Branch News, Spring 2025
Southwest Florida Hosts Author Annabelle Tomatich
By Cornelia S. De Dona, Branch Secretary
Kudos to our Vice President Susan Lindsay for organizing our author talk with Annabelle Tomatich at Christof ’s in Fort Myers. Our private room bulged with members and guests eager to possess signed copies of her book.
Tomatich grew up in Fort Myers and spent 18 years as a food writer, editor, and restaurant critic for the local News Press. She still lives in Fort Myers with her husband and two children, and is currently working on a cookbook.
My first impression of Annabelle Tomatich, author of “The Mango Tree, A Memoir of Florida, Fruit and Felony,” came from listening to her narrate her book on Audible. It took me back to my 38 years of living in Hawaii. Hawaiian culture taught me to accept and value the many ethnicities that make up our island home. Plus, I could relate to her use of the word Tita in the book, an endearment for Auntie. Her memoir engaged me from start to finish and made me smile on more than one occasion as she delighted us with her unabashed frankness in retelling her story.
Beverly Spana, Ellen Costa, Antonie Fenner, Gay Cable, Carol Thayer Cox, guests Kat Eppel and Heidi Fausel, Sara Williams, Sharyn Dahn, Cheryl Fausel, Susan Lindsey, Annabelle Tomatich, Victoria Peterson, and Cornelia De Dona at the author talk event.
Palm Springs Welcomes New Member
By Joanne Hardy
The Palm Springs Branch is pleased to welcome new member Kathy Weyer, who has authored a body of work that is truly unique. In the writing world, to discover an unusual premise to build a story is rare, but Kat Weyer has done just that.
One day a short time before she took retirement, she visited Heritage Park in San Diego. The city of San Diego had moved six magnificent, historic Victorian houses to the park for restoration, but time passed, and they remained untouched, decaying relics of another time.
As Weyer looked at them, she thought they seemed sad, like an old person whose glory days had passed. She thought of the lives that had filled them once and what they had been. And then a new idea came — what if they could be again?
Fragments of a story began to play in her imagination. The fictional dream came alive. She thought, “What if I turn them into an artist colony, a retail environment, making each house a haven for different artists?”
In due time characters came to life in Kat’s imagined world. Six women, each with a story of their own to tell, meet in the first book for a special project. In the stories, they work together, helping each other with the challenges occupying their lives, as well as developing each shop and dedicating it to the special talent of one of the women.
The books, with their continuing stories, are remarkable in that they show the bonding and support the women find as they cope with problems that reflect women everywhere. With four books completed — “Stitches,” “Canvas,” “Pages,” and “Trinkets” — there are two more to come. We can’t wait.
Honolulu Launches Its 100th-Year Celebrations
By Penny Pence Smith, Branch President
The Honolulu Branch kicked off its 100th anniversary (2025) with a festive holiday social gathering as well as introduction of the 2025 Lorin Tarr Gill Writing Competition for local area authors. Honolulu Pen Women received its charter (#27) in 1925 and claims the honor of being “the oldest continuously operating professional arts organization in Hawaii” because its members met regularly throughout World War II. The group also continued to meet via Zoom during the pandemic.
The biennial Lorin Tarr Gill Writing Competition is supported by the generous donations of the family of the late Lorin Johnston Tarr Gill, a prolific author of numerous works on Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
Honolulu Pen Women was first called the Aloha Branch because one of its purposes was to extend hospitality to visiting artists, musicians, and writers. During the years when visitors to the islands were few, the branch’s Celebrity Breakfasts were important annual events on Hawaii’s social calendar.
Today, our branch enjoys more than 80 members and local supporters, gathering monthly from September through May to hear featured Island speakers and presenters from the many fields of creativity. Summer Zoom sessions offer talks with local experts as well as those in the arts from around the country.
Find more information on Honolulu Pen Women Branch website.
Pensacola Membership Surges
By Karen Morris
Since last May, the Pensacola Branch has welcomed 12 new members, bringing our branch total to 42. New letters members are Debra Stogner, Carolyn Tokson, and Heather Mitchell, who also holds certification in art. New art members are Mary Anne Staples, Kimberly Joy Sorrie, Lisa Joy Newcomb, Mary Inman, Laurie Hansen, Ruth Goldberg, Ellen Fogarty, Vivian Spencer, Mary Breshike, and Brenda Wood.
We are very excited about this membership growth, which has added so much talent and variety to our branch. Our dynamic officers, inducted last May, are President Genevieve Fortner, Vice President Terry Henry, Secretary Kristin Alger, Treasurer Vivian Spencer, and longtime Membership Chair Christine Salomé. Our hardworking former officers Anne Baehr, Gaylene Brotherton, and Nikki Strahota provided an excellent and smooth transition.
Recent programs have included presentations on gourd art and photojournalism, and a performance by members of the Snow-Storm Ballet.
Sarasota Celebrates International Art and Found Day
By Wilma Davidson
Our member artists and authors love to sell their creative works. But on March 12, we joyfully gave it away — all in an effort to bring the joy of art to the community. Our goal: Make art accessible to everyone.
Why would we do such a thing? It was our branch’s initial participation in a phenomenon that began in Canada a few years ago — and that now includes more than 1,600 artists in over 52 countries — International Art and Found Day. In most of these locations, individual visual artists contribute their paintings, but since our branch has as many authors as it has visual artists, we decided to include both autographed books and visual art, making our participation in spreading “art around” even broader.
We wrapped our creations and put a sticker on each, letting the finder know who the creator is, and asking them to let us know that the gift of art has found a safe home. All told, we “dropped” about 50 creations in public and private spaces.
A huge part of NLAPW’s purpose is to encourage, recognize, and reward its members’ creativity — and to keep the arts alive. Celebrating March 12 was our way to do just that by giving the community a day to enjoy beauty and originality.
Perhaps other branches will consider dropping their art in the future on March 12. We’re happy to share with you just how to do it!
Central Ohio Participates in Highly Competitive Show
Central Ohio members Dawn Petrill, Jenn Stewart, Bev Goldie, Kyndall Potts, Weiting Wei, Robie Benve, Evangelia Phillipidis, and Gale Suver had their artwork accepted into the Bryn Du Art Show during March. In its 21st year, this highly competitive juried show had over 770 entries, but only 70 were accepted. The show was at the Bryn Du Mansion, a grand, historical converted home in Granville, Ohio. Suver received a special award for her “Ethereal Journey” piece.
On March 8, Dawn Petrill and Bev Goldie demonstrated their art at the Mansion, and many branch members came to support them. Goldie was also juried into a separate exhibition, “Shadow to Light: Breaking the Stigma Against Addiction.” She has three works in the show that will be exhibited at the Franklin County Coroner’s Office until September.
On March 12, the branch again came together for guest speaker Heather Webber, a bestselling author who is nationally known for her mystery novels and Southern comfort fiction novels with a twist of magic.
Santa Clara County Celebrates the Arts
By Luanna K. Leisure, Branch President
The Santa Clara County Branch honored professional women in the arts at its annual Celebrity Luncheon on March 1, with over 100 in attendance. These “celebrity” women are artists, composers, writers, and much more. The luncheon is also a fundraiser for the Excellence in the Arts monetary awards that are presented to talented women of any age, either graduating from high school in 2025, undergraduate students, or returning college students.
There was fabulous entertainment performed by Pen Women, and most ladies wore hats to celebrate the theme. They had a hat parade, and dozens of hats were for sale, along with jewelry. A silent auction and a beautiful basket raffle rounded off the event. Enough was made to once again provide three awards of $1,500 each to students talented in art, music, and letters. Also honored were eight Pen Women who have been members ranging from 20 years to 43 years. Visit the branch website at www. NLAPWsantaclara.org.