Monthly Newsletter for Members & Friends of Soroptimist International of Boise Volume 37, Issue 9 April 2026 “S.T.A.R.- Soroptimists Take Active Roles” Websites Club: soroptimistboise.org Peaks to Plains Region: https://sipeaks2plainsregion.my.canva.site Soroptimist International of the Americas: soroptimist.org Soroptimist International: soroptimistinternational.org Live Your Dream: liveyourdream.org
Table of Contents President’s Message .............................................................................................................3 Monthly Activities & Calendar ............................................................................................4 Best for Women e-newsletter ...............................................................................................8 Supporting SI Boise - Fundraisers .......................................................................................9 Birthdays ..............................................................................................................................9 Club Resources ..................................................................................................................10 Editors: Jan Hall & Fannie Louie eMail: janhall654@gmail.com or FLSiaFed@gmail.com Soroptimist International of Boise P. O. Box 8885 Boise, ID 83707-2885 U. S. A. eMail: siboise@soroptimist.net Page 2
President’s Message I recently ran into a neighbor who now works at the Women’s and Children’s Alliance. I explained that SI Boise supports the work of this organization and has for years contributed to its efforts. As our conversation progressed, she talked about the gratification she felt from helping these women and children. I told her that was exactly the feeling our club members get when it awards the Live Your Dream and Dream Big awards. I am proud of our club’s contributions to the community this year. By next month, we will have elected and soon will be installing our new club officers and board for the 2026-27 year. I want to thank everyone and particularly the officers and board for their efforts this year. The club wouldn’t be what it is without you. Lastly, I’m getting excited to see the blooms and blossoms, to plant my garden and to watch it grow. This year I will be planting several new varieties of vegetables. Just as I want to explore new plant variations, so does our club need new members to expand our possibilities, energy and ideas. Please encourage friends, family, and acquaintances to join our club to make it grow. HAPPY SPRING! Your president, Rita Page 3
Monthly Activities & Calendar April 16th Board/Business MeetingLocation Change Book Club Meeting Please note that the location for our April 16th Board/Business meeting has changed. It will be held at the Library! Hillcrest location, 5246 W Overland Rd, Boise, ID 83705. See you all there; please note the location change on your calendar. SIA’s 5th Annual Tea Party & CSW NGO Parallel Event If you missed the March 18th SIA Tea Party, you can view the recording by clicking here. Stage Coach Theatre - April 12, 2026Recap SI Boise Soroptimists and friends enjoyed an irreverent and energetic play, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical, at the Stage Coach Theatre on Sunday, May 12. It was an afternoon at Armadillo Acres, Florida’s most exclusive trailer park, where we met Pippi —a stripper on the run—who threw the lives of agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth-collector husband, Norbert, into a whirlwind of chaos. Plus there was the chorus of trailer park divas, a marker-sniffing ex-boyfriend, and a twist that was stranger than fiction. It was definitely a hilarious, heartfelt musical that was equal parts outrageous and endearing. To highlight the afternoon, SI Boise raffled two gift baskets (thanks again, Joan) and made about $137. The April meeting will be held on April 21st, at 5:30 p.m. at Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, 2288 N Garden St, Boise. We will read two books. The first book is In Five Years: A Novel by Rebecca Serle. When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan. But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night— December 15—but 2025, five years in the future. After Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind. That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision. Page 4
The second book is The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick. By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia--one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place--a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough? Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women--Bitsy and Viv--to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine--and that their secret longing for more is something they share. Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments--and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives. SI Caldwell Wine Tasting - April 25 enjoy 3-4 wineries with Mimosa Starter, Lunch and Desert. Contact Heather Yee for tickets at 208-697-8351. Proposed 2026-27 Operating Budget By Fannie Louie All club members are members of the financial committee which pulls together the operations budget for club approval in May. The draft of the operating budget proposal for 2026-27 will be presented at the April 16th Business Meeting and everyone has the opportunity for input, so please plan on attending the April Business Meeting inperson or via Zoom. Members will vote on the operating budget at the May 15th Board/Business Meeting. Proposed 2026-27 Officers/Board Slate The 2026-27 proposed slate of offices/board (nominations will be accepted from the floor) was emailed out to all members. Thank you to Jan Hall for putting the slate together. President – Rita Fleck President-elect – Lena Rupp Treasurer – Michelle Moore-Dewez Secretary – (open) Director – Christine Warner Delegate and Parliamentarian will be appointed by President Rita for 2026-27. This slate will be voted on at the April 16th Board/Business Meeting. SI Caldwell is hosting a wine tasting event on April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2C Wine Down (112 S. 7th Ave, Caldwell). $65 per person, purchased in advance. Sip, Sample and Page 5
2026 PTP Spring Conference The 2026 Peaks To Plains Spring Conference will be in Bloomington, MN, on April 24-25, 2026, and will be hosted by the clubs in District V. The conference hotel is the Wyndham Bloomington in Bloomington, MN. This is across the street from the Mall of the America. Peggy GentileVanMeter, from SI/Cumberland County, New Jersey (North Atlantic Region), will be the Federation Guest. The Call to Conference was sent to each member on February 24, 2026. There is also an option to attend online thru Zoom if you cannot travel. insurance programs beginning April 1, 2026, for the 2026-2027 policy year. For any insurance needs where clubs or regions previously contacted Pacific Ag Insurance, Gallagher is now your insurance service provider and contact. Click here if you have questions or concerns regarding insurance coverage (there are two service center and contact the one in California as that services our times zones here in the west and mid-west areas). The above link will also instruct you on how to request a certificate of insurance as SIA no longer will host the certificate of insurance on the SIA website. Member and Leader Code of Conduct and Signing Process Webinar As mentioned in the SIA December and April (see the April Best for Women recap article below) issues of Best for Women newsletter, there is a Member and Leader Code of Conduct and Signing Process Webinar on May 13th. 2026-27 Club Dues Just a note that dues statements for the 2026-2027 club year will be sent out in mid-May and are due by June 15th. The statements will reflect a small dues increase of $1.00 in SIA dues (cost of living), $0.25 for SI dues, and $0.06 for Founders Pennies. There is a possibility for an increase in the cost of liability insurance; SIA has changed insurance companies and will let clubs know in April if there will be an increase in liability increase. Also there may be a region dues increase if announced at spring conference. Arthur J. Gallagher (Gallagher) is now SIA’s insurance broker for all our club and region Curious about the new Member and Leader Code of Conduct but not sure how it works? Want to learn how you can support a positive, thriving member experience? Sign up for the free webinar on May 13 at 6:00 p.m. (MT) to learn more about the Code, the enforcement process, and the signing event happening later this club year. Click here to register for the webinar. 2026-27 Club Roster Updates It’s time to send/email any changes to your information for the 2026-27 Club Rosters to me. The deadline for sending me any roster changes is July 15, 2026. The latest roster was emailed to all members on February 18th. Page 6
If you would like a new picture, please email me a new photo. Please remember to update the email addresses in any group lists you have, as there are changes in email addresses and members. If you wish to add information to the roster (your preferred method of communication; offices/ positions held at club, region, federation and international levels; and committees chaired/ served on – including years if possible and noting if these positions/committees were from a different club), please email me at FLsiafed@gmail.com and we will update the information for the 2025-26 inserts. The full Call to Convention has been emailed to all Soroptimists on April 7th. In-person registration if officially closed, but virtual delegates have until June 5th at 11:59 p.m. (KST) time to still register. During convention, delegates will consider three proposed bylaws amendments. there is also a schedule of events, presenter bios, workshop descriptions and more on the convention website. Please note: A copy of our roster is posted on the SI Boise website (soroptimistboise.org) in the Members section and will be updated as new changes occur. As always, please let us know of any updates to your information. Thank you. The plan is to email the new 2026-27 club roster inserts. SIA’s 49th Biennial Convention in Incheon, Korea The 49th Soroptimist International of the Americas Biennial Convention will be held on July 22-25, 2026 in Incheon, South Korea. Page 7
Calendar Apr. 1, 2026 .................................................................................Soroptimist Club Grants applications due Apr. 1, 2026 ..........................................................................100 Stargazers in 100 Days Campaign Begins Apr, 9, 2026 .......................................................Newsletter deadline for items to Jan Hall or Fannie Louie Apr. 12, 2026 .............................................Stage Coach Theatre @ 2:00 p.m., 4802 W. Emerald St., Boise Apr. 16, 2026 ..................................................Board/Business Mtg, Library! at Hillcrest, Boise, 6:30 p.m. Apr. 21, 2026 ..........Book Club Meeting (In Five Years: A Novel by Rebecca Serle & The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick), 5:30 p.m., Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, Boise Apr. 24-25, 2026 ....................................................Peaks To Plains Spring Conference, Bloomington, MN Apr. 30, 2026 ......................................Electronic ballot closes for 2026-2027 SIA President-elect Election May 14, 2026 .....................................................Newsletter deadline for items to Jan Hall or Fannie Louie May 19, 2026 .Book Club Meeting (The Fallen Woman’s Daughter by Michelle Cox), 5:30 p.m., Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, Boise May 21, 2026 ............................Board/Business Mtg, Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, Boise, 6:30 p.m. Best for Women e-newsletter from Apr Issue The April edition of the Best for Women e-newsletter (Best for Women April 2026) has been sent to all members with valid emails on SIA’s database. Some highlights are: • • • • • • • • Region conference season is here SIA convention registration & waitlist updates Member and Leader Code of Conduct and Signing Process Webinar - Register here 2026 Leadership Round Table Walk for Women recap New dues deadline for payment SI & United Nations updates (CSW70 Sessions), SI Voices blog Things to know Page 8
April 2026 Supporting SI Boise - Fundraisers Donations are welcome. Mail checks to: Soroptimist International of Boise PO Box 8885 Boise, ID 83707 Or electronic donations can be made through PayPal by clicking on Donate Now Click here to see the Fundraisers Ready To Join or Need More Information? Click here to Contact Us! Birthdays Apr. 1 - Kristin S. Apr. 23 - Jeri B. May 4 - Brynlee W. May 25 - Lisa U. Page 9
Fleepit Digital © 2021