CERN Women`s Club Newsletter 38th Year, No.3

CERN Women’s Club
Newsletter
38th Year, No.3
June 2012 - September 2012
Inside this issue:
Minutes of the AGM
2-7
Coffee Morning Récap
8-9
Spring Jumble Sale
10
Coffee Morning
Schedule
11
Journey to Madrid
12-13
Miscellaneous
14-16
Coming up soon...
June
July
12th
l
Annua
Club
Lunch
& Au
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The C
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holid is on
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September 11
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Dead ticles f e is:
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Dec
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31st
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CERN Women’s Club
Case Postale CERN
CH1211
Genève 23
Email: [email protected]
Registration
Coffee Morning
Attention!
Website
http://cern.ch/Club-WomensClub
Newsletter Team
Coordinators:
Nathalie Schneider
Birgitte Spanggaard
[email protected]
Translations:
Danielle Haenni Kubischta
Victoria Tranquille
Proofreading:
Debbie Groby
Françoise Gaudin
Do you have a special talent?
Are you skilled in a language, sport or art?
The Cern Womens Club is looking for teachers
to offer new classes available both daytime and evening.
If you are interested don’t hesitate to contact
Brittany Johnson :
[email protected]
Minutes of the AGM, May 15 2012
1. OPENING
The General Assembly was convened at least
fifteen days in advance and the quorum of a
minimum of 20 members was reached: 47
members were present and 44 proxies were received. The meeting was therefore validated.
Maria Kienzle opened it at 9:35.
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF 17 MAY 2011
The minutes of the General Assembly of 17 May 2011, which were published in the
newsletter edition of June-July 2011, were approved unanimously.
3. REPORTS
a) President’s Report
The committee was almost entirely new this year. The only committee member
who continued from last year was Ivana Rosinska, our treasurer. She has held
this position since 2007, and we thank her very much for all her help.
The Club currently has 402 members, of which 117 are associate members.
The security at the entrance to CERN is becoming stricter, and this is why some
Ordinary members, who for years had never had to present their access card, were
refused entry. We must therefore make sure we follow the correct procedures: Ordinary members must obtain a family access card from CERN, and Associate members must fill in an “EXTERNAL” registration form which must then be signed by
the President. The cards will only be valid for one year.
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CERN Women’s Club
The language classes, art courses and other activities such as gymnastics and
walking are going well. We have kept all the language classes in the schedule, including those with only a small number of students, in order to maintain the rich
variety of classes available in the Club. I would like to thank the teachers who
have continued to teach with only a small number of students in the class. We
have also had some new classes such as the Art History class by Miriam Van
Praagh and the class on wines by Kat Morse. Some proposals for new classes will
be presented in item 9 of the Agenda.
The Coffee mornings have been well attended, especially the one organized by our
German friends, which was a great success. Next year we plan to have a Coffee
morning with a Scandinavian theme, prepared by our Danish, Scandinavian and
Finnish friends. Jean Roderick is trying to set up a group of Chinese women who
are new to the area, but so far has had limited success.
I would like to thank Donatella Bona and Laura Fantechi for organizing the Christmas and Spring sales which raised money for the children of “Terre des Hommes”.
Many thanks also to those who contributed to the success of the sales, either by
donations or holding a stand at the sale, or helping with the preparation and the
cleaning afterwards. In the future Laura would like to form a committee of several
members to help organize these activities which involve a great deal of work over a
short period of time.
The Sales generated 7240 CHF. This amount was enough to provide an operation
for a child at the HUG Hospital in Geneva.
In 2011, 246 children’s lives were
saved thanks to the opportunity for them to have treatment in Europe. These children ranged from a few months old to 18 years old, roughly half were girls and half
boys and they came from 11 countries in Africa and Iraq. The Association is in
need of volunteers to take the children from Geneva to the convalescent home in
Massongex in Valais after their operation. They also need child-minders to visit
the children who are in the hospital in Geneva.
38th Year, No.3
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Minutes of the AGM, May 15 2012 ( continued)
Next year the beneficiary of the Christmas and Spring sales will be “Nous Aussi”.
This is an association in Vetraz-Monthoux in Haute-Savoie. The association was
founded in 1959 by parents of mentally handicapped children who had no other
institution to attend.
Today the association has many institutions: first of all for children (special school,
autism section, professional training…) and for mentally handicapped adults (a
help centre for work and several types of accommodation depending on the degree
of independence of the individual). The Association is recognized by the French
authorities and welcomes youths and adults from Haute Savoie, but also from the
Pays de Gex, which has very few such institutions.
Ivana Rosinska will end her position as treasurer this year and we would like to
thank her for all the years of hard work she has contributed to the Club. We will
therefore need to elect a new treasurer and two auditors for 2012-2013.
b) Treasurer’s Report
Ivana Rosinska presented the financial report. She explained each item on the financial spreadsheet.
The Christmas Sale and Spring Jumble Sale raised a total of CHF 7240.
c) Auditors’ Report
Donatella Bona audited the accounts by Ivana Rosinska. She proposed the approval of the accounts and her honorable discharge.
4. APPROVAL OF THE 2011/2012 ACCOUNTS
The accounts for 2011/2012 were approved unanimously.
5. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
In the election of Treasurer for 2012/2013.
Véronique Paris is the only candidate.
The treasurer was approved unanimously.
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CERN Women’s Club
6. PRESENTATION OF BUDGET FOR 2012/2013
Ivana Rosinska presented the Budget for 2012/2013.
7. APPROVAL OF BUDGET 2012/2013
The budget was approved unanimously.
8. ELECTION OF 2 AUDITORS FOR 2012/2013
Ursula Freudenreich, Anna Lustermann and Ivana Rosinska were elected unanimously.
9. PROPOSALS FOR NEW CLASSES OR ACTIVITIES
Laura Fantechi presented the report of the Group Leaders’ meeting which took
place on 7th May 2012, presided by Brittany Johnson, the Activities Coordinator.
All the classes are going well and almost all of them will continue next year. There
will no longer be a jewelry creation class, but Jean Roderick will offer another class
in Chinese for beginners.
There have been several proposals for new classes. Vanessa Maretti proposes a
Creative Art class, including artistic embroidery, clay, crocheting, knitting or decoupage. We have also had some proposals for cooking classes, and also an astrology class and a class on organizing travel.
Vanina Gilomen would like to continue the Stretching Dance class but another
day, as the Friday afternoon class had too few participants.
We plan to continue to offering Italian classes, and to this end Frederica
Marchitelli will offer three classes: beginners, intermediate and a discussion class
similar to the French one which is held every two weeks. The committee would still
be interested hearing any other proposals as we would like to continue to offer our
members a rich variety of activities.
38th Year, No.3
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Minutes of the AGM, May 15 2012 (Continued)
10. PRESENCE OF MEN IN THE CLUB
Maria Kienzle introduced the subject of men in the Club. There are already a small
number of men enrolled in some of our classes. Until this year they were paying
the class fees but not the enrollment fee for the Club as they were not allowed
membership. The Steering Committee decided this year that men should also pay
the membership fee if they are participating in the Club’s activities.
Rachel Bray, who is the Director of the CCC (CERN
Clubs Coordination) joined the meeting at 10:15. She
presented the position of CERN with regard to the
Rules and the Code of Conduct which apply to everyone using the CERN site. She praised the CWC for its
role in welcoming people new to CERN and the area,
but noted that in accordance with CERN policy there
must be no discrimination as to who is allowed to
participate in its activities. She therefore encouraged
the CWC to welcome men to participate in the Club
and to potentially change its name to reflect this
change.
Following an animated discussion between the members present it was decided
that:
a) The decision of the Steering Committee to require men participating in classes
to become a member and pay the membership fee was validated. They will pay as
ordinary members, if they are CERN members.
b) The issue of changing the policy of the club which could involve a change in the
statutes was referred to the General Assembly of 2013.
Jenny Van Hove confirmed that there could be a vote by email to ensure that at
least 50% of the Club members vote on the matter.
c) It is not necessary to change the name of the Club for the moment.
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CERN Women’s Club
11. OTHER BUSINESS
Rachel Bray confirmed that CERN wishes to change the location of the Club
rooms. New rooms are to be built near to the restaurant Le Smash (by the Globe),
however there is still no date for the proposed move. She is collecting information
from all the Clubs with regard to how many rooms/ how much space they need for
their activities.
Nicole Comte will take reservations for the end-of-year lunch which will take place
on June 12, 2012 at Restaurant “Le Physalis” in Prevessin.
A beautiful flower arrangement was presented
to Ivana Rosinska in appreciation of her five
years as Treasurer.
We also thank Maria Kienzle in appreciation of her first year as President.
12. CLOSING
The meeting closed at 11:10 and was followed by an aperitif.
Helen Incandela
38th Year, No.3
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Coffee Morning Recap
Presentation of cheque to
Mr Pascal Pittet from
Terre des Hommes to the
project “Journey towards
life”
Coffee Morning
German Theme
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CERN Women’s Club
Spring Jumble Sale
Annual General Meeting
& End of Year Drink
Annual Club Lunch
Page 9
38th Year, No.3
Spring Jumble Sale—April 24, 2012
Our annual Jumble Sale was held as
usual in the entrance hall of Restaurant
no.2, on Tuesday 24th April.
The volunteers arrived at 7.30 a.m. to
prepare the stalls, for the Sale to begin at
9.00 a.m. We had many books for sale
and were short of space for displaying
them appropriately
The Jumble Sale raised 1351.65 francs
As for the Christmas Sale, the profits will be donated to the association “Terre des Hommes”, to
finance the project “Voyage vers la vie (Journey
towards life)”. The aim of this project is to provide the transport for surgery in Geneva to children from countries where they have no access
to required medical treatment.
Many thanks to all who helped in any way with
the Sale, as well as to all who purchased.
A special thank you to Avril, Danielle, Donatella, Evelyne, Federica, Helen, Lynda,
Mara,
Nicole, Vanessa, Marta and Victoria,
without whom the Sale would not have been
possible….
38th Year, No.3
Page 10
Coffee Mornings…
are held in the club rooms, Building 504, 1st floor
from 9:00am to 11:00am (Restaurant No. 2)
June
12th
l
Annua
Club
Lunch
June 12th at 12:30 we will have our
Annual club lunch at «The Physalis » in
Prévessin
July
In July and August the Club is on holday. However the walking groups are
very active during the summer and all
are welcome to join in.
& Au
gust
The C
lub
holid is on
ay
er 11
emb
Sept
n
tratio
Regis
rning
e Mo
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f
o
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Registration Coffee Morning. You can
meet all the members of the Committee
and the Group Leaders.
You can find all the information about
the Club Activities and enroll in the
classes.
CERN Women’s Club
A JAUNT TO MADRID
Visit Madrid in a weekend? A difficult task?
Why not? Alicia, our Spanish teacher, a native of this city, had promised it to us, and on
this Friday 2nd March, fifteen of us from the
three courses ( beginners, intermediate and
advanced ) found ourselves in Madrid, staying
in a four star hotel in the city centre, close to
the famous Plaza Mayor and the just as famous Puerta del Sol.
Just enough time to put down our suitcases
and off we went for our first Spanish night.
First of all a dinner fit for a king in one of the
best rated restaurants in the city for its décor
( an old mill ) and its specialities. A selection
of tapas for starter were followed by a
“cordero asado” ( roast lamb ), all washed
down by a Rioja wine which was much appreciated by the whole table. Needless to say
tongues began to wag….in Spanish of-course!
By way of digestive, a long walk to admire the
Palacio Real and the Catedral de la Almudena
where one can admire the city lights below.
La Puerta del Sol
Our first night
In bed at 2.00a.m. ( oh those Spanish nights! ), we were up again at 7.00a.m. for a hearty
breakfast followed by a ride on a tourist bus.
The first impression was that of a rather rigorous city because of its classic style buildings
and tall modern towers built at the beginning of the 20 th century. Fountains and arches
rivalled in splendour in the numerous roundabouts and large avenues in the city. Seeing
the crowds ( tourists but mainly Madrid natives ) strolling on the Puerta del Sol square,
chatting in groups or encouraging the numerous street artists with a coin, one felt good
where time is taken to live fully.
We made a short halt at the Museo del Jamon
(Ham Museum ) to taste assorted delicacies, especially the delicious “Jamon de Bellota” and the
“lomo” with the same denomination, followed by a
visit to the Royal Palace in the afternoon programme.
Museo del Jamon
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CERN Women’s Club
Amongst the interesting features of this imposing 18 th century baroque palace, are two
“Chinese” morning rooms with walls completely clad with multicoloured porcelain motifs.
The royal armory harbours an important collection of ancient weapons, such as muskets,
arquebuses, sabres and cannon. The many suits of armour show how small the knights
were, not forgetting the children and horses, that were also caparisoned in iron!
Beside the Royal Palace, is the more recent Cathedral of la Almudena: the construction
started at the end of the 19th century and was only completed in 1993. It is dedicated to
the Virgin of la Almudena, patron saint of the city, who occupies a place of honour in the
cathedral on a raised and delicately elaborate chancel.
Cathedral of la Almudena
The Virgin of la Almudena
After passing through the Barrio de las Letras ( the literary neighbourhood where
Cervantes and all the poets from the Spanish Golden Age resided ), stopped for a second
short, gastronomic halt, elbowing our way through many people to eat “churros con
chocolate” ( deep-fried dough strips dipped in thick chocolate sauce).
Another late night was filled with unexpected events ( on Monique’s request, the restaurant owner offered us a glass of champagne in the company of some opera singers who let
out their voices in his restaurant ), and the next morning each one chose which museum
to visit: the Prado to admire the luminosity which emanates from Goya’s painting “Las
Meninas”; the Reina Sofia to be rooted for a long moment in front of Picasso’s gigantic canvas “Guernica”; the Thyssen Museum which exposes a prestigious collection of Occidental
paintings from the earliest times to the 20th century. Finally, others simply preferred to
walk in the Parque del Retiro and lose themselves in the transparency of the “Palacio de
Cristal” ( Crystal Palace ).
These wonders were certainly just a taste of all that can be seen in Madrid. We all promised ourselves to return one day! A big thank you to Alicia for having organised this trip so
efficiently and for having accompanied us in the discovery of this beautiful city.
In front of the Prado
The bear,
symbol of the city
38th Year, No.3
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OBITUARIES
Obituary
Beryl Chesi
It is with sadness that we inform you of the passing of Beryl Chesi, a long-standing member of our club, who died suddenly on 6th March 2012.
For many years, Beryl was an enthusiastic member of the walking group. With a passion
for nature, she delighted us one spring coffee morning a few years ago with an exhibition
on local flora - a wonderful display of wild flower pictures, each detailing its name and
habitat. The collection had been put together over the years of hiking in the Jura with the
Club.
Beryl’s name has appeared on the first page of the club newsletter since 2002, when she
became a member of the Newsletter Team. She had an eye for detail which was indispensible when checking the proofs for typing errors and for inconsistencies between the English and French versions. Her name even appears on our current February-May 2012 issue.
We will always remember her as a quiet, considerate and extremely kind person.
We extend our sincere condolences to Beryl’s husband Enrico
and their two daughters.
Goodbye Madeleine!
We received with sadness the news of the death of Madeleine Gervaise. We said Goodbye
to her in the church of Pouilly in France on 8th March 2012.
For several years Madeleine had participated in our French discussion group, where she
was much appreciated for her kindness, her good humour and her optimism.
Despite the hardships that came her way ( the deaths of her husband in 2007 and of her
son in 2010 and her own failing health ), she was very brave and always had a smile on
her face. A month ago, she had to come to terms with leaving her house and moving into
a nursing home. She will be greatly missed.
During these sad days, our thoughts are with her daughter Sophie, her daughter-in-law
and her grandchildren, her family whom she cherished and who accompanied her until
the moment of departure on her final journey…...
A.H.
38th Year, No.3
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A
Library
of
Books in English
Only 50 CHF for unlimited access to a collection of 4500 books:
general fiction, nonfiction and children’s books
The Club is conveniently located in barrack
564 and is accessible to members
at all times.
Membership is open to all:
active staff and external members (50 CHF),
retired staff and subcontractors (30 CHF),
summer students (10CHF).
For more information about joining,
visit our website …
http://cern.ch/englishbookclub
38th Year, No.3
Page 15
The Library in English
3 rue de Monthoux, 1201 Geneva
(Opposite the Grand Hotel Kempinski, the former Hilton Hotel)
Children’s Story Hour
Wednesdays 15:00 to 16:00 school calendar year
For children aged 3 to 7 years
Free and open to the public
Every week during the school calendar year the Library in
English holds a story hour on Wednesdays.
You don’t need to be a member of the library to bring your children along. With over 3000 titles in the children’s section of the
Library, this is a great place for your children to discover new
books.
Join The Library in English
Borrow books all year round for a subscription fee equivalent to six paperbacks at the Payot!
The library has 14,000 titles including a large selection of new English and
American bestsellers,
a substantial assortment of quality books for children of all ages,
and an excellent collection of audio books!
For more information, call 022 732 80 97 or e-mail:
[email protected]
Running out of book shelf space?
For our book sales
We welcome donation of English adult and children books throughout the year.
Donations can be left at the Library at any time during opening hours.
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CERN Women’s Club