Junior League New Member Retreat

For many people, August is "back to school" time. For me, it's "Junior League New Member Retreat" time. This year, I am a New Member Trainer and I am so excited! I normally do not request an In-League placement, but this year I was ready to lead our new members and feed off of their excitement and energy. I need it. This past year marked my 7th year anniversary with the Junior League and I have/had hit somewhat of a 7-year itch. However, if rejuvination is what I was in need of, I certainly found more than my fair share of it with the GREEN group! These ladies are absolutely FAN-TAS-TIC! They are extremely community focused and highly motivated to help others in need...no reservations. Just these women alone can move mountains others never thought possible. I am anxious to see what is in store for them over the next few years...

The Queenly GREEN Group...L-R

Back: Amanda, Shelly, Acacia, Christin, Amanda, Beth, Leslie

Front: Shannon, Lesley, Megan, Steph, Amber

The crazy, fearless Trainers
Cara, Steph, Shay, Christin

One cool thing that each trainer gets to do is decorate their table with a theme in their color. The four of us worked to coordinate our colors so that we all could work together a common theme throughout the year. We quickly settled on the jewel tones. Each one of us is the color of a precious gem: emerald, ruby, sapphire, & amethyst. By the end of the year, the ladies will all become diamonds.

Being from Mississippi, I found a golden opportunity to become the "queen" of something, so I took it...my table was inspired by the Sweet Potato Queens. Each lady was given a white satin sash, shiny green star with their name on it, a HUGE diamond ring, green beads, green star sunglasses and a margarita glass...and, of course, their green Junior League t-shirt.

Here are a the other tables:

Cara's BLUE team - all decked out in the Hawaiian Luau complete with blue lei's and goblets

Christal (Purple team) went the wine/goddess route. These ladies were complete with their own personalized wine glass and olive leaf headdresses

Shay took the Hollywood Starlight Theme (Red Team)

The ladies worked very hard during their New Member Project. They did a lot of grunt work, but their efforts will enable the That's My Bag Committee to do their job much easier and more efficiently. The TMB committee functions out of a storage unit. Their purpose is to provide overnight bags to kids (ages birth-17yrs) who are removed from a situation and are entered into foster care. Most of these kids are removed due to a drug infested home or abuse. They are often removed with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. In the bags that the Junior League provides, each child receives a full set of clothes, toiletries, a book, stuffed animal and anything else that is available in our storage unit. Due to the overwhelming generosity of others, the storage unit had gotten overcrowded and impossible to find anything. The efforts of these New Members will allow the TMB committee to spend their time delivering bags instead of digging through the treasure hunt of a storage unit. Here are some "action shots"

All 44 new members (and their trainers) after a job well done!