August 11: Day With Creative Women

SAVE THE DATES August 26: Women’s Press Retreat & Fundraiser

Volume XXII, Number 4

July & August, 2007
A Publication of the
Women’s Community Center
of San Luis Obispo County
Voices, Views and Visions of the Women of San Luis Obispo County

5
Local Perspectives

6
National Organization
for Women

7
Voices Around the Table:
Sources of Creativity

8
Gather the Women

9
Creative Women

12
Body and Soul

13
Women at Work
Photo by Sally Mingo and Ben Lawless

14
Community Bulletins

15
Resources for Women
  Women’sPress Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org

Readers,
Celebration. Reflection. Those words
describe the two very different August fund-
raising events that will benefit the Women’s
Press. Celebrate at Day With Creative Women
on Mission Plaza on August 11, enjoying the
artistry of our vendors and the talent of our
entertainers. Reflect on August 26 at our 2nd
annual Women’s Press retreat on such topics as
spiritual aging, purification of the heart, and
the wise woman within. Monies from both
these events support the paper so we can print
and pay for layout and other services, such as
website and database management.
Even as the energies of women involved in
both events are focused on providing experi-
ences you will enjoy and that will benefit the
paper, I have to acknowledge that my own
energy has reached a point where I want my
time—outside of my day job!—to be spent
in activities that I feel an interest and pas-
sion for. I want to be involved in doing not
just recording what others are doing. That
means that I feel a need to let go of some
of the many details that must be addressed
to keep the Women’s Press functioning, that
I need more help in the everyday tasks that
ultimately lead to your reading a publication
you enjoy: I want to do more managing as an
editor and less of the doing.
Is the Women’s Press important enough to
you and this community that you are willing
to give some time to keep it going? I hope so.
I’ve worked on the Press for almost six years,
and am now ready to let go if more women
don’t come forward to assist both in content
acquisition and editing. We still have a web-
site to develop and a database to design and
set up if we are to continue.
Where are my energies now? In com-
munity building activities, especially as they
affect older single women; in connections
between different generations of women; in
the role women can play in making our coun-
try and the planet healthy again. I want to
spend my time involved with people who are
the source of stories; and not just sit at home
recording the activities. Both are important. I
just want to be more active out there instead
of in front of my computer so much.
So I hope many of you will contact me
and offer a few hours of your time every two
months to assist me in keeping the paper
going. What are your passions? How can we
make sure they are recorded in the Press? This
is a community newspaper. I hope more of
the women’s community will come forward
so it can continue to flourish.
Hoping to hear from you,
Letters to the Editor
Bravissima, Women’s Press.
I want to commend Kathleen and Bev-
erly for the very powerful new series they
offered in the last edition of the Women’s
Press. As girls maturing into the women we
are to be, the early influences in our lives
shape who we become. For the fortunate,
primary experiences are overwhelmingly
positive and affirming; for others they are
challenging and painful. I commend the
Women’s Press for reaching out in a compas-
sionate and caring way to those who have
been hurt in ways that no child in a civi-
lized society should be. Such articles offer
an antidote to the isolation felt by such
wounding. All of our lives and stories reveal
the spectrum of what women deal with as
they mature and discover the ways in which
they can come to terms with life. Heroic
women contribute to society because of
their individual pain they convert to com-
passion. We applaud them. I am so glad
to see that we are covering more and more
issues that confront us. The Women’s Press
has come of age.
Heather Mendel
Women’s Community Center Board
Angie King, President
Evelyn Adams
Jennifer Alton
Kathleen Deragon
Susan Howe
Jacky Lopez
Sue Maisner
Robin Rinzler
We need a distributor for
South County!
Call Paula, 550-3846
Dear Kathleen, Enhancement, Inc. would like to thank all
I have been reading Women’s Press for the those who helped make our 6th Annual
past couple of years and have found it to Spring Dinner fundraiser, “Sideways in San
be empowering. Some of the articles have Luis”, held at Edna Valley Vineyard on May
helped me in resolving the problems that 12, such a wonderful success.
I have faced as a single mother, in my per- Chef Evan Treadwell of the Lido Restau-
sonal relationships, and with my spiritual rant at the Dolphin Bay Hotel catered the
growth. gourmet dinner paired with extraordinary
So, I was very disappointed to read Bev- Pinot Noir wines from Edna Valley Vine-
erly Engel’s “My Story,” which sounds like yard, Talley Vineyards, Wedell Cellars and
an angry, woman who sees herself as a vic- Domaine Alfred. Archie McLaren, Founder
tim. On one hand Beverly attempts to & Chairman of the Central Coast Wine
make it sound like her “horrible childhood” Classic gave an entertaining presentation on
has been positive, but the underlying mes- ³the fickle yet profoundly edifying² Pinot
sage is one that dis-empowers women. I Noir grape. Jim & Elaine Gardiner led the
find much more strength when I read the live auction and Wendy Thies of KSBY-6
columns in Body & Soul, and articles from was the event emcee. The event was spon-
women who don’t focus on being a victim, sored by The California Endowment, Audio
but on how they have healed. Ecstasy, Wedell Cellars and Air San Luis.
Sending Women’s Press “our stories” of No fundraising event is possible without
abuse only keeps us stuck in the past and volunteers, so a special thanks also goes to
feeling like victims. I’m certainly not inter- all the event helpers and to Tina Hoppe and
ested in reading about all of the women Elaine Stafford of Edna Valley Vineyard. To
who have suffered abuse, but rather on what all the other outstanding volunteers who
they are doing, today, to move forward and continue to work with us, and to those who
make a positive difference. supported us by attending and donating,
Sincerely, Enhancement also wishes to thank you for
Judy Summers helping us continue working to improve the
quality of life for breast cancer survivors.
Shoosh Crotzer
Director
There are many ways to
contribute to the Women’s Press!
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• Contacting potential sponsors
BRING US LEADS ON CONTENT:
• Women to interview for our Unsung Heroine feature
• Books to review
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• Local activities, persons, and issues our readers would be interested in knowing about
• Ways local women are celebrating their lives and laughing together

Contact 474-6444 or 305-9775 or editors@womenspress-slo.org

474-6444

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July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Women’sPress 

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, August 26

presents the second annual

Caring for Earth • Caring for Spirit: A One-Day Retreat

Artists! Craftswomen! Volunteers!

Participate in the
33rd Annual Day With Creative Women
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Mission Plaza
10-5

Calling all Creative Women! The Women’s
Community Center of San Luis Obispo
County invites you to participate in the
33rd annual Day with Creative Women.
This event draws over 2500 people from all
around the Central Coast and beyond, and
features more than 70 vendors displaying
their own creative arts.
If you create art or handcrafted items,
you are invited to display and sell your
works. Non-profit organizations are invited
to provide the community with informa-
tion about your services. Reserve your
We invite women to come together to celebrate women’s true booth now!
worth; to express our shared concern for our human family and Day with Creative Women celebrates
women’s creativity with music and enter-
our earth; to learn from each other; and to take our inner tainment, arts and crafts for display and
knowing to outer action so that we may live peacefully together sale, continuous entertainment, delicious
in a balanced world.
For more information, see back cover
For more information, see page 8
food, and children’s activities (crafts, face
painting, and bounce house), and is a fund-
raising event to benefit the Women’s Com-
munity Center of San Luis Obispo County,
dedicated to the empowerment of women.
Entertainment includes Fran Dukehart
and Grady Houser, Karen Tyler, Sheri O,
Jill Knight, Wikolia and Na Mele o ke Kai
hula troupe, and Cheryl Aiona and the
Motowners.
For more information on volunteer
opportunities, entertainment, or booth
space reservation, contact the Wom-
en’s Community Center at 805-544-9313,
e-mail DWCW2007@aol.com. You can
now load the vendor application from
www.wccslo.org.

Where to find Women’s Press

All SLO County Libraries and the following exceptionally fine establishments!
• NORTH COUNTY: Atascadero – The Coffee House and Deli, Starbuck’s at
Von’s Plaza, Carlene’s Café, Green Goods, Player’s Pizza, Harvest Health Food Store,
North County Connection, Senior Center, Women’s Resource Center/Shelter Office;
Paso Robles – Cuesta College North Campus, Café Vio, Chelsea Bookshop/Café Novella,

ENJOY!
In honor of Day With Creative
Women, we have filled this
issue with creative writing and
photos for your reading and
viewing pleasure.
Promote the Women’s Press and earn some extra money!
Curves, Old Mission Coffee House, DK Donuts, Panolivo French Cafe, NCI Village
Thrift Shop, Paso Robles Health Foods; Templeton –  Magic Windows Coffee Café,
Twin Cities Hospital, Templeton Market & Deli; Santa Margarita– Santa Margarita
Mercantile
• NORTHERN COAST: Baywood – Coffee & Things; Cambria – Cambria Con-
nection, Cambria Pines Lodge, Chamber of Commerce, Gym One, La Crema, 7 Sis-
ters, Azevedo Chiropractic, Lilly’s, Alloco’s; Cayucos – Cayucos Super Market, Kelley’s
Espresso & Dessert, Ocean Front Pizza, Chevron Station, Chamber of Commerce; Los
Osos – Starbuck’s, Baywood Laundry, Cad’s, Carlock’s Bakery, Chamber of Commerce,
Copa de Oro, Garden Café, Los Osos Deli, Valley Liquor, Volumes of Pleasure; Morro
Bay – Backstage Salon, Coalesce Bookstore, Coffee Pot Restaurant, The Rock, Southern
Port Traders, Sunshine Health Foods, Two Dogs Coffee
• SAN LUIS OBISPO: Broad St. Laundry, Cool Cats Café, La Crepes, Edna Market,
Froggie’s, Art Café, Booboo Records, Creekside Center, GALA, Marigold Nails, Palm
Theatre, Susan Polk Insurance, Susan Rodriguez Insurance, Utopia Bakery, Unity Church,
Zoe Wells, Naturopath, Cal Poly Library, Center for Alternatives to Violence, Chamber
of Commerce, Cuesta College Library, EOC Health Services Clinic, HealthWorks, Heal-
ing Alternatives, Jamaca You, Karen Hale Chiropractic, Laguna Laundry, Linnaea’s, Mon-
terey Express, Natural Foods Coop, New Frontiers, Nautical Bean, Outspoken Beverage
Bistro, Phoenix Books, Planned Parenthood, Rudolph’s Coffee & Tea, San Luis Obispo
Housing Authority Office, SARP, The Secret Garden, SLO Perk Coffee, Spirit Winds
Therapy, The Studio Fitness for Women, Two Dogs Coffee, Uptown Cafe, Yoga Centre,

W
e need sales reps. from all parts
of the county, North Coast, North
County, and South County. We even
distribute issues in Santa Maria.
Enjoy meeting with business women and
women-friendly businesses while promot-
ing the Women’s Press and our affordable
advertising rates. Set your own sched-
ule. Earn 20% on all advertising, includ-
ing renewals and business profiles; get a
10% one-time development bonus for new
accounts. Work with our graphic design-
ers and other sales reps to share leads and
ideas. Prior experience is not necessary.
One of our special offers is to interview
business owners/operators and create a
human interest article about them and their
services – a fun way to meet people in a dif-
ferent context and see our service as a win-
win situation.
If this sounds like something you would
enjoy, please contact Carol Dawn, 235-4960
Ahshe Hair Salon, Apropos Clothing, Soho Hair Salon, Tom-Mel Beauty Center, Hemp-
shack, YMCA, KCBX, Fairchild Salon, Jaffa Café, Med Stop (Madonna Plaza)
• SOUTH COUNTY: Arroyo Grande – Natural Balance, Mongo’s, World Gym, Act II
Boutique, Andreini’s, Central Coast Yoga, CJ’s Restaurant, Country Kitchen, Curves-
AG, Cutting Edge, EOC Health Services Clinic, Family Chiropractic, Girls Restaurant,
Grande Whole Foods, Hunter’s Landing, Kennedy Club Fitness; Avila Beach– Custom
House, Sycamore Hot Springs, Inn at Avila, Avila Grocery; Grover Beach – World Gym,
Back Door Deli, Cindi’s Wash House, Nan’s Pre-owned Books, Therapeutic Body Center,
30-minute Fitness; Halcyon – Halcyon Store; Nipomo – Anna’s Creekside Coffee House,
Healing Touch Spa, Curves, La Placita Market, Slender Lady, Brianna Nicole Spa, World
Gym; Pismo Beach – HealthWorks, Honeymoon Café, Pismo Athletic Club, Zadok’s;
Shell Beach – De Palo & Sons Deli, Seaside Cafe, Steaming Bean
• SANTA MARIA: Café Monet, Hunter’s Landing, Library, Marian Medical Center,
Curves on Main and on Broadway, The Bookworm, Lassen’s.
• ORCUTT: Loading Dock, Café Ole


We Never Compare Give Them Time

By Ruthie Osorio By Beverly Engel
For Melissa

I
t is difficult and painful to face the fact that so many of
Since eighth grade, I’ve counted
Tonight we each drank our own bottle of wine our sisters and so many children continue to be abused.
the minutes you spend in the bathroom
to celebrate our twenty something pseudo bohemian And it is a natural instinct to want to turn away from pain-
after inhaling a vegetarian burrito at La Hacienda
lifestyle. It cost $9.99 for three bottles ful things. But we can’t afford to continue to put our heads
since I’ll always suspect you are throwing
at Safeway and we tried to be sophisticated in the sand and hope that this will just go away.
up again, withering away like a piece of chalk
and swished the wine to oxidize it but it still tastes I believe we as a nation have a very difficult time facing
left in the rain because you cannot believe
like fruity acid even with our pinkies up. painful situations. We want to put a positive spin on things,
that you shine like Chinese firecrackers
often before we’ve even had a chance to process them.
sparking on New Year’s.
Which is different from the first time we drank Right after the shootings at Virginia Tech, I saw a father of
in seventh grade when we were videotaping one of the murdered young people being interviewed. The
This summer, we crashed into the Orange County
a public service announcement for your PE class reporter asked, “Do you think something good will come
waves wearing only 40s style dresses
about drunk driving out of this?” This was just a few days after the horrific
and flipped into somersaults
and we sampled the whiskey and Kahlua props event. How could a parent possibly be thinking about the
holding hands like Christmas morning
and the stumbling wasn’t so much acting positive lessons that could come out of the experience at a
when you opened presents with my family
as our first introduction to alcohol. time when he was in the throes of grieving?
because your legal mom was in rehab, just like my
We don’t allow people to grieve in this country. We
stepmom only a few months earlier.
I love how we never have to compare dysfunctional don’t want to hear about their pain. By the same token, we
families like the time my stepmom hit don’t want to hear from victims of abuse. We know it hap-
You and I should be in rehab, jail, or pregnant
me because I blew my nose into the tissue pens and we feel badly for them, but we don’t really want
like our parents and aunts and uncles,
with both nostrils to hear about their struggles because it makes us feel too
but instead we pretend like we’ve lost weight
and how your schizo biological mother panhandles much. And it makes us feel helpless. We just want it all to
whenever we see each other and we toast
for spare change and Xanax go away. And so we focus instead on the “good” that can
to Judy Garland’s unfortunate passing
on the corner of a sepia suburbia. come out of something, the “lessons” we can learn from it.
and the movie I’m writing
Dr. Keith Ablow, a television shrink and a “Dr. Phil” con-
about hitchhiking suicidal dreamers
I remember laughing when your dad died tender, recently wrote a book entitled, Transform Your Life
who we silently admit are really fictional
as you laid convulsing on your bed, Through the Power of Insight and Honesty, which is des-
representations of us
but you knew it was just too raw tined to become a bestseller. The thesis of the book is how
except we live to create bumbling poetry
and tragic for me to handle, ignoring or burying painful memories and experiences can
and naked on-stage theatric confessions
like how we laughed at my drunk negatively effect every aspect of our lives—that we need
as if this life, this art is the cheapest form of therapy.
stepdad chasing us from the camp site to heal our past if we expect to live healthy lives. What is
at two in the morning because he swore my mom so very sad is that a book such as this needs to be written
was a slut but I still cried when they divorced. years after the advent of psychotherapy. We have become
so used to just “moving on” that some people, especially
young people, don’t even know that it is okay—or advanta-
geous—for them to feel their feelings!

The Role Women Can Play in Breaking Recovery from any trauma—whether
it is the loss of a loved one or childhood
abuse, takes time. It takes time to grieve,
the Cycle of Violence Against Women and Children to accept the loss, to process our anger,
to come to terms with the event. We can’t
expect ourselves to move from trauma
By Beverly Engel, L.M.F.T. to understanding and acceptance with-
out feeling all the feelings of pain, loss,

A
s I wrote in the last issue of Women’s Press, I believe that
women can play a powerful role in protecting themselves and
their children from abuse. I have created a comprehensive pro- ing our children is concerned.
gram that can help every woman make a significant difference in
her own life, the lives of her children, and the lives of other women
and children in her community. Based on my thirty years experience
working with both victims and perpetrators of emotional, physi-
cal and sexual abuse, this program was designed to educate and
empower women to become a strong force in stopping abuse.
This program includes seven major aspects, including:
1. Education.
The first step will be for each person to become better edu-
cated about the issues of domestic violence and child abuse. For
example, around the world, at least 1 in every 3 women have been
beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. An
epidemic of child molestation is spreading across America yet few
people are aware that 100,000 children are molested a year—1 in
3 girls and 1 in 6 boys. The problem of child sexual abuse is even
more serious in countries outside the United States.
2. Expose and work past our denial.
The primary way that adults can protect children from child
abuse is by coming out of denial about their own abuse experi-
ences. Those who were abused as children are far more likely to
become romantically involved with men who will abuse them or
their children. Many adults are in denial about the fact that they
were abused and so do not seek the treatment they need. Even
those who remember being abused remain in denial in the sense
that they refuse to believe it could happen to their own children.
Many allow their own children to be around the very person who
abused them (their father, their grandfather, a sibling).
3. Learn the warning signs that someone is likely to become abusive.
There are certain red flags that can help women identify poten-
tial batterers or emotional abusers. Every woman should learn
these red flags in order to prevent her from bringing an abuser into
her and her children’s lives.
4. Become educated about how abuse gets passed on.
Another one of our blind spots is that we fail to recognize the
fact that those who have been abused often become abusers them- Woman, The Emotionally Abusive Relationship, and Breaking the
selves. For example, children who are sexually abused are far more
likely to become molesters than those who were not abused and
child-on-child sexual abuse is growing faster than any other form
of sexual abuse. Almost half of all sex offenders are under 18. The
cycle of abuse can be broken if those who were emotionally, physi-
cally, or sexually abused work toward healing from their own abuse
experience before becoming parents. anger, and even rage.
5. Examine what works and what doesn’t work as far as protect- Please, please, give trauma victims
the time they need to heal. Don’t make
For example, it has become abundantly clear that we must do them feel guilty because they can’t tell
more than warn our children about talking to strangers, more than you what “good” came out of the trauma
teach them the difference between good touch and bad touch. Par- right away. Allow them to have their expe-
ents must learn to talk to their children very early on about sex in rience and to experience their feelings.
general and sexual abuse in particular. Because they are bombarded And, as uncomfortable as it may be, try to
daily with sex on television, in videos and at the movies, most chil- listen when they tell you how much they
dren know far more about sex than their parents care to admit. Even are hurting. Yes, it may make you feel
more alarming to most parents, children are engaging in sexual helpless, but allow yourself to feel that
activities at very early ages. Putting off having sex talks with children helplessness for a time. You might be sur-
can be dangerous. prised to discover that from that helpless-
6. Help abused women gain the strength to walk away from abu- ness emerges a resolve—a resolve to do
sive people. something to help alleviate the problem
Once a woman has been emotionally, physically, or sexually or a deep commitment to work toward
abused by her partner, she begins to question her perceptions, she social change. And when we allow our-
loses her sense of self, and her ability to act on her own behalf. selves to feel our helplessness, we don’t
Instead of judging women who stay in abusive relationships or label- have to cover it over with false platitudes
ing them masochists, we need to make a better effort to support and magical thinking. As with anything
them in gaining the strength to leave. else that is difficult to face, once we have
7. Change the negative attitudes and beliefs that create a victim looked it square in the eye, we no longer
mentality in women and girls. have to fear it. We are, in fact, empow-
Unfortunately, girls in most societies are still socialized to be ered by the courage it took to face it.
polite, appropriate and agreeable, qualities that directly inter- Good can come out of tragedy and
fere with their ability to stand up for themselves. Aggression is still we can learn important lessons from
viewed as impeding a girl’s ability to be caring and “nice” and a even the most painful experiences. But
threat to relationships. it is insulting and shaming to expect
In future issues I will go into more detail about each of these a survivor of a tragedy or a trauma to
seven steps. We will also be presenting workshops and lectures to miraculously “get over it” and move on to
women in the community who would like to become actively involved a different place before they have been
in preventing abuse in our community. allowed to process their feelings.
Beverly Engel, L.M.F.T., is a psychotherapist who has specialized
in abuse issues for over thirty years. She is the best selling author
of twenty self-help books, including: The Right to Innocence: Heal-
ing the Trauma of Childhood Sexual Abuse, The Emotionally Abused
Cycle of Abuse.
Many of her books are used as classroom resources and are fre-
quently recommended by other therapists to their clients. Her books
have been translated into 7 other languages.
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press LocalPerspectives 
Cynic’sCorner
Don’t Stop… !
By Jackie Turner

Cal Poly Women’s Awareness Starts
Dialogue About Abortion with Silence
By Ruth Osorio
On May 22 at 11:00 am, twenty five stu-
dents gathered in silence at Dexter Lawn to
raise awareness about the recent Supreme
Court case, Gonzalez v Carhart. The
Supreme Court case banned a form of late
term abortion called intact dilation and
extraction, leaving no provision protecting
the woman’s health.
After meeting at Dexter Lawn, the dem-
onstrators marched to the University Union.
In the UU, Cal Poly Women’s Aware-
ness officers spoke with students about the
Supreme Court case and its implications.
“CPWA was shocked by the lack of
media coverage and awareness about the
Supreme Court decision,” said CPWA orga-
nizer Lizzy LaMotte-Mitchell, senior Politi-
cal Science major. The Supreme Court case
decision was announced on April 18, two
days after the Virginia Tech shooting.
“What terrifies us the most is the fed-
eral government is now regulating the deci-
sions women and doctors make in regards
to their reproductive health, their health
in general,” LaMotte-Mitchell said. Most
students did not know about the Supreme
Court case, LaMotte-Mitchell said.
Over one third of the demonstrators
were male students. Zach Austin, third year
Political Science major and president of Cal
Poly Democrats, used the microphone pro-
vided for Free Speech hour to say why this
ruling affects men. “You may wonder why
I’m here, why this issue matters to men. It
could be your mother, your sister, your girl-
friend, the girl sitting next to you in class,
this ruling could put her health in jeop-
ardy,” Austin commented.
Students were also collecting signatures
in support of the Freedom of Choice Act
introduced to Congress by Barbara Boxer
and sponsored by Lois Capps. The Free-
dom of Choice Act would codify women’s
health as a legal reason to terminate any
pregnancy.
I waited all week to see the last show of the
best television program of the decade, The
Sopranos. I even had a bet in my office as to
how the show would end: Meadow dies; AJ
goes nuts; Tony is a broken man; Carmela
leaves Tony and becomes a nun (or some-
thing like that!) The TV program guide said
that The Sopranos’ finale was supposed to
last sixty-five minutes, which would be a full
five minutes longer than it usually lasted. I
figured that those last five minutes would
be the most important of all. So when sixty
minutes passed without much ado, my
heart was pounding and my stomach was in
a bitter knot. (You’re at a tied Super Bowl
game with five minutes to go.)
The last scene showed an ordinary fam-
ily, the Sopranos (Tony, Carmela, and AJ)
sitting in an East coast diner eating onion
rings; Meadow was late and having trou-
ble parking her car outside the place. An
average, mundane scene. With only four
minutes to go, Tony played a song on the
jukebox – “Don’t Stop Believing” by Jour-
ney. Music always had an intricate part in
the series, but still, I couldn’t help think-
ing … what does this song mean? Adding
to the tension, a lot of suspicious (or ordi-
nary?) looking people were doing what peo-
ple do at a diner – coming and going; going
to the bathroom. Nothing out of place,
nothing unusual. Three minutes to go and
still, no action. The music played, “Don’t
Stop Believing”, “ Don’t Stop Believing”,
Don’t …… STOP! And the TV screen went
dead!
I couldn’t grasp it … did my television
default on me! Why did it have to conk out
now? I cursed my bad luck.
Then …incredibly, the credits started
rolling, and the show was over! Huh?
I couldn’t wrap my brain around what
had happened. Nothing happened! I waited
all week for this! What a cheat. Dazed and
confused, I went to bed.
In the middle of the night, I awoke with
a start! What brilliant TV! The perfect end-
ing to the perfect show! In my interpreta-
tion, my favorite dysfunctional family (not
counting my own, of course) was still alive;
still fighting; still kicking and screaming;
still loving and hating; still living life! Yes,
I know that there are those who think the
fade to black was the “never see it com-
ing” killing of the Soprano family. Those
people can keep their opinions to them-
selves because I fell in love with that family
many TV seasons ago, and I … “Don’t Stop
Believing”!
Goodbye Tony, Carmela, Meadow, AJ,
Janice, Paulie (& all the others) … you will
be missed!
Jackie Turner can be reached at
jackiemagic322@yahoo.com

Protecting and Promoting Healthy Oak Woodlands

By Emily Penfield - League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County

William Randolph Hearst, when he began

building his world-renowned estate on a
hill at San Simeon, determined that no live
oak trees were to be removed. It was up to
Julia Morgan, his architect, to uphold his
vision, which she successfully accomplished
largely through her design and, in one case,
with some brilliant engineering. When
faced with the daunting challenge of mov-
ing six mature live oaks – an unprecedented
task in 1919 – Morgan safely moved them
by devising a plan that was as intricate as
it was monumental, involving tunneling,
concrete girders, and timbers and rollers.
Four of those six majestic oaks are still alive
today.
In San Luis Obispo County, oak wood-
land now covers more than 36% of our
landscape, which is a remnant of what once
was – even in the recent past. In the Salinas
River Valley, for example, 70 percent of the
valley oaks were removed in 1979.
We’re not alone. Throughout the state,
the California icon is disappearing at the
alarming rate of 14,000 acres a year.
Today, another woman has stepped up
to the task of preserving California’s oak
woodlands. State Senator Sheila Kuehl,
D-Los Angeles, authored Senate Bill 1334,
which became law on Jan. 1, 2005. Up until
this time, no regional or statewide strategy
existed to conserve oak woodlands. The bill
brings oak woodland habitat protection
under the California Environmental Qual-
ity Act and establishes an Oak Woodlands
Conservation Fund. It requires that each
county adopt an oak woodlands manage-
ment plan, including mitigation measures if
a proposed project has a serious impact on
oak woodlands
Even prior to the Kuehl bill, the County
of San Luis Obispo had a voluntary plan
in place. The San Luis Obispo Native
Tree Committee is a diverse coalition that
encourages oak woodland protection and
enhancement through land owner educa-
tion and outreach. The County also imposes
fines for the removal of oak trees without
permit, although enforcement is not always
carried through and some view the fines as
inadequate.
In August 2006, an Oak Tree Resources
Committee, headed by county Supervisor
Jim Patterson, was formed. The commit-
tee considered proposing an oak tree ordi-
nance requiring mandatory protection of
oak woodlands but opted to continue with
the voluntary plan for the near future.
Their most crucial recommendation,
however, has not been adopted and is still
up for consideration. That is the hiring of
additional staff to develop and implement
the County Voluntary Oak Woodlands
Management Program.
Just as Julia Morgan provided William
Randolph Hearst with the means to pre-
serve San Simeon’s oaks, Senator Kuehl has
given California counties, including ours,
the tools to protect our oak woodlands.
Now it’s up us, as citizens, to see that the
county uses these tools.
The League of Women Voters of San
Luis Obispo County firmly endorses the
preservation of the county’s oak woodlands
and will continue to support the efforts of
the Board of Supervisors and county staff
to do so, including urging additional staff
as recommended. We urge your support in
this effort.
Emily Penfield is vice-president and program
chair for the local League of Women Voters,
and served as the League’s planning and land
use director last year. She is also a guide at
Hearst Castle.
 NOWNews Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org

This Page Presented by the National Organization for Women

The purpose of NOW is to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society NOW !

Coordinator’s Corner
By Angie King
TIt’s summer, and the livin’ is easy, or at
least it seems so. The weather is perfect
and our agricultural abundance is evident
everywhere. But I am burned out from
everything going on (Iraq, global warming,
government-sanctioned corruption, hijack-
ing of our system of checks and balances,
etc.) this past winter and spring. And, even
though I know it is it important to remem-
ber that the world will go on, and this will
end, right now I can’t deal with it. It’s sum-
mer.
However, I also know that it is up to
us, the progressive, feminist public, to fig-
ure out how to fix the mess Bush is leav-
ing behind him. That will take time. It will
also take creative thinking, outside the box
maybe, and we should be starting that pro-
cess now. So, burned out or not, let’s get our
minds right over the summer, and spend a
little time regrouping and getting creative
for the coming year.
Here are 3 suggestions for the sum-
mer, besides supporting our community at
Pride in the Plaza and Day with Creative
Women, where NOW will have a booth at
both events.
1. Take a little time to be nice to people,
we could all use it. It makes you and the
person you are nice to feel better. Reach out
and meet someone a little different from
your usual routine. I’m sure you will find
common ground and build a bond that
may have beneficial consequences later. We
are all in this together. We can’t afford not
to use all the help that’s out there.
2. Recharge your energies by reading
about other feminist, political thinkers
and doers. There are scads of biographies
of contemporary and not-so-contempo-
rary women to take with you to the beach,
or your own backyard. We should always
remember our roots and build on their
energies.
3. Spend a little time trying out ideas
for post 2008 elections, such as, universal
health care, accessible affordable child care,
recognizing the value of motherhood in
economic terms and changing the tax laws,
reversing onerous foreign policies regard-
ing dissemination of information about
abortions, and on and on. Stay informed.
Remember, the California primary is in
February 2008. How do the candidates
stand on our issues? Ask them as they ask
for your vote.
We can do it! The time is NOW!
Reproductive Rights Update
By Angie King
legal experts predict that the new reviews
Good News – The Mexico City Pol-
will result in the circuit courts upholding
icy may be on its way out! The US House
those state bans.
attached a rider to the State Department
The Freedom of Choice Act, if adopted
budget bill that marks the beginning of
into law, will restore the reproductive rights
the end of an era. In 1984 Reagan initiated
recognized in 1973 in Roe v. Wade and in
a ban on any US money going to organi-
Doe v. Bolton, before Congress, state legisla-
zations overseas that perform or promote
tures and courts eroded these rights. FOCA
abortion as a method of family planning.
applies to measures enacted or imple-
This included access to contraceptives. As a NOW Chapter # CA 565
mented before, on, or after the date of its
result, women in developing countries have PO Box 1306, SLO, CA 93406
enactment.
had to suffer high-risk pregnancies and ille-
In many parts of the country and for SLONOW @ kcbx.net
gal abortions, and sexually transmitted dis-
many low-income women, the right to an http://groups.myspace.com/~slonow
eases run rampant, causing unnecessary
abortion is meaningless for lack of providers
deaths and deprivation, family disruption,
and financial assistance. Liberty should not NOW Calendar
and other health issues. At last the Demo-
be a patchwork available only to women July 2:
cratic-controlled House has taken a step
fortunate enough to live in a state that rec- • Pres. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act, 1964
towards protecting women’s health by lift-
ognizes a woman’s fundamental human July 8:
ing the ban on providing contraceptives. Of
right to decide whether to continue a preg- • Birthday of Faye Wattleton, activist, 1943
course, Bush has already promised to veto
nancy. July 11:
the measure, but it may prove embarrassing
FOCA will supersede laws that restrict • Gay Pride in the Plaza
if he has to veto the whole State Depart-
the right to abortion, including laws that July 13-15:
ment budget.
prohibit the public funding of abortion • National NOW convention, Detroit, MI
Freedom of Choice Act introduced
care for poor women or counseling and July 17:
in Congress: In the wake of the U.S.
referrals for abortion services. Minors have • NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
Supreme Court’s regressive ruling on April
long been included within the protections July 19:
18 this year in the two abortion ban cases,
of Roe. Parental consent or notification stat- • Seneca Falls convention, 1848
women’s rights advocates in Congress have
utes have been used as a tool to deny access July 21:
introduced the Freedom of Choice Act
to abortion services for minors. When such • Birthday of Janet Reno, 1938
(FOCA) S. 1173/H.R. 1964. This legislation,
laws deny or interfere with the ability of
if enacted, would override the Court’s deci-
minors to access abortion services, they Aug 3:
sion in the two cases, Gonzales v. Planned
would violate FOCA. • Birthday, Maggie Kuhn, founder, Grey
Parenthood and Gonzales v. Carhart, in
FOCA also forbids government from Panthers
which the court upheld vaguely-written
interfering with a woman’s right to choose Aug 6:
bans that could prohibit the most com-
to bear a child. Moreover, it prohibits dis- • Women’s Peace Day, anniversary of Hiro-
monly used and safest abortion procedures
crimination against the exercise of repro- shima bombing, 1945
after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
ductive rights. FOCA would supersede the Aug 11:
In upholding these bans, five conser-
federal ban and any state ban on abortion • Day with Creative Women, Mission Plaza
vative Supreme Court justices have effec-
procedures (so-called “partial-birth” abor- Aug 13:
tively overruled a core element of Roe v.
tion bans) to the extent those bans restrict • Birthday of Lucy Stone
Wade that had been reinforced in many
pre-viability abortion procedures, or post- Aug 21:
Court decisions: the requirement that leg-
viability procedures necessary to preserve a • NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
islative restrictions on abortion must con-
woman’s health or life. Aug 26:
tain an exception to protect the woman’s
While action this year is unlikely, this • Women’s Equality Day
health. The gravity of the Court’s decision
legislation allows the women’s reproductive
as it relates to the health of all women of
rights community to make important head-
child-bearing age is immense. It is a giant
way as a movement. It helps us to: (1) artic-
leap toward overturning Roe and, at the
ulate our vision of what it means to support According to one of our NOW members,
same time, signals approval to the state leg-
women’s right to determine her own repro- historian Carol McPhee, the women of
islatures with anti-abortion majorities to
ductive life (2) educate the public about SLO were involved in the fight for suffrage.
move forward with abortion ban bills that
the threat facing Roe at the Supreme Court In October 1896, Susan B Anthony her-
would go into effect when, and if, Roe falls
and the many other efforts long underway self made a “whistle stop” here to address
completely.
to erode Roe’s protections; and (3) mobilize the public on the rights of women to vote.
Not wasting a moment, the Supreme
and activate feminist activists as we build Many fundraising events and rallies had
Court on April 23 directed the lower courts
momentum for the serious battles that lie been held prior to her arrival. At one such
to review earlier decisions that had over-
ahead. See more information at NOW.org. rally, in response to the concern expressed
turned state abortion bans in Virginia and
Defend Birmingham Alabama’s Clin- by a man present that voting would make
Missouri because they lacked exceptions to
ics July 14 – 22, 2007: Please join Birming- women strong-minded, the speaker replied
protect the health of the woman. Because
the Supreme Court’s April 18 decision dis- it would not, for weren’t men still weak
minded after they voted?
counts the necessity of a health exception, Continued in Rights, pg. 7

Join the Parade for
Women’s Equality Day
August 26, 2007
at the State Capitol
in Sacramento
In the final years before the passage of the
19th amendment to the US Constitution,
that which recognizes the right of women
to cast votes in federal elections, the women
of that time took to the streets, much as
we still do today, to protest the inequality
of rights under the law. In their case, it was
scandalous for women to be out in public
alone without male escorts (sound famil-
iar?) and to take a position opposed by their
husbands or fathers. Yet these women did.
And more. As we know from the movie,
“Iron Jawed Angels,” some of them, nota-
bly Alice Paul, suffered imprisonment and
forced feedings for their positions. Others
picketed the White House with vigils and
signs; and memorably, all dressed in white,
they rode white horses down Pennsylvania
Avenue in front of the White House, caus-
ing a stampede and general rioting by the
men in the crowd. It has been this image,
of women in white on white horses that has
endured.
87 years later, a consortium of women’s
groups has joined together for a commemo-
rative parade in Sacramento, complete with
white dresses and white horses and we are
all encouraged to join them. California
NOW is one of the sponsoring organiza-
tions, along with National Women’s His-
tory Project, AAUW, Planned Parenthood,
Commission on the Status of Women, Cal-
ifornia Nurses Association, Grandmothers
for Peace, many labor groups, and others
too numerous to mention.
As you know, each year, SLO NOW has
traditionally presented a public educational
program about the background of and
importance of Women’s Equality Day and
the impact women have made on US poli-
tics because of the power of our votes. Next
year, which will be a few months before
major fall elections, we plan to return to
that format with a panel of women office
seekers discussing their views on feminist
topics.
However, this year, we will be joining
the march in Sacramento for our celebra-
tion. We invite you to join us. We will be
renting a van (or taking the train, depend-
ing on the number of people, time involved
and cost). The parade begins at 9:30 AM on
Saturday August 25, so we will most likely
travel the night before and stay in a hotel
close by. There will be no charge for local
SLO NOW chapter members for the van
or the hotel; non-members will be asked to
pay $45. (As an aside, membership for a year
in SLO NOW costs only $40 – join now
and save $4!) For more information and to
sign up for the trip, call Susan at 473-4697.
Come to our next meeting, July 17 for more
details or visit womenequalityparade.com.
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Voices 

Voices Around the Table: What are your internal and external sources of creativity?

Jeanie Greensfelder
My internal sources include listening for
the muse in conversation with myself via
journal, art, and introspection.  Sometimes
I commit to write a page about anything,
and then sift through it for a nugget that
leads me further.
At bedtime I ask for dreams and in
the morning I pay attention to my dream
images. When I write about them or draw
them, their lessons expand. Also, I watch
for thoughts that come in the night. Med-
itation can bring surprises. And if I feel
bored and uncreative, I become interested
in this vacuum that will fill.
External inspiration comes when I
schedule a ME day and go for an outing.
My company is a camera and a notebook
for thoughts, ideas, and sketches. Curios-
ity and noticing moments often leads to an
essay or poem. When I go some place new,
I look with fresh eyes.
I love to play with and expand ideas
sadness for cruelties unwittingly inflicted
on fellow human beings, solitude and
meditation, music heard and absorbed as
mother-love, the wind blown into my self
to become spirit. Inspired I breathe the air
of renewal and restore the vital balance my
good body needs to write poems, to play the
piano and sing, to respond to a child’s cry,
to sink deeper and deeper into that private
place where whatever is born might become
a thing of beauty to nurture, to share.
Esther McKinnon
This question arouses in me some
thoughts and wandering associations.  When
my Creativity shows up -- that is, when the
ability to bring forth New Life in some way
or other starts working in me -- it feels to
me that some little bit of Diivne Inspira-
tion has been let loose to play around with
me, to move my senses and thoughts -- my
whole being -- the same way that the wind
sets the leaves and shadows to dancing in
mediate disputes -- all of that comes from
the world and goes back into the world -
- the whole in-out pulse happening at the
same time, one unbroken process, like one
breath:  the in and out both becoming the
other with no clear line of demarcation.
Hmmmm... Identifying my creative
sources?  For me that is like trying to pick
up a smooth, small ball of quicksilver...
Oops!  It was there!  But the effort to col-
lect and identify it, the effort to hold it, to
own it, to control it, scatters it.  There!  No,
there, there... now there!  No!  Irretrievable,
no longer identifiable, now it’s something
else, somewhere else...
Let’s just say that I notice Creativ-
ity when it comes visiting.  I attend to the
shifts in perspective that it brings.  The
Newness delights and surprises me and I
accept the Gift and give thanks for that spe-
cial vision as well as for the means to turn
it into a New Thing that magically weaves
through and out of me.  Recognizing the
process at play and at work in my body -
- in my hands, words, pen, home, family,
clay . . . -- is for me a kind of praying.  The
triple “A” modus vivendi, modus
ludendi:  Attend.  Accept.  Acknowledge
with thanks.
The Gift comes unspecified and
unbidden.  For me, trying to identify the
source impedes the process.  Do not look
Epona in the mouth to check her teeth.  It
smacks of ingratitude to question the high-
spirited Horse Goddess-Muse.  Sources
must be honored, but at the same time
some sources must remain nameless and in
mystery to retain their Soul and Power.

from books or conversations. A browsing
hour in the library is always fruitful. Writ-
ers, artists and musicians like to study suc-
cessful examples in their field keeping this
question in mind, “How did they do that?”
The more I honor ideas by creating
something, the more ideas flow. When I
look at something I’ve made, I am grateful
for the inspiration that passed through me
and fed my soul.
Irene Kooi Chadwick
My internal and external sources of cre-
ativity are as various and abundant as the
sky is high and the earth is deep. Externally,
I feel the magnetic forces of Planet Earth
drawing me to its goodnesses. Each drop of
rain, each spider web, each grain of sand,
the ant, mouse, swifts building their mud
nests below the eaves, the way the tree bends
to soak up sun, the bee extracting pollen
from the inner recesses of red trumpets on
the vine gracing the fence. Internally, I feel
joy -- joie de vivre -- say the French, deep
the trees outside my windows right now on
this late spring afternoon ... with no partic-
ular purpose other than to Make New and
to Play ... the same way the breezes arouse
miles and miles of mature grasses and cause
them to wave and roll across the prairies
in mid-July ... the same way that white
caps and long frothy white crests peak and
plunge as the tide surges and ebbs at the
Jersey shore in September ... My Creativity
is not well-behaved ... although oftentimes
the results of all of that chaos and random-
ness will turn into a New Order of some
kind.
But the source of all that commotion
and flow and change?  I haven’t a clue.
Except that I know that it’s not all com-
ing from inside me.  Inspiration, by defi-
nition, is breathed in from outside.  The
products I create -- my poems and songs
and dances and original mothering ploys,
my spontaneous meals and the diplomacy
that comes to me sometimes from out
of the blue that allows me to successfully
RIGHTS
Continued from pg. 6
ham NOW for “Alabama Reproductive
Freedom Summer.” From July 14-22, pro-
choice supporters are gathering in Birming-
ham, Alabama, to say “No!” to Operation
Save America (OSA). They will spend the
week mobilizing the reproductive rights
movement, defending the clinic, and grow-
ing a regional organization. This is a call for
progressive activists from around the coun-
try to join them for any part of the week’s
events, and to make a financial contribu-
tion to help support this important work.
OSA, formerly Operation Rescue,
descended upon Jackson, Miss., last sum-
mer in a failed attempt to shut down the
lone remaining women’s clinic in the state.
AL NOW members were there, and this
summer MS NOW has pledged to recipro-
cate. OSA is coming to Birmingham to, in
its words, “take the Gospel of Christ to the
very gates of hell – the abortion industry
in Birmingham.” This is a “religious” hate
group – a bunch of bullies who spend their
time harassing and intimidating women,
and spewing hatred toward the gay com-
munity and immigrants, among others.
This group laments that legislation has not
successfully ended abortion and feels that
they must now “storm the gates.”
Your help is needed! For example, a
donation of
• $25 will buy water for the group for
one day,
• $50 will buy 10 vests for the dedicated
feminists who come to defend the
clinic,
• $100 will pay for one night at a Bir-
mingham hotel for two of the incredi-
ble people joining us to stop this siege.
Donate NOW! Write to P.O. Box 1848,
Merrifield, VA 22116-8048 or call 202-628-
8669.

17th Annual
Women’s Long Dance
September 21, 22 & 23, 2007
Arroyo Grande Location
We invite women of all ages, from young women who have begun Moontime,
to Grandmother Elders, to the upcoming Long Dance. This ceremony is an
opportunity for unity. A place to cast your intentions into a circle of profound
energy. Come, daughters of Earth Mother, put on your power, join together.
Let us make MAGIC!

Send SASE for further information and/or registration form to:

Church of Empowerment
P.O. Box 76 Arroyo Grande, CA. 93421
Or go to the website for downloadable forms:
www.churchofempowerment.org
or call/email:

Hua Anwa 805.481.0892 Skywalker 805.967.6537 Jade Bracken 805.772.5068

Rosa2hua@aol.com Sowelu@silcom.com Jadebracken@sbcglobal.net
 Events
Purification of the Heart:
Traditional Islamic Theory and Prac-
tice of Tasawuf
Nisha Abdul Cader
Purification of the heart is a central
concept in Islamic ideology and prac-
tice. Although often attributed to the Sufi
movement in contemporary times, histori-
cally the concept of tasawuf was an area of
scholarship in the great centers of learning
throughout the Muslim world.
The workshop will briefly introduce the
central concepts of Islam, including gender
equity, then explain the concept of tasawuf.
It will then explore practical steps to fol-
low this inward reflection, assessment, and
application regardless of faith tradition.
In The Heart Is a Well
Rev. Nancy Ballinger, M.A., M. Div
Whether pursuing a career, nurturing a
relationship, or raising kids, our busy lives
seldom offer women the opportunity to
journey to places within where we are able
to source our deep inner wisdom. Through
meditation we are able to fill ourselves and
let the healing waters spill over and heal our
earth.
The workshop will offer basic instruction
in meditation and explore through readings
from many faith traditions how people have
always known to go within for strength and
care. Women will leave inspired to begin
meditating even for a few minutes each day,
and see how our personal care and inner
work affects and cares for our Earth and all
beings and the next real step towards peace.
Embodied Sexuality
Bailey Drechsler
Sexuality embodies paradox: it holds the
potential for ecstatic awakening, and heart-
ache; experiencing cosmic oneness, and
existential separateness. In this light, sexu-
ality may be viewed as a crucible: it opens
up—nay forces—the possibility for trans-
formation.
In this workshop participants are invited
to:
• Explore the psychological and
socio-historical forces that interfere
with whole-heartedly embracing her
sexuality
• Increase acceptance of & appreciation
for her Sexual Self
• Envision what it means to powerfully
claim her unique sexual identity
• Celebrate the awe and wonder of
female sexuality
Gather the Women Workshop Descriptions
Honoring the Wise Woman Within
Berta Parrish, Ed.D.
The Wise Woman archetype, the third
stage of a woman’s life, isn’t valued in
today’s youth-obsessed American culture.
However, we can “see through” the limit-
ing stereotypes and reclaim her inspiration,
guidance, and vibrancy. By recognizing her
in folktales and myths and by discovering
our Wise Woman Within, we can embody
her archetypal energy and serve our com-
munities with purpose and passion.
Writing From and For the Soul
Beverly Engel, L.M.F.T.
In this workshop you will be learn ways
to connect with and access your deep-
est and highest self. You will be provided
writing exercises that will encourage you
to connect with and speak from your soul.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys writ-
ing, would like to discover ways to jump-
start or deepen their writing, or for anyone
who is interested in learning new ways for
self-discovery.
When Chocolate is Not Enough
Bonita Zisla, MA, MFT
Susan Sharaga Swadener, PhD, RD
Why food works soooo well to take care
of uncomfortable feelings and what you can
do about healing your relationship with
your body and food. Everybody has to eat,
but how to eat with pleasure and experience
your body with acceptance?
What would happen if all the energy
that women put into hating their bod-
ies and worrying about what they eat were
put to use in solving the earth’s problems?
We will use education, guided imagery, art
activities and discussion to help promote
a healthy enjoyment and appreciation for
food/life/our bodies.
 
Changing the Story to Save the Earth
Eve Neuhaus
The poet Muriel Rukeyser says, “The
universe is not made of atoms; it is made
of stories.” The stories we tell ourselves, the
stories we believe, the stories we live, the
language, the sound, the images, the pro-
cesses, the metaphors, all work together
to create our reality. Right now most of
us are telling ourselves and others a pretty
grim story—but times of great peril are also
times of great possibility. Let’s change the
story and change the world.
Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org
presents the second annual
Caring for Earth • Caring for Spirit: A One-Day Retreat
Temple Beth David, 10180 Los Osos Valley Road, San Luis Obispo
9:00 am (Registration) to 5:00 pm, Sunday, August 26, 2007
$
75.00 • Buffet Salad Lunch Provided • Pre- Registration Required
For presenter bios and pre-registration form, contact editors@womenspress-slo.org,
go to www. womenspress-slo.org or call 805.541.6874
This workshop will offer two tools for
changing our own, our world’s, and per-
haps, the earth’s story: the perspectus, a hel-
met that lets you see from the perspective
of anyone or anything; and the gift of lan-
guages, which lets you understand the lan-
guage of anyone or anything.
Spiritual Aging
Beverly Engel
Heather Mendel
What is Spiritual Aging? Making sure
that you are the best version of yourself
you can possibly be. Becoming an instru-
ment of healing for your family. Becoming
an Ambassador of Peace in your commu-
nity and in the world. Experiencing fuller
and deeper relationships with others--and
yourself. Following in the footsteps of other
women who exemplify what it means to age
spiritually and gracefully. Making elegant
choices that will make your life more mean-
ingful on a day to day basis. In this work-
shop we will present information, strategies
and experiential exercises that will help
you to achieve all of these things. Join oth-
ers who are interested in aging spiritually,
meaningfully, and gracefully and learn from
one another.
The Circle of Time: A Participatory
Journey of the Senses
Alyson LeBlanc
As a powerful means for creating aware-
ness, connection, and support for the pro-
cess of self-discovery and planetary change,
the circle is the oldest and most mythically
powerful symbol in existence. In the quiet
and focus of an intimate setting, you are
invited to journey through the ages with
sangoma Alyson LeBlanc as we explore and
experience the ‘cycle of the circle’ through
time.
Visual and sound presentations, inter-
spersed with observation, participation, dis-
cussion, and sharing, will gradually bring
us from the dawn of human interaction
through to an encompassing vision of our
place in the circle of our own relationships,
communities, and land in today’s world.
This 1 ½ hour ‘moment in time’ offers you a
beautiful opportunity for greater awareness
of the sacred purpose of circle in your own
life and in the lives of those around you.
Sarah and Hagar: Reaching Out
Across the Great Divide
Nisha Abdul Cader
Heather Mendel
Removed as we are from the events
described in religious texts of Islam and
Judaism about how the Muslim and Jew-
ish communities became separated, the two
presenters share stories as a contemporary
Muslim and Jewish woman in dialog about
themselves, their families and their lives.
Using the vehicle of faith and family as
pathways to celebrate diversity, the present-
ers consider the influences of their respec-
tive traditional practices on their spiritual
pathways. Discussing what they have in
common and what is uniquely their own,
they will encourage participants to share
their own stories as way to nourish and heal
the spiritual yearnings that may have been
bruised by religious practice.
The Four Sacred Winds:
What We Can Learn From the
Cardinal Directions About Ourselves
and All Our Relations
Janise Rennie
Each direction represents color, ele-
ments, animals, time of season, and more.
Come take a journey exploring the sacred
directions and their elements and how those
apply to your everyday lives. The Native
peoples have long believed that each cardi-
nal direction holds power. The winds carry
messages for us. Through daily practice of
meditation, we can learn to listen. With
ritual drumming we shall journey into the
directions, meditating on what is held for
us, what we can learn at this time, where
our power spot exists, and much more.
Walk Gently
By Anne Dunbar
Walk gently
through the corridors of my heart.
Ill used as it is
a coarseness pervades its passages.
Follow not
the paths well beaten.
Rather explore its dusty regions
in search of my eternity.
My wholeness eludes me and sadness
lies in its wake.
Walk gently, my love.
Walk on.
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press CreativeWomen 

“Great Egret Flying” by Ruth Ann Angus. A line of Ruth Ann’s educational nature cards featuring her photos will be for sale “Sweet Jessie” by Lynda Roeller
at the Natural History Museum in Morro Bay.

UnsungHeroine
Francesca Nemko: Improvising a Poet’s Life Ode to the Written Word
By Berta Parrish By Bailey Drechsler

In 1997, Francesca Nemko was asked to
interview herself for a Women’s Press article
about a creative woman. In that biographi-
cal piece, she describes herself as “an impro-
viser, a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of
writer, educator, and performer.” It’s only
fitting that ten years later she was selected
to be interviewed for the same newspaper.
In the intervening years, she has gained fur-
ther acclaim and confidence and has con-
tinued fostering creativity in herself and
others.
Francesca arrived in SLO in 1993 from
LA with an impressive resume as a freelance
writer with articles on music, travel, food,
and health-related topics in several US and
overseas publications. Her love of music led
her to write numerous album liner notes,
artist biographies, concert program notes,
and musician profiles. Her passion for jazz
inspires her poetry and her “spoken word
jazz improv” performances. She has two
books of poetry, Childless Mother and Of
Parrots and Paradigms, and the DVD Word-
Jazz, a recording with a jazz trio at Unity
Concert Hall.
In addition to expressing her own tal-
ent, she encourages others as a facilitator
in workshops and as a Creative Consul-
tant to aspiring writers. She believes that
“we all have buried treasures within us that
can be excavated if we are open and recep-
tive.” She has conducted You’re Never Too
Old to Meet Your Muse and Poetry, Creation,
and Performance workshops at Cuesta Col-
lege as well as a continuing creative writing
class at Unity. Naturally, she uses music to
stimulate and enhance the creative process.
“Music gets into peoples’ souls and makes
them move – sway or dance. As they move,
their senses are aroused and words start to
form. So, when they sit down to write, the
words come more easily; the creative juices
are flowing.”
Currently Francesca feels that another
transition, another adventure in living,
is taking place. It’s a slow passage, build-
ing upon earlier experiences and emotions.
“We can’t jump over ourselves. We have to
go through every step,” she cautions. As
an Aries with a nonconforming, pioneer-
ing personality, she considers herself a bell-
wether for cultural trends. “On the inner
level, it seems that I’m one step ahead of
what’s happening outside. I feel like I’m
more tuned to a higher consciousness than
ever before.” Francesca is taking her grow-
ing spirituality and openness into the next
phase of her life as a recent poem reflects:
A new child is born
And it is me!
Learning to talk, walk, run
and see
again.
Starting over, what an opportunity
to regain
My childlike wonder and enthusiasm.
Four months prior to my eighth birthday
my father died, suddenly, and my mother
poured every ounce of what was left of her
wounded heart into making my birthday
extra special. I remember feeling caught
in a web of sadness over missing my dad,
shame because I secretly hoped for many
presents, and confusion about how to be
the “good girl.”
I don’t know this for certain but I sus-
pect my mom took notice of my struggle
with the push and pull of contrary emo-
tions. Compelled to assuage my internal
tumult, and most likely attempting to ease
her own sense of grief and vulnerability, my
mother gifted me with a diary. “You know
you can always come to me if you want to
talk about your feelings,” my mother said,
her watery dark brown eyes intent on mine.
“But there may be times when you’ll want
to keep your thoughts private. This diary
is meant for those times, and anytime you
want to write about anything.”
I loved the gold glinting off the jour-
nal’s edges and the swirling calligraphy
that spelled “Diary”. I especially loved the
tiny metal key accompanying the journal, a
promise to prevent intruders from entering
the land of my secrets. Holding the leather-
bound diary, feeling its heft in my palms,
filled me with a vague sense of purpose.
It wasn’t long after writing in my diary
that I discovered the power of words.
Words captured my thoughts and experi-
ences, naïve and trifling though they were
at times; writing helped to settle the dust
stirred by my emotions. Committing words
to paper brought a certain amount of stabil-
ity to my chaotic and impermanent world,
buffered the rattle and gloom within my
house. And when reality left me wanting,
when I did poorly on my arithmetic quiz or
when I was the last chosen for the softball
team, I created a better outcome for myself
in my diary.
Writing took me places, places borne of
my imagination alone. My imagination!
Nascent and with the whimsy of
childhood innocence, thus my creative
impulse beat.
My journal continues to serve as an
ever-faithful friend. It is a source of com-
fort, offering the solace that comes from the
sweet expanse of open spaces. Here I have
room enough to thrash and kick and scream
when the world doesn’t unfold the way I
would like. Here I have all the breathing
space I need to turn inside out so that I may
find my way back to myself. Beyond this,
writing gives me the freedom to delve into
my Creative Power, exploring the rhythms,
nuances and lexicon of my soul.
Art and Poem By Joan Kenyon
She saw the bird fall,
So she picked it up,
Tucked it warmly
Against her skin

The Wisdom That Surprises Us And carried it home.

By Hilda Heifetz
Have you ever heard yourself say something and
wonder where that came from? It’s as if you and
the speaker had no connection, even the voice
sounds different! Some people call this phenom-
enon a “Freudian slip,” but the intelligence seems
to me to come from another source.
As early as eighty years ago (!), when I was
ten, this was my experience. My Mother and I
had a few rare moments of uninterrupted shar-
ing. Not too surprisingly, we talked about family,
and Mother was recalling the loss of her first two
babies in delivery. She went on to the successful
arrival of my older sister, brother, and then me.
Somewhat bemused, she reflected on my unex-
pected addition. “Not planned for,” she said. To
my surprise, I promptly retorted, in a reassuring,
unfamiliar voice: “Oh, that’s all right because I’m
part of a larger plan!” Who knew enough to say
that? Certainly not myself. A ten-year old!
In the years that followed, I found the meaning
of this remark growing clearer. It flew in the face of
current claims that parents cause all the problems
It died, of course,
From a broken wing.
of their children. It awakened us to the recogni-
tion that we come into the world with predisposi- She keeps a feather
tions, individual will power, even a personal sense On a shelf
of purpose. Do I add an awareness of something To remind herself
we have called “destiny”? Of lightness,
Happily, we now have recognized those who But every now and then,
overcome obstacles and adversity by the term She cries
“transcenders.” Those who move by “a larger When no one is looking.
plan” beyond the influence of parents and circum-
stances. We seem to have a built-in interpreter of
the events of our lives . . .?
Victor Frankl, well-known psychiatrist and
author of the classic “Man’s Search for Meaning,”
wrote about how Holocaust prisoners stayed alive
as long as they did. One of my friends, now a psy-
chotherapist herself, told me how, at the age of
eight, knew that, with two alcoholic parents, she
would have to be in charge of her own life and
draw upon her potential.
It’s not always a success story, but it engages
some of the resources available to us if we call
upon them.
 10 CreativeWomen
Summer Place
By Susan Tuttle
Dilapidated, shingled roof of green;
A musty yard begs little feet to roam.
The long-abandoned place stands sad, serene;
So dank and cold, and yet so like a home.
A faded rose, a tarnished silver knife;
Papers, books, the treasures of her store,
Packed up with love and care they taste of life;
The life of Anna, who comes back no more.
I open notebooks, reading what she said;
I seem to feel her presence quite nearby.
Nonsense! They’re just remnants of the dead;
Yet with each toss I hear her anguished cry.
And I think while watching flames eat hun-
grily,
That someday someone will burn my memory.
Artwork of Maya Angelou by Heather Mendel
Fighters
By Elizabeth McGregor
Blessed are we who dare to write
for our pride is forever invaded
If we’re not too weary to dodge the blows
We grow deaf and stubborn and jaded
Then one day a punch will hit its mark
And stun us a moment or two
But the contact only ignites a spark
And there’s still nothing else we could do
We put our words out there for you to judge
And carry our spirits in hand
If we’re strong and faithful we ignore the nudge
That our sense and the masses command
While some people scream their emotions aloud
And some people whisper their fight
A writer devoted will forever vow
That she simply be left to write
Wise Woman Willow
By Berta Parrish
Wise Woman is also Spirit and Matter,
Grounded deep in Mother Earth,
She reaches high to Father Sky.
I am the sapling, growing,
Sprouting roots and branches
Needing water and sunlight
Feeling sail and wind, insects and birds
Stretching, searching,
Becoming a willow, from end to end,
Joining the earthy chorus and singing
heavenly praises.
The Otter, by Ruth Ann Angus
Bittersweet
By Jane Elsdon
On a brisk walk around the lake,
with the cool breath of morning fresh on
our cheeks
we exchange greetings with friendly folks
who
share this early morning ritual.
 
Afterward,
in our favorite restaurant
we sit at breakfast
with friends of many years
swapping fish stories mythological in size
amid a gale of laughter.
 
A shopping foray
with our granddaughter follows.
I hold our two-month-old great-grandson
and lose myself
in the unlined map
of his innocent face.
Life is sweet. Oh, how sweet
 
Interspersing routines of the day
come several heart-jolting phone calls:
 
a cherished friend of long years lies in ICU
hemorrhaging his life away
while terror holds his wife hostage
to the helplessness of waiting.
 
A beloved mentor of over 50 years
diminished by repeated strokes
lies in a nursing home
unable to recognize those she loves.
Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org
Commentary of the latest worldwide woes,
Iraqi war casualties and African famine
fatalities,
echoes through the living room.
 
Life is bitter. Oh, how bitter.
 
Joined in sadness we cannot escape,
in the peaceful sanctuary
of the home we have created,
my love and I partake
of a simple supper, lingering
over ice cream on a steamy August evening.
 
At dusk we sit side-by-side in the swing.
Its repetitive, gentle movements
soothe our troubled souls
even as we relish the transition of air
from sweltering to cool and pleasant.
Hands entwined,
we rest in the serene song
of our wine-barrel waterfall,
filled with gratitude for this moment,
although a tangle of contradictory emo-
tions
foments beneath the surface.
At 3:10 a.m., after hours communing with
Spirit
about family and friends,
I have no choice but to rise from bed
to set down this poem.
Life is bittersweet.
Oh, how bittersweet.
My boobs are uneven
By Skylar Olsen
My boobs are uneven.
Two wayward sisters, no chance of recon-
ciliation, they hang with different weight,
shape, and swing. I’ve spent masochistic
hours in small rooms with broken locks
pulling armpit fat into unwire cups strug-
gling to make perfect curves of perfect
symmetry—
until your breath swept just as often over
my smaller shame as her larger sister and I
realized my asymmetric perfection.
When I jump up and down my thighs clap.
Applauding great feats of cake consump-
tion, such an audible admonishment sent
embarrassed shame to my belly and apolo-
gizes for compliments from my lips—
until your beard graced cellulite curves and
I learned my definition of beauty is my own
to define.
When I slap one cheek the other shakes.
A trail of reverberation ending in glowering
evaluations in cruel mirrors, prodding and
poking, imagining a horror of further der-
rière expansion—
until your palm caressed cold skin and
peach fuzz prickled and I grew satisfied
at how my flesh molded to your fingers
imploring.
I am not afraid anymore,
Of stretch marks and fleshy bits, of audible
flesh and curves where angles should be.
I know my body, its limits, and how I’ve
pushed them,
I know my embarrassments and my shame
and purposely lost them.
I know your breath, your beard, your fin-
gers, and your love and why you give them.
I know my legs will always hold me and my
arms are long enough to wrap about my
ambitions.
And most importantly—I know—like all
women brave enough to ask their gynos,
my secretion is normal.
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
Creating a Better World, One Child at a Time
By Dawn Williams
When other women talk about creativity, I used to
feel left out. I do not paint or photograph, weave,
sew, create pottery or baskets, or in any way create
an artifact that can be displayed. I don’t even have
a garden. I do dance and sing, but have never done
either professionally. But as I watch my steadily
growing family flourish, I realize that, to some
extent, I have “created” them.
I have cared for, and about, children since I
was ten years old, when I began earning spend-
ing money (spent mostly on vinyl LPs) by “baby
sitting.” But I did more than “sit”; I interacted
with my young charges, and loved them. Though
my own childhood was neither abusive nor lov-
ing, I determined to be a loving mother and sup-
portive of my children’s individuality. When my
husband died leaving me with eight of our nine
children still at home (our oldest son had joined
the Air Force less than a year before), I wasn’t sure
how we would survive, but I knew that we would
do it together. I worked part time to supplement
our inadequate Social Security benefits, and each
My Mother’s Party
By Anne Quinn
My father, who moved back with my Mom to his
native Missouri after retirement, got the weird idea
that, for my Mother’s 75th birthday, he’d invite
only the “original,” nuclear family to fly in for the
celebration. His thinking was somewhere along
the lines of, while large family gatherings involving
spouses and lots of grandchildren were all very fine
and good, they had a different dynamic than just
the family group we grew up in, and in honor of
my Mom’s big 75, why don’t we do something dif-
ferent and just get together as we had as kids.
That would have been fine except, my “core”
family was always neurotic and we had all actually
married well in the sense that we’d all married peo-
ple who were more outgoing, better looking with
better senses of humor than any of us “originals.”
From the beginning, the family gathering was
strained. It was only minutes before the old rival-
ries surfaced, resulting in a typical argument at the
dinner table.
When my youngest brother, who never made
secret of his preference for his wife’s family gather-
ings to ours (and had an annoying habit of talking
about all the fun games they play at their Thanks-
givings or Christmases while he was attending
ours), started in on the latest best time they’d had,
I leaped up, interrupted him and suggested we
play charades.
Everyone said no right off, except my mother.
She instantly loved the idea, and it was her birth-
day. Everyone reluctantly got up from the table
and broke into separate teams.
We had a few tries on each side, seemed to be
getting it even though the smiles I was getting
from my brothers and sisters were wan. Here were
all these successful professionals, intimidated by a
game of charades.
I am convinced that the only way to play cha-
rades, a game where you act out movie titles or
On the Bearded Dragon That Kept
Charging His Glass Cage in the Pet Store
By Blair Tellers
It may have been the squattish toddler,
slapping the glass with his chubby hands -
plap, plap, they went -
like the sound of someone dropping moist pan-
cakes
one by one onto a marble counter top,
that bothered the bearded dragon so.
Or it could have been the sweaty fingerprints,
streaked across what the dragon knew as home.
And if it was the fingerprints, I could sympathize.
After all I had worked in an ice cream store;
I had cleaned my share of oily nose blodges
and foggy little mouth marks off the glass cases.
Still, though, I like to think that the dragon was
conscious
CreativeWomen 11
of the children did his or her part to maintain
a home. I also went to college, once all were in
school, earning a California elementary teaching
credential, a Bilingual/Cross-cultural credential
and a Master’s Degree in Education. This gave me
a profession that allowed me to spend more time
with my family.
I have heard it said, “You never know how
well you have raised your children until they start
to raise your grandchildren.” Well, I must have
done some things right, because I watch as my
twenty-two grandchildren and seventeen great
grandchildren grow up with love, respect, and a
sense of responsibility for themselves and for oth-
ers. No, they are not perfect, but they are persons
I love and can be proud of.
So I say to all you mothers and possible future
mothers, single or married, working or full time
homemakers, “Be proud of your children. Help
them to develop to their full capacities; they are
your creative works of Art.”
book names until the complete name is guessed
by your team or the time is up, is to appeal to
your team’s verbal skills rather than to try and act
out the meaning of a phrase. I have noticed that
those who succeed in getting their team members
to guess quickly do a lot of “sounds like” then act
out a word by syllable then another building upon
the last word until the whole phrase becomes evi-
dent. Those that try to convey meanings are a lot
more entertaining but rarely succeed. I’ll never
forget one drunken college party when “Johnny
from Jersey” got on all fours, three his head back
and bayed at the moon sending us into fits of
hysterical laughter but not really helping us get
“Hound of the Baskervilles.”
I watched as my mother made this terrible
mistake. She began flailing her arms and standing
on her tippy toes, her lips formed in a perfect lit-
tle “O” to communicate the title Wind in the Wil-
lows. The more her team didn’t get it, the harder
she tried, whirling about making little “woo woo”
sounds.
My brother the lawyer: “Helicopter?”
My sister the artist: Dance?
Lots of tries, nothing close, but my mother
only whirled faster and threw her arms around
more violently.
“Hurricane?”
“Swan Lake?”
My brother’s face grew grim. My sister had her
hands over her mouth. They were imagining that
she felt as bad as they would have if they’d ever
dared to fail like that, ever make fools of them-
selves. But rather than give up or try another
tactic, my mother thought her woo woo wasn’t
convincing enough and started to hiss. Then
chortle, then giggle, and finally laugh and laugh
and laugh. At last everyone laughed with her. At
last, it was a party.
1101 Laurel Lane - San Luis Obispo
541-1464
“We hold the keys to your car’s health”
ANSWERS TO YOUR COMMON CAR QUESTIONS
Q: How can I get the best gas mileage?
of what he was doing, that there was some emo- A: A few very simple ways to save gas: Accelerate slowly and
tional drive the speed limit. Keep your tire pressures to man-
drive behind it; that he wasn’t scratching at the ufacturer’s specifications(on the door panel, or in your
glass because he hated his reflection or because owner’s manual). Don’t warm up your car for more than
he was bored. I remember him because of the way
30 seconds. Turn off the engine when waiting at the bank
he stood on his hind legs
and placed the front claws or at a train crossing (more than a minute). Keep your car
on the glass, like an inmate talking serviced according to factory schedule. Keep the excess
to a family member weight down, use your cruise control, turn the a.c. off,
during visiting hours. park your car one day a week.
But whatever the reason,
my favorite theory is that the bearded E-mail your car questions to
dragon was lonely,
continentalmotorworks@gmail.com.
and just wanted a hug.
Tune in to the Motormouths every Saturday morning
from 8-9 am on KVEC 920 AM.
12 Body&Soul
Giving Birth to Your Divine Creativity
by Laura Hyde
I cannot do without something which is
greater than I, which is my life--the power to
create.
­— Vincent Van Gogh
Creative self-expression allows us to connect
with the wisdom and desires of our souls
for better self-understanding and healing.
It also serves as prayer, drawing us closer
to our Creator and divine creation. As co-
creators, it takes a great deal of strength to
be a conscious co-creator. Every day, we are
given a chance to express ourselves, to share
an inspired idea which brings some com-
fort and healing to our community, and to
our world. It’s as if the Universe is saying, “I
place before you a day. Create with it what
you will out of your heart, soul, and mind.
It is my gift to you.”
Created in the image and after the like-
ness of our Creator, we don’t get a choice
about whether we will be creative, but we
can choose what it is that we create. Our
thoughts are powerful beyond measure, and
we are capable of creating whatever is in
our souls via myriad forms: singing, sculpt-
ing, building a business, cultivating a loving
relationship. The list goes on and on. Every
situation, each and everyday, provides us
with an opportunity to express our deep-
est selves. As we give birth to the divine
spark that is within our souls, we open to
the great and abundant lives for which we
are created.
In my own life, I’ve witnessed how much
healing occurs when I expose my deepest
and authentic self through painting, cook-
ing, creating a meaningful show for Rela-
tionship Wisdom, writing an article for
Women’s Press, or being inspired to develop
an uplifting presentation for the Circle of
Spiritual Enlightenment. It’s not about what
I create or how I create, but rather, that I
express my soul. As you embark on express-
ing your soul through creativity, some ques-
tions to ask yourself include: 1) If we are all
meant to be co-creators, what is my role? 2)
What nurtures my soul? 3) When do I feel
SpiritualityMatters
Balance Between Ego and the Spiritual
By Heather Mendel
Our understanding of God is challenged
each time we have to confront those things
in our lives that are painful or negative. For
most of us, it is easy to see that Divinity is
the source of the love, compassion, joy and
fulfillment that hopefully is part of what we
all experience. How do we see God when
our vision is veiled by our tears and our
inhumanity of one to another defying com-
prehension?
Each time I teach a class in kabbala, it
seems that the ultimate challenge we face
is trying to understand how Divinity and
“evil” can live side by side. Unlike other faith
traditions, Judaism does not focus on a sep-
arate, external force that others label “evil”
or “Satan.” We believe that the Wholly One
is the just that, a singular source of all that
we experience. So how then do we under-
stand the cruel behavior that continues to
plague humanity? Jewish mysticism teaches
that we were given free will as a basic privi-
lege and responsibility as spiritual beings on
this human journey. Our time on this earth
is the opportunity we have to learn to use
that gift with understanding and wisdom.
Some people, through choice, genetic pre-
disposition, or tragic circumstances in their
own nurturing as children, make decisions
to behave in ways that are ungodly, moti-
vated by ego rather than godliness.
Ego, psychotherapists will explain, is
the center within each of us that moder-
ates our interchange with physical reality. A
strong and healthy ego is essential to guide
most alive? 4) What activities provides me
with the most amount of comfort and heal-
ing?
Become aware of your feelings and
notice when you feel inspired. The Divine
spark within you speaks to you through
your heart and soul, so notice the times
when you are experiencing joy, aliveness
and increased energy. Truly, we are the
universe inventing itself. And that intelli-
gent, alive, and conscious force is looking
through your eyes, working through your
hands, walking on your feet. Martha Gra-
ham, the great American dancer and cho-
reographer summed it up eloquently when
she once stated, “There is a vitality, a life
force, an energy, a quickening that is trans-
lated through you into action; and because
there is only one of you in all time, this
expression is unique. If you block it, it will
never exist through any other medium and
it will be lost. The world will not have it.
You must keep that channel open. It is not
for you to determine how good it is, or how
valuable, or how it compares with other
expressions. It is for you to keep it yours,
clearly and directly.”
May peace and joy be yours as you
express your soul through your creativity!
Laura V. Hyde is the Spiritual Leader
of the Circle of Spiritual Enlight-
enment in San Luis Obispo, CA:
www.spiritualcircle.org. Laura is also the
author of the books Gifts of the Soul and
The Intimate Soul, and the host of the show
“Relationship Wisdom” on San Luis Obispo
Public Access Television. Visit Laura at:
www.laurahyde.com or call: (805) 748-7506
and protect us in our physical lives. A spiri-
tual awareness that connects us to Divinity,
that Source of all that was, is and shall be,
is our channel to true morality and ethics
as we find ways to live with others in cel-
ebration of our individuality and diversity.
It would seem then, that when the balance
between the ego and the spiritual is dis-
turbed, we find people behaving in amoral
and ungodly ways and “evil” enters the
world. Understanding free-will means we
have to realize that, as recipients of this gift,
we cannot hold God responsible for the
holocausts and tragedies of our world. We
must hold ourselves accountable. When we
choose to follow the dictates of an ego that
is out of balance, the choices we make will
be harmful to others and ourselves.
Continued on Balance, pg. 13
Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org
Cell Phone Facts: Tobacco 2.0?
By Marleen Walmsley
Kids age 3 and up are the cell phone indus-
try’s hottest market. With add-ons like
games, music, cameras, cartoon clips, and
really cool wallpaper, kids want to use them
constantly.
They do have dangers, though. They’re
called EMFs (electromagnetic fields) - mag-
netic field emissions that interrupt body
chemistry. More on that soon.
Since the 1980s, the Motorolas and
Nokias (and others) have been aware of
their dangers. What they found they didn’t
want the consumer to know. We’re talking a
multi-billion dollar industry (like tobacco).
So they told the public the findings were
“inconclusive”. And still do. In northern
and central Europe, where there is one cell
phone per person, they admit to the dan-
gers and findings that prove it.
This is an awful lot like Tobacco 2.0.
Deny, deceive, and delay. But unlike ciga-
rettes that take 3 minutes to smoke, we’re
talking several hours a day of direct expo-
sure to the head! It takes a few years for
symptoms to develop but by that time, the
health is at risk. Children have thinner, less
developed tissue which makes them way
more vulnerable.
The Relay Towers. They’re concealed on
the roofs of schools, office buildings, civic
centers, libraries, and malls. They are cam-
ouflaged on hilltops to resemble trees. There
is, by the way, 740% more exposure in open
rural areas due to the arcing effect.
What to do:
1. Buy a headset. They cut the EMF
exposure by up to 90% and cost maybe $15-
20.
2. Don’t get sucked into fancy gimmicks
that claim to deflect the EMF exposure.
They don’t really work.
3. Ask your cell phone manufacturer
about the “SAR.” The SAR is the Specific
Absorption Rate. That’s an FCC measure-
ment that tells how much the body can
Keep It Cool This Summer with Ayurvedic Tips
By Holly Padove
Summer is here in all its glory and fun in
the sun reigns. With so many activities to
choose from, it’s easy to overdo it, creat-
ing what’s known in Ayurveda as heated or
“pitta” conditions. According to Ayurveda,
a 5,000-year-old system of health from
India, there are three doshas that create par-
ticular tendencies in both individuals and in
the environment: “Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.”
Summer is the “Pitta” season, when the heat
element dominates
Keep yourself as cool as a cucumber to
balance the heat of summer, especially if
you are more Pitta in nature. Pitta individu-
als tend to run hot both in temperature and
personality, typically have lighter skin that
burns easily, are prone to skin rashes, and
are very focused. Pittas, much to their own
discomfort, tend to like hot food!
1. One of the best tips to follow is to
eat produce that is grown locally and pes-
ticide-free – purchased from the farmer’s
markets. Produce available during the sum-
mer is cooling in nature, balancing the sea-
son’s heat and keeping Pitta in check, such
as salads, sweet fruits, whole grains, veggies,
and spices such as cilantro and mint. Avoid
heating foods such as hot peppers, hot salsa,
garlic, spicy tomato sauces – anything with
a “firey” taste.
2. Exercise in the morning, between
6 and 10 a.m., or early evening, around 6
p.m. in order to keep from overheating,
and to take advantage of the time of day
when your body performs optimally. Exer-
cise to about 70% of your maximum abili-
ties as too much intensity creates heat and
ultimately burn out. Try activities that are
non-competitive such as a hike or beach
withstand in 30 minutes, not just the side
of the head. They are not required to reveal
the dangers, in spite of the research. You
have to get the SAR from the brass plaque
inside the phone. It’s not on the literature.
4. Store your cordless and cell phones
at least 6 feet from your body at night. The
cumulative effect is pretty devastating. The
greater the distance, the less the exposure.
5. Ask your school and office building if
there are rooftop telco towers/relay stations
on the building. There’s nothing in the law
that says they have to tell you.
Effects on the body:
The central nervous system operates on
one millionth of a volt. Basic heartbeat,
muscle contraction, bone regeneration,
hormones, smell, emotions, bone regen-
eration, brain signals, the immune sys-
tem, the cells’ ability to replicate – all are
affected by EMFs. Symptoms of over-expo-
sure include: Headaches, impaired senses,
chronic fatigue, ADHD, irritability, poor
concentration, emotional extremes, and
hormone problems.
For more info:
www.cbtrus.org
www.aboutsafety.com/article
www.emfacts.com/weblog
Marleen Walmsley is a researching and
teaching naturopath in Morro Bay and host-
producer of Healers Who Share, an educa-
tional TV program on Ch. 2. She can be
reached at clarityandhealth@yahoo.com or at
(831) 325-7483.
walk. Being competitive is a Pitta trait, and
too much will create imbalances.
3. Wear light clothing in cool colors such
as blue, green and white. A red outfit in the
middle of a hot summer day is sure to cre-
ate heat in both the mind and the body!
4. Mist yourself with essential oils of
rose, sandalwood, or lavender to stay cool
and calm.
5. With all the fun to be had during this
vacation season, keep some routines around
sleep, as a good night’s rest is one of the
keys to good health. Ayurveda recommends
going to sleep by 10 and up with the birds
at 6 a.m.
You’ll know if your Pitta is high if you
feel overheated, angry, easily irritated, or
experience skin rashes, or acid digestion.
Follow the tips above to “chill” and truly
enjoy your summer.
Ayurveda is a common sense approach
to maintaining health and wellness, not
only for the summer season, but every sea-
son of your life.
Holly Padove is a Clinical Ayurvedic
Specialist based in Arroyo Grande. She
offers individual consultations, classes
and retreats. For more information, visit
www.BalancedLivingAyurveda.com or call
Holly at (805) 440-4561.
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
Mind Your Business
Threats to Success
By Andrea Zeller
The U. S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) lists 10 important points for small
business owners to be aware of. This article
will focus on the first 5 points then the next
Women’s Press Issue will cover the second 5
points.
First, “Not Knowing How to Manage
And Operate a Small Business.” Being a
small business owner means you often have
to be a “jack of all trades” when it comes
to managing and operating the business.
Unlike large corporations with multiple
employees, departments and specialists,
the small business owner must often be the
human resource manager, sales manager,
bookkeeper, as well as planner and a cus-
tomer service person all in one. The small
business owner needs to understand a mul-
tiple of disciplines and be flexible in switch-
ing hats as needs evolve.
Second, “Lack of Strategic Planning.”
All business do better with a written plan.
A plan works like a road map in directing
the business in the right direction towards
the chosen destination. Just the process of
fleshing out and writing the plan helps the
owner focus and improves strategic think-
ing.
Third, “Lack of Cash.” Too often, busi-
nesses fail, not because they are not prof-
itable, but because they do not plan their
cash flow to cover day to day expenses. It is
important to understand how much work-
ing capital you need to accomplish your
business goals. And it is important to prop-
erly provide for that working capital (i.e.
do not use high interest credit cards or loan
sharks!).
Fourth, “Not Having a Competi-
tive Advantage.” In order to succeed, your
business needs to be distinguishable from
the competition and it must offer the cus-
tomer something valuable. Customers need
a meaningful reason to choose you and to
stay with you. Set yourself apart from the
competition.
Are You Predicting or Prescribing Your Future?
It’s Your Choice!
By Adele Sommers
Whether you want to predict your future
or actually prescribe an outcome of your
choosing, you’ll have plenty of company!
Throughout history, we humans have
tried many ways to predict the future, from
reading palms to stargazing. Today, we refer
to these as descriptive methods when we
attempt to describe objectively what the
future will be or could be.
Prescriptive methods, on the other
hand, focus on determining what the future
should be. These techniques can help us
clarify our preferences and values so we
can create a vision of what we would like
to see in our lives, businesses, or commu-
nities. Once we understand what we would
like the future to represent, we’re better able
to take the actions needed to implement it.
Preferably, that future will resonate with our
passions, gifts, and what we (or our organi-
zations) can really excel at doing.
So, what can you be the best in the
world (or at least in your community) at
doing? This thought-provoking reflection
is one of many from Jim Collins’ “Good
to Great: Why Some Companies Make the
Leap...and Others Don’t.”
Collins’ team examined 1,435 companies
to see which ones made substantial gains in
profitability and sustained those improve-
ments over 15 years or more. They found
only 11 companies that, since the 1970s, rose
from mediocrity to greatness and stayed
there -- topping many other prosperous
Fifth, “Lack of Focus.” Focus your
vision, make it crystal clear and stay
focused on the ultimate goal of your busi-
ness. Lack of focus leaves you vulnerable
to shifting winds, opportunities that may at
first glance seem good, but may pull you off
track. Opportunities abound – the key is
to be able to focus and chose the right ones!
Next month, we’ll cover the other five
important points small business own-
ers need to stay aware of! If you need help
addressing any of these issues, be sure to
call Women’s Business Partners for help!
Andrea Zeller, Executive Director of Mission
Community Services, coordinates Women’s
Business Partners (WBP) to ensure all commu-
nity resources are leveraged and optimized to
support entrepreneurial women. WBP serves
everyone interested in establishing self-suffi-
ciency through small business ownership while
primarily focusing assistance towards socially
and economically disadvantaged women.
WBP can take you step by step towards suc-
cess and can also help those who speak only
Spanish. MCSC is funded in part through a
Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small
Business Administration. All opinions, conclu-
sions or recommendations expressed are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the SBA. MCSC at 805 595-1357.
Visit www.MCSCorp.org. Se Habla Español
firms that lacked the same staying power.
One of the eight characteristics all had
in common was an unshakable adherence
to becoming the best in the world at what-
ever they did. Each company committed to
doing only those things and nothing else.
That sometimes meant dropping their core
businesses to pursue other things at which
they could become the best in the world.
Collins and his team coined the term
“Hedgehog Concept” to reflect a single-
minded determination and focus that, simi-
lar to that of the hedgehog animal, attempts
to do only one thing really well, such as curl
up and roll.
Until you develop your Hedgehog Con-
cept, you won’t know your vision, mission,
or purpose. Keep in mind that this con-
cept is not a goal, strategy, or plan, but an
understanding of what you can and can’t
be the best at doing -- which is an excellent
focal point for visioning!
WomenatWork 13
GREEN Home Galleria & Summer Event Schedule
SPECIAL EVENTS
Creative Spark Extraction, with Meg
Johnson, potter. Saturday, July 14th 9 am -
1200 East Grand Avenue, Arroyo Grande 4 pm (Registration proceeds to SLO SEED
(next to Sunset Car Wash) Monday through Fund)
Saturdays from 11-7 Spend a day with Meg Johnson, a highly
BRAVE New Wares Development collectible national ceramicist of 23 years,
Group (BNWDG) has opened a Green as she explores with us a “day in the mud”.
Home Galleria displaying the work of arti- Known for her whimsical and highly col-
sans and producers of orful pottery, her
SLO manufactured work was available
*SLO SEED Fund (Self-Employment
goods, including for many years at
Enterprise Development) provides
local foods. Goods HANDS Gallery on
operating funds for BNWDG’s Func-
are also available Higuera Street.  Her
tional Arts Creative Enterprise School
online at MADEIN- workshop is not just
(FACES), where women learn the crafts
SanLuisObispo.com for potters, but for
that they will sell in the Green Galleria
Finecraft arti- anyone who wants to
and on MADEINSanLuisObispo.com.
sans from across be creative on a daily
the county are fea- basis.
tured in the new eco-home interiors and Summer Sunshine Festivals of Arts and
gifts boutique. Original designs include Crafts. Second Saturdays and Sundays (July
“ZEN Garden’s” pedestal lamps, “TREA- 7 & 8, August 11 & 12)
SURED Canvas,” “Hook, Line and Glam- Free festivals with emphasis is on unique
our Jewelry” and “Maher Metal Arts.” Body crafts by only local artisans of San Luis
care products now carried are “Heart’s Obispo, with music and food. Special free
Desire Therapeutic Essentials” and “Cen- activities for children include a eco-nature
tral Coast Soap,” including a fun variety crafts corner, recycled puppetry and face-
of hand crafted kid’s body care products. painting. The Green Home Galleria and
Foods include “Sweet Earth Organic Choc- MADEINSanLuisObispo.com store of
olate,” “Linn’s” preserves, soups and mixes, products from around the county will be
“Stoltey’s Honeys,” “Upper Crust” Baked open all weekend. For more information
Goods, “House of Bread” and more. *(10% and/or an artisans application, call Eve at
of proceeds go to the SLO SEED Fund) 815-8700.  (Artisan registration proceeds go
to the SLO SEED Fund)
BALANCE
Continued from page 12
The more important issue then, is how Ultimately we need to realize that dis-
do we deal with circumstances in which cernment rather than judgment is a kinder
godliness is absent? We need to acknowl- and gentler approach to living, and that our
edge that such circumstances do exist— but lives are enhanced by putting our energy
not because of some outside source. We can into “attitudes of gratitude” for all the bless-
choose to carefully moderate our choices ings we enjoy rather than squander energy
and see the long-term results of what we by standing in judgment of those around
are doing. Do our actions ultimately harm us. From the place of gratitude within will
ourselves, others or the environment? Do come that sense of compassion and love
we act constructively or destructively? With
compassion and tenderness we can inter-
that the world needs. The choice to do so
is ours.
act with others who have been deeply, psy-
chically wounded by the cruelty they have Heather Mendel has focalized wom-
experienced at the hands of others. We en’s spirituality groups for the past 15 years.
should applaud the efforts they make to She can be contacted through her website at
turn their painful experiences into ways in www.wordartist.com, and also e-mailed
which they can help others. at heathermendel@charter.net or called at
544-4933.
14 CommunityBulletins
Women’sCommunityCenter
Our mission is:
• TO maintain an accessible center to
collect and exchange information of
interest and concern to women
• TO organize and facilttate workshops,
clinics, seminars, classes and support
groups on subjects of interest and need
• TO engage in and facilitate interaction
among local, state and national agen-
cies and organizations working to ben-
efit women
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
IN WCC OFFICE
Women’s Press | July & August 2007 | editors@womenspress-slo.org
Family Law Action Committee
Dealing With Divorce
3rd Wednesday of each month – 7 PM Women’s Empowerment
Upcoming: & Self-Defense Workshop
July 18, August 15 and September 19
Talk with other women who have Maximize your chances of avoiding a sexual
been there, done that in a supportive, assault! The Sexual Assault Recovery and Pre-
non-judgmental environment. vention Center proudly offers this four-hour
$5 donation workshop to help empower and protect the
women in our community. This workshop
will focus on improving your awareness and
Self-Represented Litigants’ Clinic
assertiveness skills, and will teach physical
4th Tuesday of each month – 5:30 PM techniques that can help you escape a danger-
Upcoming: ous situation. Remember – your best weapon
July 24, August 28 and September 25 is yourself: your mind, your voice, and your
Get family law advice from local body! This free class is open to women of all
attorneys and/or paralegals. athletic abilities, ages 12 and up. Beginning
Reservations required. $25 donation and advanced classes are offered. Call 545-
8888. For dates and times, please visit http://
Call 544-9313 for information www.sarpcenter.org/services/defense.htm
The Sexual Assault Recovery and Pre-
vention (SARP) Center of San Luis Obispo
County is offering a drop-in support group for
female survivors of sexual abuse. It is held on
Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and
will be facilitated by Jill Doyle, MFT-I. For
more information about this group or other
services offered by the SARP Center call 545-
8888 or visit www.sarpcenter.org.
Cal Poly Names SARP Center
“Outstanding Community Partner”
The  Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention
(SARP) Center of San Luis Obispo County was
named “Outstanding Community Partner” on
May 30, 2007 at the President’s Community Ser-
vice Awards. Hosted by Cal Poly President Warren
J. Baker, The Community CENTER, and Student
Life and Leadership, the event honored students,
faculty, and community members who had made
significant contributions to their community in the
2006-2007 academic year.
 Devon Hodgson, Coordinator of Women’s Pro-
grams and Services at Cal Poly, presented the SARP
Center with this award. She thanked the SARP Cen-
ter for its support of S.A.F.E.R., Cal Poly’s on-cam-
pus rape prevention program. “SARP Center staff is
available 24 hours a day to support S.A.F.E.R. and
Cal Poly students,” said Hodgson.
Community Counseling Center
Lazy Days of Summer Great Time to Take Stock.
Need help with life’s problems? Want to take a
closer look at who you are and where you are going?
Community Counseling Center has a great staff of
top-notch therapists, waiting to serve you! We are
seeking clients for our low cost, sliding fee scale ther-
apy sessions! Our services are designed for the unin-
sured client who could benefit from 10-15 sessions
of therapy conducted by highly qualified Licensed
Clinical Social Workers or Marriage Family Thera-
pists. We see individuals, couples, families, chil-
dren and teens. We can see clients in South County,
North County, North Coast and in SLO during the
day, or evenings and/or weekends. We are here for
you! Please call Gina or Jeff 8:30-5:30, M-F, at 543-
7969 for further info or intake appointment. Don’t
wait any longer to make the changes that will put
your life back on track!
UU on the Move
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of SLO
County is a church on the move! As of July 1, the
Fellowship will begin holding services at its tempo-
rary worship site at 1150 Laurel Lane, SLO inside the
End of the Line Café at the Atoll Business Center.
Sunday services will be held at 11:00 AM. 
The Fellowship has outgrown its former home at
232 Foothill Blvd., and will be worshipping at the
Laurel Lane location while its new permanent reli-
gious home is being built.  hours each week. Volunteers must be at least
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of SLO
County has been a voice for liberal religion on the
Central Coast for nearly 55 years. Minister Rev.
Helen Carroll states, “We are a diverse religious com-
munity and we welcome all who would share in our
open, challenging journey.” Childcare and a religious
education program for children are always provided. 
Call 544-1669 for further information.
SLO Downtown Association Invites
SLO Bike Valet Program to bring its
Services to Concerts in the Plaza
SLO Bike Valet, a free bicycle parking service
offered by the San Luis Obispo County Bicy-
cle Coalition and Team SLO Nexus, is proud
to partner with the San Luis Obispo Down-
town Association and the City of San Luis
Obispo to bring bicycle parking services to all
upcoming Concerts in the Plaza.  SLO Bike
Valet will continue every Friday night from
5:30 pm to 7 pm through the 31st of August. 
Concerts in the Plaza participants will find
the bike parking area along Chorro St. across
from Costume Capers, in front of the per-
manent green San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club
Bob Garing Memorial Bike Rack.
On Thursday, June 14, 2007, SLO Bike
Valet parked its 2000th bike at the Farm-
er’s Market Valet. The lucky winner, Mary,
a biologist with the Regional Water Quality
Control Board, received an Apple Store gift
certificate and a hand-made award framed
creatively with recycled bike tires.  “The valet
service rocks because it’s convenient and
secure. There aren’t enough places to lock
up bikes around town. Without the valet I
would have driven,” Mary stated after receiv-
ing her gifts.
The Downtown Association’s support has
been a key part of SLO Bike Valet’s contin-
ued growth.  Deborah Cash, Administrator,
states, “The Downtown Association heart-
ily supports the presence of the Bike Valet at
Concerts in the Plaza due to the fact it is so
helpful and successful at our Thursday Night
Market.  We know this will be a valuable ser-
vice for those who prefer to leave their cars
at home and bike in on beautiful summer
evenings.  We’re grateful to have this service
available and know the Bicycle Coalition and
SLO Bike Valet to be dedicated and enthu-
siastic about this program.  We encourage
anyone who bikes to Concerts in the Plaza to
take advantage of this great service!”
The SLO Bike Valet Parking service is free
to all participants, however all tips help to
cover miscellaneous costs involved with this
unique non-profit program.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Teams Up With
the Vons Foundation and Its employees
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo
County recently received a $6,100 grant from
the Vons Foundation and its employees.  The
check was presented at the Vons store in San
Luis Obispo by their District Manager, Terry
Richardson and Store Manager, John Night-
ingale. Accepting the check were Big Brothers
Big Sisters board member, Monique Carlton,
Associate Executive Director, Anna Boyd-Bucy
and Board Vice Chair, Carol Florence.
Big Brothers Big Sisters has been provid-
ing their youth mentoring programs on the
Central Coast since 1995. During that time the
agency has matched over 900 children with
caring adult role models.  For more informa-
tion on volunteering or contributing to BBBS,
call 781-3226, or log onto www.slobigs.org.
Volunteers Needed
Looking for a fun new volunteer opportunity?
United Way is seeking volunteers to assist with
clerical tasks in our downtown office several
18; days and times are flexible. Call 541-1234
or email info@unitedwayslo.org if interested
July & August 2007 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Resources 15

ABUSE Talk/Listen - Emotional support

489.5481
Caregivers of Stroke Survivors
544.2266 (SLO)
Adults Molested as Children Support Group (AMAC) Transformations Counseling Center Women’s Support/Therapy v (general)
545.8888 Free monthly workshops 541.7908 534.1101
Center for Alternatives to Domestic Violence Women’s Healthcare Specialists
781.6406
North County Women’s Shelter & Resource Center,
FINANCE/BUSINESS 544.4883
Consumer Credit Counseling Services
(inc. domestic violence support groups) 800.540.2227 POLITICAL
461.1338 Mission Community Services Corporation Code Pink
Rape Survivors Support Group, SLO Women’s Business Partners ososousaville@aol.com
545.8888 595.1356 www.mcscorp.org Commission on Status of Women
SARP (Sexual Assault Recovery & Prevention) 545.8412; Dawn Williams
545.8888
Support Group for Sexual Assault Survivors
GAY & LESBIAN Democratic Women United
Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast 541.4252
545.8888 541.4252 League of Women Voters
Women’s Shelter Program of SLO PFLAG.Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays 543.2220
781.6400 www.womensshelterslo.org 438.3889 NOW (National Organization for Women)
slonow@kcbx.net
ADDICTIONS SOL (Single Older Lesbians)
Mostly socializing! Call 474.9405 SLO Green Party
AA Meeting http://www.slo.greens.org 544.1580
541.3211
Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA)
HOSPICE Younger Women’s Task Force
AIDS Bereavement Group (Hospice) www.ywtf.org
498.2176 544.2266
Al-Anon Hospice of SLO County READERS/WRITERS
534.9204 544.2266 and 434.1164 Adult Literacy
Cambria Connection (12 step support) Hospice Partners of the Central Coast 541-4219
927.1654 782.8608 Nightwriters
Casa Solana 549.9656; contact Shirley Powell
Women’s Recovery Home 481.8555
Compulsive eaters Anonymous, H.O.W.Concept
JOBS/CAREERS Sisters in Crime
AARP 788.2643 http://SinC-CCC.blogspot.com
546.1178 Cal Poly Foundation
Drug & Alcohol Services
781.4275 Jobline 756.7107 SENIORS
Cal Poly University Adult Day Care
800.549.7730 http://calpolyjobs.org 756.1533 544.1414 (SLO); 748.9070 (Arroyo Grande);
Overeaters Anonymous
Cuesta College 434.2081 (Templeton); 927.4290 (Cambria)
541.3164 http://www.cuesta.edu Jobline 546.3127 Adult Protective Services
SCA, SLAA & SAA (Sex, Love & Romance Addictions)
The Creekside Career Center 781.1790
461.6084 www.slocareers.org 788.2631 or 788.2690 Computerooters:
TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly)
Department of Rehabilitation Computer help: 489.6230
929.1789 549.3361 Department of Social Services:
Women for Sobriety
Mission Community Services Corporation In-Home Support to the Elderly/Homemakers
http://www.womenforsobriety.org Women’s Business Partners help with ADLs 781.1790
215.536.8026 595.1356 www.mcscorp.org nursing help for the terminally ill 781.5540
CHILDREN & FAMILIES Private Industry Council (PIC)
www.jobhunt.org 788.2601
Foster Grandparents.Senior Companions
782.9200
Birth and Baby Resource Center Senior Ballroom Dance club
546.3755 www.bbrn.org
Childcare Resource Connection
LEGAL 489.5481 dg17@juno.com
Core Mediation Services Senior Peer Counseling
541.2272 or 800.727.2272 544.6334 medeee8@aol.com free, trained in.home counseling for 60+
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) District Attorney’s Office – Victim Witness Center 547.7025 ext. 15
“A child’s voice in Court in SLO County” 781.5821
541.6542
Children’s Services Network
Family Law Facilitator SPIRITUAL (OR NOT)
546.3769 Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment
781.1847 Lawyers Referral Services/Legal Aid Alternative 995.1390
First 5: Children & Families Commission 788.2099 Awakening Interfaith Spiritual Community
781.4058; ask for Susan Hughs Pro Per Divorce Workshop Sunday service, 10–11 AM; 772.0306
Homeschooling in SLO County (HSC) 544.9313 Central Coast Jewish Historical Society
462.0726; ask for Barbara Senior Legal Services 543.9452
La Clinica De Tolosa 238.5334 543.5140
La Leche League Meditation Group
Mondays, 7:30–8:30 PM; 772.0306
489.9128
Migrant Childcare Program
MEDICAL SUPPORT/SERVICES New Beginnings Church
544.4355 and 466.3444
ALS Support Group (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Every Sunday, Coalesce Bookstore, MB
MOMS Club of South SLO county 227.4785 Self-Realization Fellowship
473. 2548
Alzheimer’s Support Sunday Services 995-1599
534.9234 (LO); 547.3830 (SLO);
Partnership for Children
541.8666; ask for Beth 226.8669 (Templeton) WOMEN’S CENTERS/SHELTERS
Real F.A.C.T.S. (Forum on Abused Children) Caregivers of Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Homeless Shelter
460.9016 547.3830, 534.9234 (SLO/Los Osos) 781-3993
Social Services American Cancer Society Housing Authority
781.1600 Paso Robles 238.9657 543.4478
Support for Kids Coping with Domestic Violence Anorexia Nervosa & Bulimia Support Group North County Women’s Resource Center, Shelter
473.6507 541.9113 461.1338
Arthritis Foundation Prado Day Center
EMERGENCY/CRISIS 892.5556
Cancer/ Breast Cancer Support Groups
786.0617
Women’s Community Center, SLO
Hotline
www.slohotline.org 800.549.8989 543.1481 ext. 3 for information 544.9313
Sexual & Rape Prevention (SARP) Caregivers of Aging Parents Women’s Shelter Program of SLO
545.8888 or 800.656.HOPE (4673) 547.3830 (AG); 927.4290 (Cambria); 549.8989 (crises), 781.6401 (business)
Temporary Restraining Order & Victim Witness 226.8669 (PR); 547.3830 (SLO) www.womensshelterslo.org
Program 781.5821 Endometriosis Association

www.endometriosisassn.org OTHER WOMEN’S
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT Enhancement, Inc.
(for breast cancer survivors) ORGANIZATIONS
A.D.A.P.T. (Aid in Divorce Adjustment Problems Today)
543.0388 771.8640 www.enhancementinc.com Altrusa International, Inc.
Alzheimer/Dementia Resource Center EOC Health Services Clinics 481.1039; Cici Wynn, President
434.2081 or 534.9234 or 800.443.1236 no or low cost reproductive health services Camping Women
CALL–Concerned Agoraphobics Learning to Live 544.2478 (SLO); 489.4026 (Arroyo Grande) 440.2723 www.campingwomen.org
Healthworks of the Central Coast Hadassah.SLO
543.3764 543.9452
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) no or low cost reproductive health services
787.0100 (SLO); 773.4500 (Pismo); Women’s Network, SLO
542.0577 (SLO) 481.5093 (Grover Beach) 546.3727 www.womenslo.org
927.1654 (Cambria) 466.8600 (North County) 610.8865 (Atascadero)
Long-term Care Ombudsman Services of SLO County
Community Counseling Center
543.7969 785.0132 OTHER GROUPS &
Lymphedema Education & Support Group
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Group
927.3703 2nd Monday, 4:00-5:00 pm GATHERINGS
782-9300 for info Central Coast Peace and Environmental Council
Eating Disorders Support Group
Parkinson’s Support Groups 544.3399 or 783.2383
546-3774; free, meets weekly in SLO Compassion & Choices (formerly Hemlock Society)
Hospice of SLO County (inc. miscarriage/stillbirth 466.7226 (Atascadero/Templeton)
481.7424, 473.1714 (Arroyo Grande) 800.247.7421 or 458.5481
support) 544.2266 or 434.1164
Safe and Sober Support Group 544.1342 (SLO)
473.6507 Planned Parenthood
Senior Peer Counseling SLO 549.9446
Stroke Support Group Please send additions, corrections or deletions to:
free, trained in-home counseling for 60+ editors@womenspress-slo.org or leave a message
547.7025, ext. 15 471.8102 (SLO)
at the WCC: 805.544.9313. Last update 07/05/07.
 Cheryl Aiona
and the Motowners
The Motowners are a local and soul-
ful group of musicians whose style
ranges from Blues, R&B, Rock and
Country.  Lead vocals are performed by
Cheryl Aiona, Romi West (bass guitar,
vocals), Helen Edwards (vocals) and Cindy
Myers (vocals), David Ottenberg (vocals,
mandolin, harmonica, guitar), Doug Fred-
erickson (lead guitar, vocals), Randy Crozier
(bass guitar), and Frank West (keyboard,
guitar, vocals).
The Motowners started in 2003 and
are passionate about their music and hav-
ing a good time...the group’s number one
priority.  It’s all about the joy of making
music!  If you are interested in having The
Motowners perform for you, please call
Cheryl at 995-1089 or Dave at 995-2965.

Sheri O
Sheri Odenwald, known as Sheri O, is
a performer from Cambria. She has per-
formed from LA to San Francisco over
the past 35 years, and now performs at the
Cambria Pines Lodge. She also does wed-
dings and other private functions. Sherri is
married to Lee Odenwald, a builder from
Cambria and has 4 adult children and 3
Grand Boys. She can be contacted at PO
Box 21 Cambria Ca 93428.

3ATURDAY!UGUST Karen Tyler

DAYWITH
Karen Tyler, winner of the 2003 Mon-

2$!..5!,
terey Bay Blues Festival’s Battle of the Bands
and a California Arts Council Touring

#2%!4)6%
Artist, was referred to as “one of the world’s
top female Blues artists and easily the great-
est North American songstress” by Real
Blues Magazine.

over 100 creative women

7/-%. !-TO0-
presenting their handcrafted items for sale
delicious food available all day
children's activities including crafts and petting zoo
free entertainment including Jill Knight
designed by Nat Dai
-ISSION0LAZA
a fundraiser for
the Women's Community Center
Na Mele o ke Kai
Wikolia and friends are part of a hula
halau (troupe) named “Na Mele o ke Kai”
(Songs of the Sea). We are an association
that encourages the involvement of all
interested individuals, spanning genera-
tions, ethnic backgrounds and talents who
want to share the language and traditions of
Polynesian island cultures through dance,
music, and song. Classes are held in Morro
Bay and Santa Maria.
Na Mele o ke Kai is available to perform

Triad at luaus, parties, weddings, fairs, fundrais-

Wikolia Hawaiian Dance ers, cultural and special events. Please visit
Karen Tyler myspace.com/nameleokekai for more infor-
and much more mation.
Joining Wikolia on stage on August
11th will be: Eileen, Hokulani, Kristen and
Michelle.

Triad
Mime artist, Fran Dukehart presents
a colorful tale of the blue bird of happiness
who shares the secret to long life, love, and
happiness. Musical talents, Del Gomes on
keyboard and Grady Houser on flute bring
musical excitement to the live performance.

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Karen Tyler, Triad, Sheri O,

and The Motowners