The speaker for the September program of the Evening Branch of the Women’s Alliance (EBWA) will be Kelly de la Rocha, poet, writer and creator of poemRENOVATION.com.  

Poet and journalist Kelly de la Rocha dismantled old self-portrait poems during the pandemic lockdown, rearranged them and found a new path forward. The digital daily word puzzle that emerged from her experiment has evolved into an educational tool used in local schools. Kelly will share her ever-evolving odyssey and guide us through a poem RENOVATION how-to. Then, we’ll all have a chance to make and share our own poem RENOVATIONs! Please bring a smartphone or iPad to the presentation if possible. Alternative ways of participating will be provided for those who don’t have an electronic device.  — All who identify as women are invited to join us for this unique and inspiring program.

We will serve coffee, tea, and dessert before the program.  We urge you to arrive by 6:45 pm (or 6:30, if you’d like to have more time to socialize).  Use the back door to the church, off the parking lot.  We want everyone to have time to greet each other and settle in before Kelly’s talk begins shortly after 7 pm.  Following the presentation, there will be time for questions.  Networking (when each woman may share something of interest with the group) will begin around 8:15, and the meeting will end no later than 9 pm.

While reservations are not required, in order to have some idea of how many people to expect, it would be helpful if you would email Gabrielle Reals at ellegr3@gmail.com by Tuesday, September 26, to let her know you are coming.  (If you forget to do this, we urge you to come anyway!)  As a reminder, there will be no charge for EBWA programs this year, but in order for us to be able to pay our speakers an honorarium, we need your help.  Please consider subscribing by bringing a $30 check made out to EBWA to the September meeting (or contacting Carol Furman at cfurm13@gmail.com to learn where to send your check).  Those who have subscribed may attend the in-person meetings this year for free.  All others will be asked to contribute $5 toward our costs, at the door.

Looking ahead: Our October 26 program will feature Charity Thorne, Executive Director of the Schenectady County Public Library.  She will speak about “Banned Books: Not in My Backyard.”  To see the complete calendar of EBWA Programs for 2023-2024, please click here.