Monday, May 2, 2016

Photos from April 26th Meeting








Rollingwood Women’s Club Meeting April 26, 2016, Featuring Amy Ford of New York Life addressing Women in Insurance.

Rollingwood Women’s Club Meeting April 26, 2016, Featuring Amy Ford of New York Life addressing Women in Insurance.
At the Home of Nicole Leonard at 5002 Jeffery Place.

The meeting began with a presentation of by Amy Ford of New York Life. Amy is an Insurance Broker and encouraged members to think about Long Term Care Insurance. Amy was introduced by Debbie Holley of Brookdale Senior Living. Wine and snacks were provided by the speakers. 

President Marissa Miraur called the meeting to order. The next meeting will be the final one of the season and is Monday, May 9 at the Rollingwood Pool. This will end the current term for board members. All RWC members interested in board level positions are encouraged to apply. The Hospitality Position (currently occupied by Marnie Fitzgerald) in particular is open.

Next up, members congratulated Roseann Ferraro for her amazing coordination of the Life Is Good in the Wood 5k! The race raised around $14,500 minus costs. All together, there were  $7,350 from sponsors, $1,200 from family sponsors, $500 from food, $100 from Amy’s Ice Cream and roughly $6,000 in registrations. However, Marissa addressed the complexities of fund raising in sponsorship. The 5k has become so successful that some members recommend that a new board position should be created. The proposed position would be called the Fund Raising Chair and would specifically be responsible for organizing permitting for the Fourth of July Parade and 5k. Regular members would continue to operate each event independently. The Bylaws would need to be amended to create this new position, which will most likely happen at the first Fall meeting.

Next Marissa and Becky Combs spoke on behalf of the Rollingwood Community Garden, who is in need a new coordinator.  Current and long-time coordinator Roni Verokolt will be moving out of the neighborhood. They are looking for members with young children in particular to take the reins.

Shanthi Jayakumar and Flo Macklin reminded members to submit their house histories for the albums.

The meeting was adjourned.

Minutes Submitted by Kelly Dixon

Approved by Marissa Miraur

Monday, April 11, 2016

RWC Meeting March 22, 2016, Featuring Marie Saba of Cocina Marie

RWC Meeting March 22, 2016, Featuring Marie Saba of Cocina Marie
At the home of Shelly Bain at 400 Vale Street

Hospitality Chair Marnie Fitzgerald called the meeting order for President Marissa Mireur, who would join the meeting later. She welcomed new member, Anne Herrington to RWC.

The first announcement was a call for new officers for the 2016-2017 year.  The new term begins in August. Secretary Kelly Dixon reviews the minutes from the January 19th meeting and directs members to the RWC website where the minutes are posted. A motion is made by Bunny Michel to approve the minutes and Joanne Parker seconds.

The Chairperson for the Rollingwood 5k, Roseann Ferraro, updated members on her the race and passed a clipboard for volunteers. In preparation for the race, she highlighted several ways to help.
1. Repairing directional signage: the course signage took a hit last year in the rain – she needs kids or members cut out some construction paper arrows and glue them to foam core.
2. Delivering Postcards: members are needed to tape postcards on the outside of mailboxes along the race route.
3. Posters: hanging posters/flyers in local businesses on their public bulletin boards.
4. Picking up sponsor materials: picking up checks, race bag marketing materials, prizes from our locals sponsors and delivering them to Roseann.

Anyone looking to volunteer, contact Roseann at roseannferraro@gmail.com.

She introduced "Family Sponsorships" in addition to our corporate sponsorships. All donations support Rollingwood's parks and public areas and anyone who donates $100 or more will have their name displayed on the "Friends and Families of Rollingwood" banner in the park. Donations will be accepted through the registration process or through

 To register or donate, please visit the Life is Good in the Wood 5K website and click on "Register Here": 
http://lifeisgoodinthewood5k.com/. Rosanne strongly encouraged members to register online before the race.

Next up, Shanthi Jayakumar brought the photo albums of the neighborhood that she and Flo Macklin have been updating. She reminded members of how much the neighbhorhood has changed and that they updated 40 new homes last week alone. She passed around small forms and requested that members to fill out information about their homes, including former owners, square footage, purchase price. The information will be kept in a photograph behind the picture. She emphasized that the information will not be shared, but was for historical purposes only.

Roxanne McKee updated members on the Law Enforcement Appreciation Day which will be held Saturday, April 9. She passed a clipboard around where memebrs could add their names if they were interested in displaying a blue ribbon on their mail box in support of Rollingwood Police Department.

Sandra Farrell encouraged members to stop by City Hall to see a sample of the new chairs that City Hall is planning to purchase from the money that RWC donated in 2015. They are choosing between a blue or black chair.

Finally, Marie Saba of Cooking With Marie gave a demonstration of her favorite sauces including Texas Chimichurri, Lemon Dill Sauce, Cilantro Lime Sauce and of her famous Coconut Macaroons. Memebers sampled the dips with chips and vegetables. Recipes included below.

Texas Chimichurri
        1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed
       1 cup cilantro leaves, packed
       1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
       1-3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
       1 small clove garlic, peeled
       Salt and pepper, to taste
       Pinch of dried red pepper flakes, if desired
Instructions
Place all ingredients into the jar of a blender or food-processor. Blend until herbs and garlic are finely chopped, and mixture is well-combined.
Transfer to bowl. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Serve!

Coconut Macaroons
       1 14-ounce bag (5 1/3 cups) sweetened shredded coconut
       1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
       2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
       1 Tablespoon heavy cream
       1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Instructions
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients until well-combined. The dough will be very sticky, so wet your hands with a little water before shaping the dough into balls. Using your hands, shape the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Decorate with melted dark chocolate or candy melts, if desired. Serve!

Easy Basil Pesto
       1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
       ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts
       ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
       2 large cloves garlic
       2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
       ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Instructions
Place basil, nuts, cheese, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add oil. Add salt. Blend until thoroughly combined.
Transfer to a serving dish and serve at room temperature.

Best Ever Cilantro Lime Sauce
       1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
       1 cup Greek yogurt
       1 cup cilantro (some stems are okay)
       Juice of 2 limes
       Pinch of salt (or to taste)

Instructions
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until cilantro is thoroughly chopped and all ingredients are well combined.
Taste; add additional lime juice or salt as desired. Serve with everything.

Lemon Dill Sauce
    1 cup Greek yogurt
    ½ cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise
    2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill (some stems are okay)
    Juice of 1-2 lemons
Pinch of salt (or to taste)

Instructions
Place all ingredients into a bowl. Mix until well combined. Transfer to bowl. Serve!

Minutes Submitted by Kelly Dixon

Approved by Marissa Mireur

Monday, February 29, 2016

Updated 5k Info

The registration for the Life is Good in the Wood 5K 2016 is officially open! Please visit the Life is Good in the Wood 5K website and click on "Register Here":

And this year we are pleased to announce we are offering "Family Sponsorships" in addition to our corporate sponsorships. All donations support Rollingwood's parks and public areas and anyone who donates $100 or more will have their name displayed on the "Friends and Families of Rollingwood" banner in the park. 
There are 2 ways to become a "Family Sponsor"
1) During the registration process there will be a "Donation" option and you can write in any amount you wish to donate. You will receive 2 receipts from registration- one for your race registration and one for the donation amount which you can use for your taxes. 
Or
2) Visit our fundraising page: https://www.crowdrise.com/familysponsorshipslifeisgoodinthewood5k and make a direct donation. There is a processing fee for donations made here, however you have the option to wave it during payment but clicking on the "edit" link next to the fee. 

Thank you all for your continued support of the Rollingwood community!