Ladies – while your men are busy looking at, talking about or buying tools, we offer an opportunity for you to enjoy yourself, learn new things and meet fun people.  All women are automatically members of the M-WTCA Auxiliary and we hope you will participate. During the men’s programs, the women also have a program or activity scheduled that is always informational and/or entertaining.

At the national meetings we are fortunate to be able to see interesting and educational displays that women create showcasing their collections or other items of interest.  Each meeting has a theme and the ladies use creativity and ingenuity in their exhibits. The displays are judged and prizes awarded.  It is an opportunity to view fabulous and interesting collections – and learn something new.

Our opening event at national meetings on Thursday evening is usually a Meet and Greet.  First time attendees are welcomed and members bring items they collect or craft or anything they might want to share about themselves.  We also have a book club and try to read a variety of books. This group continues to grow in size.  Discussions are always interesting and thought provoking. We have a ladies luncheon or breakfast on Saturday.  Our national meeting always ends with a banquet on Saturday night for attendees. Our meals are great, the fellowship around the table is always interesting and we all look forward to some entertainment.

Our next meeting will be in Asheville, North Carolina – June 13 – 16, 2012.  Asheville is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The state slogan is “A Better Place to Be”!

The theme for Asheville is “Heavenly Handiwork”.  Please consider displaying some of yours!!  We look forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful creations!

Thursday, there will be two tours of the Biltmore House – the summer home of George Vanderbilt built in 1895.  Shuttles will leave the hotel at 8:30 AM and 10:15 AM – seating is limited so make your reservations early.

“Meet and Greet” on Thursday evening is a chance to meet first time attendees.  Members bring show and tell items to share – a time to get to know each other better.

Our popular book review continues with “Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel” by Jeannette Wells.  “For the first 10 years of her life, Lily Casey Smith, lived in a dirt dugout in west Texas.  Having been educated in fits and starts because of her parents' penury, Lily becomes a teacher at age 15 in a remote frontier town she reaches after a solo 28-day ride. Marriage to a bigamist almost saps her spirit, but later she weds a rancher with whom she shares two children and a strain of plucky resilience. (They sell bootleg liquor during Prohibition, hiding the bottles under a baby's crib.) Lily is a spirited heroine, fiercely outspoken against hypocrisy and prejudice, a rodeo rider and fearless breaker of horses, and a ruthless poker player. Assailed by flash floods, tornados and droughts, Lily never gets far from hardscrabble drudgery in several states—New Mexico, Arizona, Illinois—but hers is one of those heartwarming stories about indomitable women that will always find an audience.”   Please join us Friday afternoon even if you haven’t read the book, as discussions are lively and entertaining! 

On Friday evening, our own M-WTCA member, Pam Howard will talk about the settlement schools that were established in the Appalachian mountains in the early 1900’s to educate the mountain women and help them earn a living with their crafts.  Pam is a Resident Weaver at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

Anne Freels, a talented cornhusk doll designer will share her craft with us at the Saturday morning breakfast.

We have lots of fun so please plan on joining us June 13 – 16, 2012 in Asheville, North Carolina!!

We are looking forward to visiting with old friends and making new ones!