds
With children on my back,
Headed for a brave land, where courage
Is measured in daily living, not knightly dying.
Bring me my hooves and wings,
My shining feathers and forged feet,
I am headed for gardens of coral,
Through seas of resistance, roses of intrigue,
To mountains of shelter.
There, my flinty hooves will
Grind lodestone to fable,
reflected the work of 12 Central Coast art-
ists who gave image and voice to their expe-
rience of survival through art. By sharing
and working on each other’s mixed media
projects, the participants learned to relin-
quish control, to trust others, and to make
empowering choices. The second Indomi-
table Spirit group was partially sponsored
by a Puffin Foundation grant and their art
will be exhibited at the Cuesta College Art
Gallery in September. Joanne believes that
the collaborative creation of these paint-
ings serves as a metaphor for the healing
process: “The pieces end up not where we
thought, but where they belong. Much like
life itself.”
Life continues to fuel Joanne’s inner and
outer journeys. Sharing the transforma-
tive power of art, she teaches others how
to employ it as a vehicle for healing and
personal growth. At the Creative Healing
Retreat for Breast Cancer Survivors spon-
sored by Enhancement, Inc. in October
in Morro Bay, she leads the collage mak-
ing sessions. The goal of the retreat is to
help survivors improve their quality of life
by learning techniques to reduce stress,
fear, and anxiety through art, music, writ-
ing, yoga, and education. Additionally, in
November she presents her “Creative Col-
laboration and the Healing Narrative” sem-
inar at Esalen that encourages participants
to give form to their own survival stories
that have allowed them to move toward a
healed future.
“Larger than life” describes more than
just Joanne’s art; it also applies to the artist.
The canvas of her soul is just as immense,
colorful, complex, evocative, empathic, and
courageous as her paintings.
Photo by Lynda Roeller
Granite to stories and sands
For children to play in.
Away from stallion screams,
Rutting battles and bloodied sons,
The children of women will grow tall,
Strong and gentle, brave enough
For truth, wise enough for beauty.
CreativeWomen 9
and the Sacred Fire
burst forth with a Big Bang,
scattering divine sparks
as the first seeds of
matter and life
endowed with potential and the memory
of their original source, inspiring and
informing them to participate in creation
and evolution
Genesis and genetics,
order and chaos,
tangible and intangible,
predetermination and self-determination,
everything interconnected within and
between all the universes
where nothing is alien.
Words and Art By
Hilda Heifetz
Why Grandma Bought That Car
By Anne R. Allen 
She dreamed of riding with Kerouac, with ToddandBuzz,
red-Corvetting down Route 66—
freedom in her hair.
 
But she got snagged on white-picket biology/destiny—
and the goofy smile that farmer gave her,
along with his fragile heart.
 
She loved that smile more than her own self, a full forty years—
till his heart broke for good and she buried him
in the root-clogged dirt of this old town.
 
But for her, the road’s still there.
and in this dream, she’s not riding;
she’s at the wheel.  Photo by Jeanie Greensfelder
Aged Whine
By Eldonna Edwards and strong and sexy, my god
how it thrilled you to own it
is this how it starts—
this sliding away of brain cells
before the floor became like gravel
beneath your bare feet each morning
like change down the sofa cushions as you stumble to the kitchen
unseen but not unmissed? groaning­—ow, ow, ow
take this morning, for instance no one hears you complain, though
you reach for massage oil because the bed is empty
pump the liquid soap instead— no lover waiting for your return
an easy mistake, maybe, no coffee delivered by gentle hands
but later you were making a point no dent left by his body in the sheet
or trying to  
about famous people in politics when and you like it that way, really
suddenly the name of that actor from West Wing measured it all very carefully
(you can see his face) turned to vapor the weight of love against this solitary life
before it reached your tongue even though their neediness against your need
you squinted real hard, as if you could squeeze to mold each day with your own hands
the letters from behind your eyelids hands that remind you of your mother’s
well, you know who I mean, you said now folded across your chest, listening
  to your own breath as you wade through
it’s not just the memory, no a hot flash, then bolt upright, eyes wide
it’s the body, this body once lean Martin Sheen!
10 CreativeWomen
Go, Buffy!
by Jeanie Greensfelder
Susan Pressed her thumbs to her ears to
muffle Paul’s bugle call. His “come home”
signal stopped, but she hurled one more
soggy tennis ball into the pond. Buffy
dashed after it, legs splayed like a bear. Sec­
onds later, the ball at her feet, Susan threw
her arms around her drenched black lab.
She raced Buffy up the hill where Paul
stood, hands on hips, in front of their Car-
mel hacienda.
“Cut the horseplay,” he said when Buffy
pranced around him. “Susan, you aren’t
even dressed. They’ll be here in half an
hour.” With a full body shake Buffy show-
ered Paul with pond water. “God damn it.”
He yanked the ball from her jaws and flung
it into the woods. “Get rid of that mutt.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“She ruined our lives.”
Paul stared at Susan until she looked
away. She gulped a deep breath and went to
change.
Dressed in black silk, she set out appe-
tizers, lit a dozen candles, and stopped to
nuzzle her pet.
Paul glared over the top of his Wall
Street Journal. “Surely you won’t bore
David and Mimi with the feats of wonder-
dog. Let’s find something more important
to talk about.”
“Okay, Paul.”
The bell chimed and Buffy bounded to
greet the guests.
“Stay away,” Mimi said as Buffy wagged
her tail.
Paul pushed Buffy out the door and
kneed her off the porch.
Wild and Precious Life
By Joanne Hand
I am reminded, sometimes on my daily
walks of the ending line in a poem, “The
Summer Day” by Mary Oliver, “Tell me,
what is it you plan to do with your one wild
and precious life?”
One generally thinks in terms of career
or money. I’ve come now, in this time of my
life, to believe in this “precious life” in terms
of this little walk I did today in the woods,
how I noticed this black dragonfly again
with golden iridescent wings, that play of
light and shadows along the path, the smell
of warm pinewood, sage and today an owl
Memory Holes
Rita Traner-McDermott
Our memories are filled with holes. I won-
der, can I blame my absurdly low SAT
scores on those pesky memory holes? While
it’s true that my test scores still sting a lit-
tle, they have rarely crossed my mind dur-
ing these last fifteen years. It’s peculiar that
this memory, long lost down a random
hole, managed to surface when I sat down
to write. Where did it go until just now?
Has it been on vacation? Did it run away?
It must have been in hiding; it knows how
I feel about it and it wouldn’t want to upset
me on purpose.
As humans, we’re bombarded with
potential memories every moment of our
lives. It would be overwhelming if we had
access to all of them on a constant basis.
Even when we’re sleeping, our minds are
digging into holes in search of memories to
twist up and cleverly weave into our dreams.
Don’t our memory-making machine brains
ever give it a rest? It is truly exhausting, this
business of living.
Mimi brushed imagined wounds from
her linen slacks before she plopped on the
couch, kicked off her spiked heels, and
massaged her toes. “Bunions. I need sur-
gery, but when to fit it in.”
As Susan poured the Chardonnay, Mimi
pointed to the crab dip, “Fatty. That stuff
gives us indigestion. We had to buy special
beds so we could sleep with our heads ele-
vated. Oh, wellll,” she said, and shoveled a
fully heaped cracker into her mouth.
“We’ve got reflux,” David explained to
Paul.
“We’ve got Tempurpedic,” Paul said.
“No, no! Reflux is a burning esopha-
gus,” David said. “Before Prilosec, the only
thing that helped Mimi was to drink hot
water. One time my back went out and I
couldn’t even stand. Mimi drove me to the
emergency room, but once there she got
reflux, paralyzed with pain. On my hands
and knees, I crawled into the hospital beg-
ging: ‘A glass of steaming water. Quick.’”
Through their laughter, Susan fidgeted,
sure she could hear Buffy whimper.
“My back went out in a board meet-
ing in Paris,” Paul said. “I sat like a robot
for ten hours until the deal closed. Then I
called an ambulance. Three days in the hos-
pital!”
“My migraines get so bad,” Mimi said,
“I want to commit sui­cide.”
“Same here with my kidney stones,”
David said.
“With my bad back,” Paul said, “I
wanted to drop dead.”
“Great idea!” Susan’s words trumpeted
from some place deep within. She stared at
Paul. Then Susan bolted out the door. “Let’s
go, Buffy. To the pond!”
feather, downy and white lying on the path.
I used to take from the woods a piece of
twig, a stone, or feather, and make little
“altar-shrines” and place them around the
house. Now, I choose to leave put...relics in
a sacred temple, undisturbed.
I emerge from the woods each time a
different person, having tucked into my
heart all these experiences and feelings to
perhaps be brought out at a later time when
humanity calls out for empathy. The sacred-
ness of being in such a place, wherever it is
for one, sustains us in times called forth.
I can always return to the memory of the
woods for strength, comfort, and grace.
Yesterday was my sister’s birthday; she
would have been twenty-eight years old. I
spent some time in front of my little book-
shelf arrangement of statues and knick-
knacks, the physical reminders that I still
can’t quite put away: a smudge stick she
made, a keychain from our last vacation, her
Ganesh statue draped with a hawk feather.
That was nice, but what is even nicer is my
well-stocked store of vivid memories that
emerge when I’m not even looking. I can
hear her laughter, taunting me with a case
of the fake hiccups. I can sense her disap-
proval when I splash water around the bath-
room sink. I can picture our weekend-long,
dress-up tea parties. From the excitement of
welcoming my new baby sister – with that
amazing head of black hair – to the fragile
sweetness of our final hug, I can remember.
You see, we really ought to be thankful
to the holes that both absorb and release
our pasts before we even know what’s
happening. It’s those precious, random
holes that offer us delight – or sometimes
horror – when they pop up to remind us
that a memory, while sometimes gone, is
not forgotten.
Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Ancestral Cloak: A Letter to My Niece
By Kathy Bond
By the time I arrived on the planet, in
1942 in war-torn England, I’d already lost
three of my grandparents. I lost my surviv-
ing grandmother after ten years. I lost my
mother one day after my birth. I see them
in photos and wish I’d known them. I carry
ancestors around like a cloak. I know their
names: George and Harriet Bartlett, Ger-
trude, Rowland, and Kathleen Mae Beavis.
I try to flesh out and discover their charac-
ters and personalities. I view “Barhough,”
my mother’s family home north of Newcas-
tle-on-Tyne, Northumberland. In enlarged
pictures of the garden and front of the
house, I see my aunt standing there. Tears
wash over words as I write, seeing their
images in my mind. My mother’s brother,
Uncle Harry, wrote out a family tree to fill
in some gaps; conversation has added more
to the picture.
In 1979, I made my first trip back
home in 35 years, spending a day with my
aunt and uncle. Aunt Olive met us at the
bus stop. I admired a dark green and sil-
ver necklace that she wore.  “It belonged
to your mother,” she said, and took it off,
and gave it to me. Later, she gave me a sil-
ver sugar and creamer, also my mother’s.
After a lunch of Shepherd’s Pie, they pulled
out a shoebox full of photos, and we looked
through them.
Confessions of a Multitasker
By Kimberly Chapman
Hi. My name is Kimberly and I am a Mul-
titasker. I pride myself on my ability to
respond to e-mails, return phone calls, and
type memos—all while holding conversa-
tions with friends. I frequently stop working
on one project to chase down a “pop-up”
thought, only to return to the first proj-
ect with no thoughts at all. The end result
is the realization at the end of the day that
nothing has been completed. Nothing is
finished. “How can that be, when I worked
so hard?”
It seems that I am a victim of society’s
mistaken belief that multitasking is a nec-
essary art form, and I’m not the only one.
As business professionals, most of us buy
into the current “keep busy” culture. But
why has “keeping busy” come to mean leav-
ing the office door open, cell phone on, fax
and copy machines humming, all while we
unconsciously and frequently check e-mails,
respond to phone calls and send instant
messages? Does it no longer matter how
much work we actually complete?
As it turns out, focus, and not multi-
tasking helped me think through, research,
write, and submit this article. I had to close
Let the Dominoes Fall
By Jill Turnbow
I have a great deal of experience with the
Domino Theory. I start one, seemingly
small and innocent project that I believe I
can complete in no time at all and then I
find myself immersed in another and then
another. I should never utter the phrase,
“just give me a minute to do this one little
thing.” You might as well pull up a chair
and pour yourself a cocktail – I’m going to
be a while.
The latest in my series of falling domi-
noes began with Freecycle.com. (If you
haven’t checked into this, it’s a must for
all scroungers.) I saw a post for a free fil-
ing cabinet. Of course everyone can use
more storage, so I grabbed it. Hey, it was
free. It wasn’t in perfect condition so that
led me to the hardware store for paint, then
back to the hardware store for rust remover
and MORE paint, which led me to learn
Childhood images of my mother, her
brother, and sister appeared, along with
adult ones of my mother, and pictures of
my aunt and uncle’s 1930’s wedding. They
spoke of my mother’s death, mention-
ing the childhood illness that damaged
her heart and ultimately led to her death.
I gained a clearer picture with these crucial
details. They described how crowded war-
time trains made it impossible for them
to travel to southwestern England for her
funeral. I wanted to stay and visit longer
with these kind, gentle, long-lost relatives,
but had only scheduled two weeks for this
trip, and had many more relatives to see. It
had taken so long to make the trip.
The following year, five of my elderly
relatives died. Family doesn’t completely
disappear, but emerges and reappears in the
future. In my uncle’s love of Scotland, and
his job in law enforcement, my father lives
on. The past reaches out when Grandpa’s
hairline and slender frame is visible in his
great grandfather’s photo. Dead in a mere
flesh and blood sense, family continues
through genes and DNA. The double helix
strands weave a family tapestry that joins
our past, present, and future.
I find comfort and healing in the knowl-
edge that you and my mother share the
same birthday.
my e-mail program, silence the phone, find
a comfortable, solitary location with my
laptop and, finally, turn on smooth jazz.
That’s how I got the work done! As much
as I love my gadgets, I have to recognize
that the most effective and efficient use of
my energy is to prioritize my day and focus
my efforts on one thing at a time. Keeping
busy, it turns out, is not the same thing as
working effectively.
Unfortunately, something in my brain
keeps telling me that everything needs my
attention right now! And the more tasks I
have to accomplish, the greater the tempta-
tion to run from one thing to the next as
fast as my brain can carry me. Fortunately,
I am learning to combat this occasional (or
incessant) tendency by ruthlessly prioritiz-
ing my daily tasks and objectives. That’s my
plan…and I’m sticking to it.
Hi. My name is Kimberly and I am a
Multitasker. I’ve been clear minded and
focused for… ooooo, look at that pretty,
shiny thing!
Kimberly Chapman is an efficiency consul-
tant. Contact her at (805) 928-4837 or www.
optimizeandorganize.com.
that I can explain the look by saying “It’s
an artistic expression, the blue paint is
SUPPOSED to run like that.” The next
domino led to making room for the new
cabinet in my office which meant clean-
ing out and removing the old file cabinets.
That led to me figuring out how to get a
heavy 4-drawer cabinet from my driveway
to the house and two smaller ones back to
the driveway. (I live alone and cats are use-
less when it comes to heavy lifting.) Next I
had to go through the files and decide that
I had held on to some things far too long.
And of course you can’t just throw out piles
and piles of paper without reliving the
memories attached to them.
Two of the drawers were jammed
with two of the worst years of my life.
Papers, forms, bank statements, memo-
ries, all wrapped around my father’s pass-
Continued in Dominoes, page 14
July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
Pictured are Sara Powers (3rd place), Annakarina De La Torre-Fennel (1st place), and Danielle Ames (2nd place)
Women playwrights awarded top prizes
By Yvonne Duran
Annakarina De La Torre-Fennel once wrote
a play about her name. It won her an award.
I’d like to think that had I been blessed with
such a literary name I too would be penning
accolade-worthy material, but I don’t think
I’m that talented. That was my thought as I
sat in the audience for De La Torre-Fennel’s
latest play performed at the New Play Fes-
tival on June 7, 2008 at the Clark Center
Studio on the Arroyo Grande High School
campus. That was my thought as I watched
all of the plays that were written, acted,
and directed by students from Mr. Houck’s
Drama Class. I’ve acted in many plays, and
even directed once, but I’ve never written
anything as funny or entertaining as what
these students produced. Not that I haven’t
tried. Thus, as a judge, I was imPressed by
the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners: Anna-
karina De La Torre-Fennel for A Genera-
tion of Blind Dates (1st), Danielle Ames for A
Play (2nd) and Sara Powers for Always Pain-
ful (3rd).
For the 9th consecutive year, cash prizes
of $150, $100, and $50 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
place, respectively were awarded by Sto-
len Fire Theater. In A Generation of Blind
Dates a guy and a girl succumb to a series of
blind dates over several decades with, unbe-
knownst to them, each other. They phi-
losophize about relationships, blind dates,
and the meaning of... well, cherries. A Play
spoofs theatrical culture, using devices like a
play-within-a-play and cross-gender casting,
Women’s Creative Circles: A Gift for Our Spirit
by Evelyn Adams
One of the most remarkable differences
between human beings and the animal
kingdom is our innate ability and need to
exPress ourselves. This exPression manifests
itself through all manners of creativity from
art to song and all the mediums in between.
When we find an exPression that resonates
with us individually, we are transported to
another dimension of life. Our brainwaves
have been found to change when this reso-
nance occurs. Our heart rates and metabo-
lisms slow and regulate themselves. This
remarkable synergy generates greater health
and in turn well-being.
All human beings are born with gifts of
our spirit. Where it comes from is another
discussion in itself but the fact that the
gift of creativity is real is generally undis-
puted. I share with women knowledge of
the gifts that were given to me, that they
in turn would share these and their found
gifts with others. Women’s Creative Circles
are an opportunity to come together for the
purpose of exploring our creativity, finding
our gifts, and bringing their exPression into
the light.
We meet exPressly to play with vari-
ous mediums and make simple and lovely
objects from recycled and natural materi-
als that are readily available and free. When
women come together in the context of
making things another powerful energy
is released, that of kinship and sisterhood.
CreativeWomen 11
while spotlighting backstage dramas like
actors’ practical jokes and heated quarrels,
a “tree” having a melodramatic breakdown
because she missed her cue and ruined the
whole play, and the stage manager con-
stantly reminding them all how soundproof
backstage is not. Always Painful, a come-
dic musical, is a day in the life of three stu-
NURSING
dents (nerd, hippie, and hot chick) taking
Advanced Placement tests.
So how are award-winning playwrights
made? De La Torre-Fennel, who has won
HOME?
other writing contests, states that her writ-
ing didn’t fully develop until her sophomore
year with the help of her pre- advanced
placement teachers. “I have always had
a vivid imagination, and great analytical
thought, but what I needed was practice at If you have loved ones in a nursing home or about
structure; that was my tipping point, help-
ing me to become a better writer. I am a
to enter a nursing home – do not “spend down”
pretty succinct writer, kind of Hemingway, their assets. Nearly ALL the assets of nursing
so without organization, there was no flow home residents can be SAVED. Their care will
to my writing.” Her first comedic play, A
Generation of Blind Dates was inspired by remain the same. Nursing home residents have
a late-night talk with her mom about the legal rights. Learn federal and state health
human tendency to be absorbed with the
negative, while completely missing the good
insurance laws that work for the resident.
under our own noses. De La Torre-Fennel
summarized that even with “something that
seems so terrible, a blind date, . . . some-
Law Offices of
thing unexpectedly good can come out of
it, if we choose to look at it that way.” De Geraldine E. Champion
La Torre-Fennell, will attend the University
of Southern California in the fall, majoring 805-473-4747
in theater and screenplay writing. Call to hear about upcoming seminars!
www.ca-elderlaw.com
This synergy brings another satisfying
dimension to our time together and in itself
is a healing of spirit. Whether creating wild
soy candle votives, or handmade paper, the
learning begins to take place and acknowl-
edgment that we’re quite capable of creative
exPression – and it feels good!
Women over the ages have gathered to
make things in unison. Creative Circles are
also a loving, supportive, non-judgmental
introduction to creativity for women who
suffer from low-self esteem, symptomatic
of the common mantra, “I’m not creative;
my mother, sister, best friend is the cre-
ative one.” Awakening our innate creativ-
ity often leads to a new or renewed outlet,
with a personal celebration of our creativ-
ity. An evolution that when giving time to
ourselves, our exPression can take place in
our kitchen, extra bedroom or corner in the
garage anytime we want, AND we make
ourselves feel great! Ask any artist who does
this daily for herself how good it feels.
Evelyn Adams leads Women’s Creative Cir-
cles and is a guest speaker about creativ-
ity exploration and its many benefits. She is
the founder and lead developer of BRAVE
New Wares DevGroup, for BRAVE New
Options---developing creative vocational pro-
grams for youth and women at-risk, includ-
ing foster and homeless women with children.
To host a Women’s Creative Circle, call
815-8700.
12 Body&Soul Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

Balancing Your Wheel of Life Being-Ness – Human-ness

By Laura Grace By Heather Mendel

Perhaps too much of Perhaps it is the temporary nature of a sun-

everything is as bad as too
little. — Edna Ferber
Imagine your life as what the Buddhists
refer to as the “wheel of life” and you are
its “hub,” or center. Each spoke on your
wheel represents a different aspect of your
life: relationships, work, health, finances,
spiritual growth, social activities and so
forth. Is your wheel balanced, or are one of
the spokes getting more attention than the
rest? Like a wheel that is meant to rotate
smoothly with each revolution, we are hap-
piest when our lives are flowing smoothly
because we are in balance.
You’ll know when you’re out of balance:
life will feel heavy, your energy will be lower
than usual and your enthusiasm for life
may be missing. The problem may not nec-
essarily be that there’s anything wrong, but
that you’re overly focused on one area while
neglecting others that are equally impor-
tant to your well-being. Which area might
that be, you wonder? Well, it’s usually the
one that you’re constantly thinking about,
worrying about and probably talking about.
Most likely it’s the one that your friends are
tired of hearing about!
What is your wheel of life like? Are you
in balance? If not, your response may be:
“I’m not having any fun,” or, “I have lost
my zest for living.” As summer unfolds and
we’re touched by longer days of sunshine,
notice if it’s time to come into balance. A
couple of practices for creating more bal-
ance include:
#1 Live life as an adventure. Every sin-
gle day you are on an adventure
of Self-Discovery. Daily, ask your-
self: “What am I going to learn
today? What might I discover on
today’s adventure? What am I going
to know that I don’t know now?
What’s going to be activated within
me that has been latent?”
#2 Approach all the tasks and duties
that you have throughout the day
with awe and wonder. Albert Sch-
weitzer likened indifference to
a sleeping sickness of the soul.
Its most dangerous aspect is that
it sneaks up on you. Schweitzer
wrote: “As soon as you notice the
slightest sign of indifference, the
moment you become aware of the
loss of a certain aliveness, of long-
ing, of enthusiasm, of zest, of zeal,
take it as a warning. You should
realize your soul withers and suffers
if you live superficially.” We all have
the capacity to awaken from slum-
ber to greater aliveness, even while
doing tasks we believe are menial
and inconsequential.
Develop and focus on the spokes in
your wheel of life that have been neglected.
Attaining balance adds greater harmony
and helps us to be hopeful and optimistic
about the good in our lives. Vital optimism
is a quality that runs deep in us; it’s a belief
that the best is yet to come.
Laura Grace is the Spiritual Leader
of the Circle of Spiritual Enlight-
enment in San Luis Obispo, CA:
www.spiritualcircle.org. Laura is also
the author of the books Gifts of the Soul
and The Intimate Soul. Visit Laura at:
www.lauragrace.net or call: (805) 748-7506
set that makes it so beautiful. Within a very
short period of time, we see the western
sky brighten and deepen intensely before
the sun slips behind the horizon, drawing
down the indigo cover of night. People who
live in coastal California watch the specta-
cle in awe. It is more than the beauty of the
shifting colors that draws attention. Perhaps
it is a reminder of the temporary nature of
everything in our human lives.
Eckhart Tolle reminds us that as human
beings we face the paradox of enjoying both
human-ness and being-ness; in the midst of
this duality we find the challenge and the
potential of living our lives most fully. We
are familiar with the human side of our
lives— the world under the control of egoic
mind, that keeps up a constant chatter of
past memories and future expectations,
all that prevent us from experiencing each
moment. And the one thing we are guaran-
teed with everything we know and under-
stand about our humanness is that it is all
temporary— the very fabric of our lives,
wants and experiences. In every instance,
the adage “this too shall pass” applies.
The other side of the equation is our
being-ness that we access most easily
through the largely unfamiliar right-brain
avenues open to us. We have not been
trained to understand this reality as valid. It
is the place of the present, of dreams and
images rather than words and ideas. Where
the realm of the left-brain seems so solid
and provable, the right-brain opens to us
all that is eternal, ephemeral and true. It is
a place of spacious, silent oneness. Unlike
the dualistic nature of the human world,
here our state of existence has no oppo-
site. It is from this interconnected being-
ness that we begin our human journey and
to which we return when our temporary
sojourn is complete.
In Jewish wisdom literature, we find the
suggestion that we each carry two slips of
paper in our pockets each day. On the first
is written: “It is for me the Universe was
created” and on the other “I am but a mote
of dust in the Universe.” Such a practice
acknowledges the universal “I am” of which
I am a part and at the same time reiterates
that the “me/mine separation” in which I
believe I live shows the insignificance of my
temporal story.
Each time we watch a sunset and feel
ourselves deeply moved by its beauty, let us
recall and revel in both our own temporary
human nature and at the same time the
eternal spirit in which we live.
Heather Mendel has focalized wom-
en’s spirituality groups for the past 15 years.
She can be contacted through her website at
www.wordartist.com, and also e-mailed
at heathermendel@charter.net or called at
544-4933.
18th Annual
Women’s Long Dance
September 18-21, 2008
Arroyo Grande Location

We invite women of all ages to the upcoming Long Dance, from young
women who have begun Moontime to Grandmother Elders. This ceremony
is an opportunity for unity, for women of power to gather together and
create something extraordinary. It is a place to cast your intentions into a
circle of profound energy. All circles are welcomed! Come daughters of
Earth Mother; put on your power and join together. Let there be magic!
t
Music Diana L. Carter
We will be dancing in the West on the Medicine Wheel.
t
Words
Send SASE for further information and/or registration form to:
t
Video t
Professional Writing
t
Creative Services Church of Empowerment
P.O. Box 76 Arroyo Grande, CA. 93421

Carter House Productions Or go to the website for downloadable forms:

www.churchofempowerment.org
(805) 549-0270 www.slowriter.com or call/email:

Hua Anwa 805.481.0892 Jade Bracken 805.772.5068 Skywalker 805.967.6537

Rosa2hua@aol.com Jadebracken@gmail.com Sowelu@silcom.com

Brothers come and join this lodge of Inquire about joining Home Lodge.
support and ceremony. Sit in circle This is the circle that supports the
Join us!
with the protectors of this sacred Lodges within the ceremony.
For a trip to Cancun, Mexico! Nov 2nd-7th round trip air
from SLO, 5 nights all inclusive at the Crown Paradise
space. Drum, story tell and counsel
Club Resort. All meals, all alcoholic drinks! Deposit by with other brothers.
July 15th & swim free with the dolphins!

Call 781-2630
July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
This Page Presented by the National Organization for Women
NOW News
Compiled by Angie King
The CA NOW state conference, held in
Hollywood in April, was a great success.
With the theme of “Women in the Public
Eye,” the conference focused on the oppor-
tunities in the new media for women to
advance, while acknowledging the gains we
have made in more traditional media. Key-
note speaker, Helen Reddy, shared her phi-
losophy, that as we become more conscious,
the world around us transforms as well. It
is our perception that drives the positive
change we want. Workshops included pan-
elists from the movies, both in front of and
behind the camera, from print media, here
and abroad, book and blog authors, all dis-
cussing the images of women and how we
can impact our society and culture. Thank
you to our delegate, Mary, for bringing us
back so much information. As always, each
workshop crafts a resolution from the dis-
cussion for action by the membership.
Check out canow.org for the details.
On the same topic of women in the
media, the NOW Foundation has noted
with alarm an increase in the sexism exhib-
ited by the mass media. Senator Clin-
ton’s campaign seemed to bring out the
worst in reporters, a hostility that spilled
over to become even physically threaten-
ing at times. And it’s not just those women
in the public eye, the recipients of the
remarks, who are hurt. Girls everywhere
hear that woman can’t be competent, their
shoes are out of style, their laugh is unla-
dylike, they’re ball busters, or wimpy and
weepy, everything except the fact that these
Get Involved — Join NOW!
San Luis Obispo Chapter
National Organization for Women
Every woman doesn’t have to join NOW, just the 142 million who are
discriminated against!
Name: _ _____________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
City/St/ZIP: ___________________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________________
Regular Dues ….$40
Sliding Scale…..$15-39 Amount enclosed: ________________________
Send your check and this form to
PO Box 1306
SLO, CA 93406
Chapter # CA 565
slonow@kcbx.net
The purpose of NOW is to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society NOW !
NOW Chapter # CA 565
PO Box 1306, SLO, CA 93406
SLONOW @ kcbx.net
http://groups.myspace.com/~slonow
are smart competent women seeking only
the same as their male counterparts. Girls
remember those messages, which sets us all
back another generation. Stop the media’s
misogynist venom, as Kim Gandy, NOW’s
president has put it. Sign the petition at
now.org/petition/media.
The national NOW membership con-
ference will be in Bethesda, Maryland, on
July 18-20. The board is asking approval of
a change in the bylaws to permit totally vir-
tual chapters. Members would pay dues and
meet with each other on line, and be eligi-
ble to send delegates to the national confer-
ence. This is seen as another organizing tool
to bring more members into the organiza-
tion. I guess we’ll wait to see what happens
to the land-based chapter membership as a
result.
Last issue, I reported on the approaching
middle age of Title IX, passed in 1972, and
intended to achieve parity in educational
opportunities, including sports, and how
the “good old boys” continue to find ways
to thwart that intent. CA NOW has been
active in investigating complaints and accu-
mulating evidence of violations for legisla-
tive testimony, and to aid plaintiffs bringing
suit against schools in violation. CA NOW
was instrumental in the case against Fresno
State University for firing 3 coaches who
tried to bring their school into compli-
ance. In March this year, the Office of Civil
Rights in San Francisco accepted for investi-
gation information CA NOW had brought
them showing Cabrillo College (near Santa
Cruz) was in violation, despite notification
to them to correct their policies.
General Meetings
11573 Los Osos Valley Rd, #B, SLO
3rd Tuesday of every month
at 6:00 pm
Coordinator’s Corner
By Angie King
The last two months have been really excit-
ing, following the Clinton/Obama cam-
paign. As you know, NOW PAC endorsed
Hillary Clinton very early on. NOW mem-
bers around the country worked very hard
helping her win state after state, debate after
debate, and delegate after delegate. I know
some people felt she had too many “nega-
tives,” but so does Obama, and now we’ll
see how that plays out. I hope those of you
who supported Hillary’s run at the White
House will now support the Democratic
candidate over McCain, and not be a sore
loser. The one thing we as women cannot
afford is to have four more years (or more)
of failed Republican policies – the war, of
course, but also the environment, domes-
tic programs like health care, including
children’s health care, and on and on. Let’s
close the old wounds and move forward!
The official nominating process will take all
summer, but by the September issue of this
paper, I hope we are all revved up and busy
campaigning!
But of course, the presidential race is
not the only issue to be decided in Novem-
NOW Calendar
July 2:
• Pres. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act,
1964
July 8:
• Birthday of Faye Wattleton, activist, 1943
July 6:
• Gay Pride in the Plaza
July 6:
• Birthday of Nancy Reagan, 1921
July 10:
• National Women’s Political Caucus holds
initial meeting, 1971
July 18-20:
• National NOW convention, Bethesda,
MD
July 15:
• NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
July 19:
• Seneca Falls convention, 1848
Election news
While you are reading this, you might also
be watching the Democratic and/or Repub-
lican national conventions, scheduled for
this summer. A lot of us got energized early
with the major rivalry between Senators
Clinton and Obama, and now we will unite
behind the promise of changed direction
for the country. There will obviously be
more to think about as the actual election
approaches, but here are some other items
of current interest.
State Initiatives: In California there
promises to be a bruising fight over two ini-
tiatives, not yet numbered; one tries, for yet
a third time, to amend the state constitu-
tion to limit a minor’s access to abortion
services; the other would “amend” the state
supreme court’s interpretation of the state
constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage.
Florida, Illinois, and Oregon have similar
measures banning any marriage other than
between a man and a woman.
Anti-choice propositions are also on the
ballot in a number of states besides Califor-
nia. In South Dakota, after last year’s ini-
tiative was struck down as unconstitutional,
opponents of abortion are back with a sec-
ond attempt. In Oregon and Colorado,
measures are still qualifying, while in Mis-
souri opponents failed to get enough sig-
natures to qualify, both for an anti-choice
measure and for one against affirmative
action. Other states contemplating anti-
NOWNews 13
ber. There are a number of local races that
can determine the course of local politics,
and there are a number of women running
for seats on city councils. SLO NOW plans
to showcase these women candidates at our
annual Women’s Equality Day celebration
(see related article). This event takes place
August 26th, giving us all time before the
election to support our favorite candidates.
This is a chance to have a close-up-and-
personal time with these women, asking
them questions such as: why do women get
involved in politics these days; how does it
feel as a woman to run for office; is it dif-
ferent from the experiences felt by men;
has politics changed at the local level with
a woman candidate for major office, what
issues are you passionate about; and any-
thing else you and they will discuss. Join us
at Meadow Park for this event on August
26.
Of course, we are also participating in
the GALA Pride in the Plaza on July 6 and
Day with Creative Women in the Mission
Plaza on August 9. Please help by signing
up through e-mail for a shift at either of
these events (slonow@kcbx.net).
July 21:
• Birthday of Janet Reno, 1938
July 24:
• Birthday of Bella Abzug, 1920
August 3:
• Birthday, Maggie Kuhn, founder, Grey
Panthers, 1905
August 6:
• Women’s Peace Day, anniversary of
Hiroshima bombing, 1945
August 9:
• Day with Creative Women, Mission
Plaza
August 13:
• Birthday of Lucy Stone, 1818
August 19:
• NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
August 26:
• Women’s Equality Day
affirmative action initiatives are Colorado,
Arizona and Nebraska.
NOW PAC has endorsed 23 women
and men running in state/national races,
including, in California, Jackie Speier, who
currently won a special election to fill Rep.
Tom Lantos’ seat and faces re-election in
November. See the entire list and how you
can help at nowpacs.org.
EMILY’s List has targeted 6 state races:
Kay Hagan for the US Senate in North
Carolina against GOP incumbent Elizabeth
Dole; Jeanne Shaheen for US Senate in
New Hampshire against GOP incumbent
John Sununu; Bev Perdue for governor of
North Carolina for an open seat; Jill Long
Thompson for governor of Indiana against
the incumbent GOP Friend of Bush; Ann
Kirkpatrick for US House in Arizona with
no viable GOP opponent; and Kay Barnes
for US House in Missouri against a GOP
incumbent who rails against her “San Fran-
cisco values.” NOW PAC has also endorsed
Barnes.
All these women running for major
offices ties into our planned program
for Women’s Equality Day on August 26
(see article) With all these women running
for office and the various ballot measures
affecting our own survival, we encourage
all of you to become active in this election
cycle. Your life or that of your daughter
depends on it.
14 Events&Workshops Wometn’s Press | July & August 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

Bulletins
Women’s Empowerment &
Self Defense Workshops
The Sexual Assault Recov-
ery and Prevention (SARP)
Center proudly offers its
Women’s Empowerment and Self Defense
Workshop to all women in our community,
ages 12 and above. This workshop helps
participants to maximize their chances of
surviving a sexual assault and learn ways to
successfully avoid one all together. Work-
shops follow the Women’s Empowerment
Model of Self Defense and focus on iden-
tifying and using our unique strengths as
women. Participation in self-defense classes
encourages you to think in terms of options
and choices, develops your awareness and
assertiveness skills, and provides practice
for physical self-defense techniques. A good
self-defense class will expand the way you
think about violence prevention, help you
deal with your fears, and enable you to feel
more empowered in your life.
gram offers options, techniques,
and a way of analyzing situations,
including a full range of strategy-
building. A program may point
what usually works best in most
situations, but each situation is
unique, and the final decision rests
with the person actually confronted
by the situation.
Workshops are held once a month on a
Monday evening from 6 to 10 pm. The loca-
tion alternates each month between Paso
Robles and Shell Beach. They are open to
all women regardless of athletic abilities.
We are currently developing an
Advanced Women’s Empowerment and Self
Defense Workshop, where we will provide
more in-depth training in awareness, asser-
tiveness, and physical techniques. Partici-
pants can include any woman age 12 and
above who has completed our beginning
level Self Defense Workshop. The first
Advanced Workshop will be held in August
in Paso Robles.
Although the workshops are free, it is
important to sign up ahead of time. Call
Gillian or Lindsay at the SARP Center for
the third Wednesday, July 16th from
ner, is $30.00 for Members and $40.00 for
Non-Members for tickets purchased before
July 21th
6-10PM.
5-Cities GREENDrinks is a new
Monthly GreenHappening (1st SLO
The guest speaker will be Kristin John-
son, founder of MOXIE Market Share
County Affiliate of International Green-
Drinks.org, since March ‘08).
Development (www.moxiemarketshare.
We’re opening to take tickets from 6-10.
com), a lead generation service that part-
Featuring Our Educational FUNDrum
ners with B2B companies to capture rel-
Circle led by Francesca Bolognini of Cam-
evant market share nationwide through
bria (her Remo Drums will be available)
effective prospecting strategies.
and Steve Paige of Baywood Samba, Los
For more information or to RSVP
Osos.
for this event, please call Jacky Lopez at
Join us for:
805-439-1013, by email at: events@ccwnet-
• Dancing with wild abandon
work.com, or book online at the website.
• Delicious food by Honeymoon Cafe
www.ccwnetwork.com.
• Mixing it up with like-minded
All net proceeds benefit CASA (Court
• Folks who just want to have green fun!
Appointed Special Advocates).
Write-In ballot admission tickets are $20
(tickets give you have option to write in
the name of your favored non-profit each
month (Women’s Press!), 5-categories, to
receive $5 of your ticket price)

**Now Offering** Senior Self Defense!
This class is geared toward specific risks and
issues of sexual assault only faced by senior
women. Physical moves incorporate more
physical awareness, mind/body empower-
ment, and holistic movement.
Remember:
#1 Women do not ask for, cause, invite
or deserve to be assaulted. Women
and men sometimes exercise poor
judgment about behavior, but that
does not make them responsible for
the attack.
#2 Whatever a woman’s decision in
a given self-defense situation, her
decision to survive the best way she
can must be respected.
#3 Good self-defense programs do not
tell an individual what she “should”
or “should not” do. A good pro-
class details and to reserve your place in our
next workshop.
Remember: A woman’s best weapon is
herself: her mind, her voice, and her body!
Learn a different approach
for generating sales
Central Coast Women’s Network meeting
August 7th, 2008
5:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Glen Oak Pavilion - Botanical Garden (El
Chorro Regional Park, across from Cuesta
College). The meeting, which includes din-
Dominoes
Growing Grounds Downtown Store is
expanding its hours! We’re now open from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. Continued from Page 10
to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The Store is located at
ing. I know legally I had to hold on
956 Chorro Street, San Luis Obispo (across
to them for at least seven years, but
the street from the Mission). You can also
it’s now been twelve. I sucked it up
visit our booth at the San Luis Obispo
and tossed them into a trash bag.
Farmer’s Market, downtown San Luis
The time had come to let go. My
Obispo, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Call (805)
only thought was, “Why didn’t I do this
544-4967 for more information.
years ago?”
So four days later, a simple project
like finding a couple of drawers from
5-Cities GREEN Drinks
a stranger has led me to a lighter heart,
Come on out to SLO DOWN PUB and a purging of past drama, an organized
help us Grow the Green! office, and a sigh of relief. The domi-
1200 Grand Avenue, Arroyo Grande noes fell in the right direction. Now if I
BRAVEvents would like to invite you can just find an industrial size shredder.
to July’s 5-Cities GREENDrinks, (5-CGD),

D.A.M. stands for the three award-winning artists: Dana

The show will take place
Another D.A.M. Art Show Hixson, Anne Godsey, and Marylou Falstreau, and they will

From left to right:

be having “Another D.A.M. Art Show” on July 26th and
27th. “We are friends and yet we each have unique styles July 26th and 27th


Fan by Dana Hixson
Boats by Anne Godsey and
as artists,” says Marylou. “Kim creates beautiful oil paint-
ings and is well known for her depictions of luminous jelly at the home studio of
Roses by Marylou Falstreau fish. Anne paints with acrylics and is known for her bright,
contemporary land and seascapes. My mixed media paint- Anne Godsey,
ings are intuitive and have a spiritual and playful quality to
them.” All three artists have won awards in the county as 423 Rennel,
well as outside of the area. Because they are women, they
have decided to share a percentage of their proceeds with North Morro Bay,
the Women’s Shelter Program of SLO County and the
SLO High School Girls Basketball Program. “We believe from 11am until 5pm.
strongly in supporting the women in our community and
feel this is a great opportunity to do so.”

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July & August 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Resources 15
ABUSE Hospice of SLO County (inc. miscarriage/stillbirth Planned Parenthood
Adults Molested as Children Support Group (AMAC) support) 544.2266 or 434.1164 SLO 549.9446
Safe and Sober Support Group Stroke Support Group
545.8888
Center for Alternatives to Domestic Violence 473.6507 471.8102 (SLO)
Senior Peer Counseling Caregivers of Stroke Survivors
781.6406
North County Women’s Shelter & Resource Center, Free, trained in-home counseling for 60+ 544.2266 (SLO)
547.7025, ext. 15 Women’s Support/Therapy v (general)
(inc. domestic violence support groups)
461.1338 Talk/Listen - Emotional support 534.1101
489.5481 Women’s Healthcare Specialists
Rape Survivors Support Group, SLO
545.8888 Transformations Counseling Center 544.4883
SARP (Sexual Assault Recovery & Prevention) Free monthly workshops 541.7908 POLITICAL
545.8888 FINANCE/BUSINESS Code Pink
Support Group for Sexual Assault Survivors Consumer Credit Counseling Services ososousaville@aol.com
545.8888 800.540.2227 Commission on Status of Women
Women’s Shelter Program of SLO 545.8412; Dawn Williams
781.6400 www.womensshelterslo.org GAY & LESBIAN Democratic Women United
ADDICTIONS Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast 541.4252
AA Meeting
541.4252 League of Women Voters
PFLAG.Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays 543.2220
541.3211 438.3889 NOW (National Organization for Women)
Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) SOL (Single Older Lesbians)
498.2176 slonow@kcbx.net
Mostly socializing! Call 474.9405
Al-Anon READERS/WRITERS
534.9204 HOSPICE Adult Literacy
Cambria Connection (12 step support) AIDS Bereavement Group (Hospice) 541-4219
927.1654 544.2266 Creative Writing Group
Casa Solana Hospice of SLO County 748-2676; contact Gloria
Women’s Recovery Home 481.8555 544.2266 and 434.1164 Nightwriters
Compulsive eaters Anonymous, H.O.W.Concept Hospice Partners of the Central Coast 549.9656; contact Shirley Powell
546.1178 782.8608 Sisters in Crime
Drug & Alcohol Services http://SinC-CCC.blogspot.com
781.4275 JOBS/CAREERS
800.549.7730 AARP 788.2643 SENIORS
Overeaters Anonymous Cal Poly Foundation Adult Day Care
541.3164 Jobline 756.7107 544.1414 (SLO); 748.9070 (Arroyo Grande);
SCA, SLAA & SAA (Sex, Love & Romance Addictions) Cal Poly University 434.2081 (Templeton); 927.4290 (Cambria)
461.6084 http://calpolyjobs.org 756.1533 Adult Protective Services
TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Cuesta College 781.1790
929.1789 http://www.cuesta.edu Jobline 546.3127 Computerooters:
Women for Sobriety The Creekside Career Center Computer help: 489.6230
http://www.womenforsobriety.org www.slocareers.org 788.2631 or 788.2690 Department of Social Services:
215.536.8026 Department of Rehabilitation In-Home Support 781.1790
549.3361 Nursing help for the terminally ill 781.5540
CHILDREN & FAMILIES Mission Community Services Corporation Elder and Dependent Adult Advocacy and Outreach –
Birth and Baby Resource Center Women’s Business Partners Victim Witness Assistance Center
546.3755 www.bbrn.org 595.1356 www.mcscorp.org 781-5821
Childcare Resource Connection Private Industry Council (PIC) Elder Law, Geraldine E. Champion, Attorney
541.2272 or 800.727.2272 www.jobhunt.org 788.2601 542.0900
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Foster Grandparents.Senior Companions
“A child’s voice in Court in SLO County” LEGAL 782.9200
541.6542 Core Mediation Services Senior Ballroom Dance club
Children’s Services Network 544.6334 medeee8@aol.com 489.5481 dg17@juno.com
781.1847 District Attorney’s Office – Victim Witness Center Senior Peer Counseling
First 5: Children & Families Commission 781.5821 Free, trained in.home counseling for 60+
781.4058; ask for Susan Hughs Family Law Facilitator 547.7025 ext. 15
Homeschooling in SLO County (HSC) 546.3769
462.0726; ask for Barbara Lawyers Referral Services/Legal Aid Alternative SPIRITUAL
La Clinica De Tolosa 238.5334 788.2099 Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment
La Leche League Pro Per Divorce Workshop 995.1390; www.spiritualcircle.org
489.9128 544.9313 Awakening Interfaith Spiritual Community
Migrant Childcare Program Senior Legal Services Meditation Monday evenings 7-7:45 pm
544.4355 and 466.3444 543.5140 Open to all. 772-0306 awakeninginterfaith.org
MOMS Club of South SLO county Hungry Hearts Spiritual Community
473. 2548 MEDICAL SUPPORT/SERVICES
RC liturgy with womanpriest 546.8672
Partnership for Children ALS Support Group (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Meditation Group
541.8666; ask for Beth 227.4785 Mondays, 7:30–8:30 PM; 772.0306
Real F.A.C.T.S. (Forum on Abused Children) Alzheimer’s Support New Beginnings Church
460.9016 534.9234 (LO); 547.3830 (SLO); Every Sunday, Coalesce Bookstore, MB
Social Services 226.8669 (Templeton) Self-Realization Fellowship
781.1600 547.3830, 534.9234 (SLO/Los Osos) Sunday Services 995-1599
Support for Kids Coping with Domestic Violence American Cancer Society
473.6507 Paso Robles 238.9657 WOMEN’S CENTERS/SHELTERS
Anorexia Nervosa & Bulimia Support Group Homeless Shelter
EMERGENCY/CRISIS 541.9113 781-3993
Hotline Arthritis Foundation Housing Authority
www.slohotline.org 800.549.8989 892.5556 543.4478
Sexual & Rape Prevention (SARP) Cancer/ Breast Cancer Support Groups North County Women’s Resource Center, Shelter
545.8888 or 800.656.HOPE (4673) 543.1481 ext. 3 for information 461.1338
Temporary Restraining Order & Victim Witness Caregivers of Aging Parents Prado Day Center (for the homeless)
Program 781.5821 547.3830 (AG); 927.4290 (Cambria); 786.0617
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT 226.8669 (PR); 547.3830 (SLO) Women’s Community Center, SLO
Celiac Disease Support Group 544.9313
A.D.A.P.T. (Aid in Divorce Adjustment Problems Today) 226-9893 Women’s Shelter Program of SLO
543.0388 Endometriosis Association 549.8989 (crises), 781.6401 (business)
Alzheimer/Dementia Resource Center www.endometriosisassn.org www.womensshelterslo.org
434.2081 or 534.9234 or 800.443.1236 Enhancement, Inc. (for breast cancer survivors)
CALL–Concerned Agoraphobics Learning to Live 771.8640 www.enhancementinc.com OTHER WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
543.3764 EOC Health Services Clinics Altrusa International, Inc.
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) no or low cost reproductive health services 481.1039; Cici Wynn, President
542.0577 (SLO) 481.5093 (Grover Beach) 544.2478 (SLO); 489.4026 (Arroyo Grande) American Association of University Women
927.1654 (Cambria) 466.8600 (North County) Healthworks of the Central Coast 781-0922; Karen
Community Counseling Center No or low cost reproductive health services Camping Women
543.7969 542.0900 440.2723 www.campingwomen.org
Dealing With Divorce IC Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome Hadassah.SLO
544.9313 3rd Thursday, SLO, 7 -9 pm 464-0564 543.9452
DePression and Bipolar Support Alliance Group Long-term Care Ombudsman Services of SLO County
927.3703 785.0132
OTHER GROUPS & GATHERINGS
Divorce Discussion Group Lymphedema Education & Support Group Central Coast Peace and Environmental Council
489.2990, saintbarnabas@sbcglobal.net 2nd Monday, 4-5 pm, 782-9300 544.3399 or 783.2383
Eating Disorders Support Group Parkinson’s Support Groups Compassion & Choices (or Final Exit)
546-3774; free, meets weekly in SLO 466.7226 (Atascadero/Templeton) 800.247.7421 or 489-5481
Grief Awareness Group 481.7424, 473.1714 (Arroyo Grande)
489.2990, saintbarnabas@sbcglobal.net 544.1342 (SLO) Please send additions, corrections or deletions to:
womensPress.slo@gmail.com or leave a message at
the WCC: 805.544.9313. Last update 07/09/08.
 Near Downtown
Deluxe Continental Breakfast
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Fitness Room
Guest Laundry
Suites
SAN LUIS OBISPO
2050 Garfield Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Toll Free: 800.544.7250
805.549.9911 Fax: 805.546.0734
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All three locations are open: Mon.-Sun. 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM
© 2008 Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated. Member SIPC.
570 Higuera St., #130 • San Luis Obispo, Ca 93401- tel. 805.544.0861
New Locations:
325 Pier Ave. • Oceano, CA 93425 • tel. 805.473.2383
In Avila Hotsprings • San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 • tel. 805.627.0288
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A Children’s Store FLUTE INSTRUCTION

570 Higuera St. Suite 190
in the Creamery in SLO
baby & toddler clothing, furniture,
10:30 - 5:00 Tues.-Sat.
Tel: (805) 593 0226
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805-748-6087
Current Member:
San Luis Obispo Symphony
San Luis Chamber Orchestra