Thanks to all who participated by walking or gathering pledges for our first (annual?) Quota Cares Walk on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous and the venue was ideal. Thanks to Kath for all her hard work in getting us organized.

We are still waiting on a few pledges to actually arrive, but assuming they do – here is the grand total raised for this fundraiser thus far… drum roll please…

$1,010.56!

This is amazing with only a couple dozen walkers – but goes to show what we can do when we all work together.

If you thought about pledging and haven’t done so yet, it’s definitely not too late. We won’t finalize our numbers for a couple of weeks so just let Robin know if there are pledges still hanging around out there.

Great job Kath and everyone else who helped make our Quota Cares Walk a success. I can’t wait to hear how the other clubs in our district did on their events!

Dust if you must…

LADIES!!! Remember…a layer of dust protects the Wood
beneath it.
A house becomes a home when you can write ‘I love you’ on the
furniture.
I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things
were just perfect – ‘in case someone came over’. Finally, I realized
one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and
having fun!
NOW, when people visit, I don’t have to explain the ‘condition’ of my
home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I’ve been
doing while I was away living life and having fun.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, please heed this advice.
Life is short. Enjoy it!
Dust if you must …….
but wouldn’t it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake
cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed,
ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there’s not much time . . . .
with beer to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to
lead.
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there with the sun in your
eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This
day will not come around, again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it’s not kind
. . .

And when you go – and go you must – you, yourself will make
more dust!

Getting to Know… Cleo!

Cleo has been a member of Quota for 37 years and is a Lifetime Member! Her favorite snack is Sea Salted Potato Chips. Cleo enjoys eating her chips while watching her favorite movie, “Gone with the Wind”.

Cleo was asked if she has ever had a place she liked to go to think? Cleo likes to go to Lake Michigan and walk the beach to do her thinking.

Cleo was asked to finish the following sentence: “My idea of shopping is… alone or with someone always including lunch!”

Which would be better? Being considered poor and diligent or wealthy and lazy? Cleo chose neither. She would rather be middle toward wealthy and productive and volunteer.

What if Cleo could build her dream house? She says it’s already being done – her final destination is heaven. Her mansion there will be on a golden street.

What is Cleo’s favorite party theme? Birthday parties for any age. She has 9 grandchildren, 7 step grandchildren, 6 great grandkids, 3 daughters, 5 step sons, 2 sons-in-law and 4 daughters-in-law. See what she means!

Thank you Cleo for sharing a little bit about yourself!

Join us in a Treasure Hunt that will take you to the far reaches of…….The Blog!

You don’t need a pith helmet or bug spray. Log on to a computer and have a willing spirit!

Leave comments in the right places and you’ll be eligible to win FABULOUS treasures!!

And increase your chances by submitting content articles, categorizing them and tagging them with keywords.

For details, see The Places You’ll See and our Points Tracker.

Blogs enable 2-Way Communication!!

· The CLUB provides info TO YOU

· YOU can send COMMENTS back

· YOU can submit CONTENT, too!

We don’t wait a whole month for the news!

· Blogs can be updated ANY TIME

We don’t have to hunt for the latest newsletter on email or on our desks!

· Blogs can be accessed ANYWHERE

Our newsletter is scheduled to retire in December of 2009, and we want it to be able to enjoy a nice leisurely retirement, secure in the knowledge that we can all still stay up-to-date on Quota activities.

So go on this treasure hunt with us to discover some of the far reaches of the Blog, and maybe you’ll discover the path to enlightenment.

Your first stop on this Treasure Hunt is to find the following items on this Quota Blog and leave a comment there.

Quota Cares Walk – 5 pts

You can get at this from Quota Cares, or Sharing & Caring, or Walk; tell us about your walking experience!

Pat & Dumplings – 5 pts

Filed under notes from China; send greetings to our pal Pat

How Loud is “Too Loud”? – 5 pts

When was the last time you watched fireworks or went to a concert? Leave your answer as a comment in the post that answers this question.

Lia Sophia Fundraiser – 5 pts

Find this event notice and RSVP with a comment on the post – yes or no, let us hear from you.

Cool Cats Terrarium Project – 5 pts

Send a message to our Cool Cat friends.

Birthday Greetings – 5 pts

Find out who’s having a birthday in October or November and send them a greeting by comment on the Blog.

Your Choice – 5 pts

Here we ask you to find other items that interest you and leave comments. Leave as many comments as you wish, score 5 points for the first 4.

Maximum points for Comments = 50

__________________________________________________________________

Submit Content – 20 pts per entry; 5 pts for tagging

By now, you’ve been able to follow the “treasure map” to finding all sorts of interesting Quota information. How does it get there? Nice people like you!

And it’s not hard at all. Just write up your content and post it. Get more instructions at the Quota meeting or call Emily or Maureen. Then put it in a category and tag it with keywords. 20 points for submitting & categorizing, 5 extra points for “tagging”.

Maximum points for Content, Categories & Tags = 250

Track your points by clicking on our Points Tracker.   Complete all comments and submissions by 11/30/09 and post your point total in a comment to the Points Tracker post by 12/1/09.

Service Committee Update:

Healthy Hearing
Quota sent grants totaling $464 to DHHS to help fund hearing assistance equipment for three individuals. Several other requests for individuals are in the queue.
Jan is gearing up for our first Healthy Hearing presentations this month in Grand Rapids area schools.
We will be distributing Healthy Hearing earplugs at our Quota Cares Walk on Sept 27. If you know of an organization or event that would benefit from awareness of the need for hearing protection, please contact anyone on the Service Committee. (We will also be distributing earplugs at this year’s Santa Parade.)

The Service Committee is considering 2 larger requests: grant for hospital kits for the deaf and hard of hearing patients at Metro Health; grant to help fund a loop system in the dining room at Sunset Manor.

Be A Star & Lighten the Burden with Quota International of Grand Rapids at our Annual Membership Awareness Meeting. Watch for more information

View the Holiday invite for 2009 by clicking here

This is the second year we’re walking in the Santa Parade. We hope you will join us as we pass out earplugs. Follow this link for more information on the Santa Parade.

We will meet at 8am at the corner of Michigan and Monroe -traveling south on Monroe. The parade starts at 9am. There will be free parking in the city parking ramps until noon on Saturday!