Jane Austen Society of North America,
Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho Region
Winter 2018-2019 News
Our Jane Austen Birthday Tea on November 17, 2018 at the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d’Alene, ID was a great success! The food was both plentiful and wonderfully good and the setting was beautifully decorated. Amy Lyons, co-Regional Coordinator, suggested the Roosevelt Inn and coordinated arrangements with them. Jane Provinsal, our Social Media coordinator, made the lovely cinnamon Jane Austen ornaments/ decorations and did photography. Many items were donated to our fundraiser raffle: there were basketball tickets; Regency dresses, reticules, and scarves; JASNA EWANID Jane Austen buttons; many books and board games; embroidery; and grab bags. We also had five theme baskets: Tea Time, Lavender Potpourri, Dress Up, Fun and Games, and Book Lover. Thanks to Pamela Mogen, Cassandra Bates, Nancy Jo Tschida, Brenda Bye, Chuck Pierce, Sara Thompson, Debra Peck, Anne Hollum, Cindy Bell, Michele Larrow, and Yvette Tremblay-Kelly for donations. We were able to raise $160 for our group due to the generosity of the gift donors and those who purchased tickets to win the prizes.
A highlight of the tea was our reading of a short play Jane’s Dancers that we got through the JASNA script bank. It was developed by the JASNA, Northern California Region. Our readers/performers were highly entertaining and the words of Jane Austen about dancing were a fitting way to celebrate her birthday. Thanks to Vickey Bolen, Van Brink, Brenda Bye, Debra Peck, Sara Thompson, and Nancy Jo Tschida for your wonderful renditions of the play. We have a few snippets of video from the play reading on our website blog at https://jasnaewanid.org/2018/11/19/a-thousand-thanks/. Apologies for the poor stops and starts of the videos.
Thanks to everyone for a great tea. To see many photos of the event, please visit our website at https://jasnaewanid.org/photos-of-past-events/ or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jasnaewanid/.
We Have a New Treasurer:
We appreciate all the hard work of Sheryl DeShields, who served as our treasurer for a year, but had to resign. Thanks to Cassandra Bates for agreeing to serve as our new Treasurer. She was elected unanimously at the meeting portion of the 11/17/18 tea.
Upcoming Events:
At our planning meeting on October 13, 2018 the group discussed many different options for events for the coming year. It takes some time to get everything organized, but we have the first few months settled.
January 19, 2019 “Virtual Movie Night” for “Love and Friendship”
Since winter can make traveling difficult in the Pacific Northwest, our January meeting will happen in our own homes and on the internet. Please join other members of the group in watching the very funny Whit Stillman’s “Love and Friendship”. If you do not own the DVD, you can rent the movie (or watch for free if you have Amazon Prime) on Amazon. We will watch from 8-9:30 pm PST on Saturday, 19 January 2019. So, brew a pot of tea, gather your popcorn and scones, and join us at 8 pm (or a little earlier if you want to chat about Lady Susan, the Jane Austen early novel-in-letters that is the basis for the movie). We will all press “play” on our movies around 8:10 pm and chat away! We have done these virtual meetings a couple of times and they have been fun, even luring members from far away.
How to participate:
If you are on Facebook: Sign up for the event on our Facebook page (@jasnaewanid) and you can join the discussion on the Facebook event on 1/19/19 from 8-9:40.
If you are not on Facebook: We are trying a new audioconferencing service for meetings recommended by JASNA, freeconferencecall.com. To join, call our dial-in number: (605) 472-5324 and enter the access code: 685312. You will be connected with others in the group who are calling in to discuss the movie.
Or, gather your friends and have a viewing party
We think it would be most fun to watch with friends on 1/19/19 at 8:00 p.m. You may share your questions and we can discuss them during our party!
Sunday 2/10 (Spokane) or Sunday 2/17 (Moscow) Book Discussions
We are hosting a Northanger Abbey book discussion. There are two dates and locations (Spokane and Pullman), so we hope there is a meeting location that works for you:
Spokane, WA Moscow, ID
Sunday February 10, 2019 Sunday February 17, 2018
2:00-4:00 p.m. 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Spokane Library Shadle Branch One World Café Meeting Room
2111 W Wellesley Ave 533 S Main St, Moscow, ID 83843
Spokane, WA 99205
We will have questions about Northanger Abbey to get the discussion going. Both meetings are free and open to anyone. There will be light refreshments (fruit, cookies or pastry, tea) at the Spokane location and you can purchase refreshments at One World Cafe for the Moscow meeting. Also, the Spokane meeting (2/10) will have materials available to make Jane Austen-themed valentine’s day cards. If you are not able to travel to either meeting, but would like to participate from home, we will have an audioconferencing service for the 2/17 meeting in Moscow using freeconferencecall.com. To join, call our dial-in number: (605) 472-5324 and enter the access code: 685312.
English Country Dance Events
Saturday January 12, 2019 and March 9, 2019 English Country Dances with the Spokane Folklore Society (http://spokanefolklore.org/month.html) with music by the Prestwold Players and calling by Mitchell Frey. The event runs from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. with a break in the middle for a snack. The dances will be taught if you do not know how to do them. You do not need to have a partner to attend and groups are also welcome. (This event is not sponsored by us, but we wanted to let everyone know about it if you are interested in Regency dancing). They have very kindly offered to charge members of our group the member rate, if you tell them you are part of the Jane Austen group. If you want to wear Regency attire, that would be welcome, but is not required.
Where: East Spokane Grange 1621 N. Park Ave. Spokane Valley, WA 99212
Cost: $8 members/students/JASNA members $10 non-members of the folklore society and free for those under 18. Cash or check only.
Financial Update by Cassandra Bates, Treasurer and Michele Larrow: At our last financial update (5/19/18), our balance was $358.31. For the rest of the fiscal year (to 8/31/18), we brought in $72.92 for the June Box Hill Picnic and our expenses have been $69.32 for meeting food, supplies and library rental fee for our June Box Hill Picnic and July “Jane Austen and the Navy” meeting, leaving us a balance of $344.63 at the end of the fiscal year. In October we had a starting balance of $344.63, with Birthday Tea registration contributions of $90, bringing our balance to $434.63. November, we saw $160.00 in cash donations for the Birthday Tea raffle and $424.90 from PayPal for Birthday Tea registrations. We paid $10 to JASNA-NorCal in “Royalties” for the script used during the Birthday tea, $29.78 for supplies for the tea and prize baskets, as well as one check to The Roosevelt Inn for the Birthday Tea expenses, $513.15. Which then brings our December year-end balance to $466.60, with no revenue or expenses this month.
Information about JASNA: Our group received a $200 start-up grant in fall 2017 and received $260 in dues money in April 2018 from JASNA (the amount is based on the number of members in our group). Many of you have already joined JASNA and renewed membership. We do not have local dues, but ask people to join JASNA if you can (jasna.org/join). If you have already joined, please renew your membership when your year is up, although if you miss your renewal date you can rejoin at any time. In addition to supporting your local group, you get newsletters mailed three times a year and once a year JASNA mails the journal Persuasion with articles about Jane Austen and her times. Also, you are able to attend the national JASNA conference or meetings in other regions (such as Puget Sound). The JASNA Puget Sound region will be hosting a day-long event on April 6th 2019 An Invitation to Pemberley: A Country House Party at the Fine Georgian Home of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. A Ticketed event encompassing a day’s entertainment, supper and a ball Venue: Women’s University Club, 1105 6th Ave Seattle, WA 98101. JASNA members from our region can attend these events same as members of the Puget Sound group.
Social Media by Jane Provinsal: Social media has become a very important part of everyday life for many people, which is why we have created Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for our region. When we share our upcoming events, information about Jane Austen and everything related to her, photos, and blog posts regularly on these social media platforms, we are able to reach more Janeites and book lovers than just via our website or email alone. Our Facebook page, which was created in May 2017 and is our most common means of communication, has seen a dramatic increase in page numbers, including going from 85 page members at the beginning of January 2018 to over 220 by the last day of the year. The dramatic and then steady increases were sparked especially by our March “Jane Austen Madness” favorite characters bracket and a fun giveaway a bit later in the spring. Since so many people use Facebook every day, it remains one of the best ways to have delightful conversations about everything Jane Austen and reach the most people most often to expand our regional membership. Increasing our member numbers enables us to be more ambitious with activities and future planning (perhaps a ball someday soon!!). Every time you “like,” comment on, or share one of our Facebook posts there is more possibility for other Jane Austen fans to see our page, events, and information, so thank you for every single interaction! In September 2017, we created Twitter and Instagram accounts, both of which have also reached over 100 followers, again through events such as the Madness brackets, the giveaway, and photos of our fun, interesting events, including an increase in Twitter followers of over 130 people from January 2018 to the closing of the year! Several of our tweets have achieved about 100 total interactions (replies, “retweets” or shares, and “likes”), with about 1,500-5,000 people seeing them, impressive for our little Twitter. One in December had almost 200 total interactions and was seen by over 11,300 people, a huge number! It is always possible that one of those tweets or posts will reach a Janeite in our region who did not know our group existed, or reach a Janeite in England who knows someone here in the Inland Northwest, or help us connect with a local group which is focused on a similar topic. If you would like to join us on Twitter and Instagram, please do so by searching for us through the user name JASNA_EWANID! Aside from the wonderful expansions in numbers, interacting with region members and other Janeites has been a constant delight. We so enjoy our discussions of all things Jane, conversing with you about what kind of tea you are having or which character you would most want to take a walk with on a snowy day. In 2019, we hope to continue and share new ideas which get more region members involved! Cheers!!
Volunteers Needed! Our group has grown to over sixty local members since we first met in June 2017! Our regional coordinators are Amy Lyons and Michele Larrow. We are lucky to have the assistance of Cassandra Bates as Treasurer and Jane Provinsal as Secretary/Social Media. We would love help in finalizing our program for the rest of 2019. If you would be willing to join our social committee, please let us know. Also, if anyone has an idea for our website blog, email us to discuss jasnaewanid@gmail.com. We would love to have guest blogs. We have had blogs about our books or articles discussed at our meetings, sewing projects, historical cooking, etc.
Thank You! We have had a tremendous 2018. Thanks to everyone who has attended the meetings, brought food, hosted, and donated to the region. It is great to meet so many Jane Austen fans. We are looking forward to a dynamic 2019.
Michele Larrow and Amy Lyons Co-Regional Coordinators
email: jasnaewanid@gmail.com; Facebook @jasnaewanid;
Twitter @JASNA_EWANID; Instagram: @JASNA_EWANID
Members at our planning meeting October 13, 2018, Daily Grind, Pullman, WA
Older Newsletters:
Jane Austen Society of North America,
Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho Region
Spring 2018 News
Our Spring “Great House” Tea on Sunday May 6, 2018 at McConnell Mansion in Moscow, ID was so much fun! We had 27 people–as General Tilney would say, “the true size for rational happiness” (NA 166). Welcome to our new attendees Ariel and Leslee; Kathryn and Laura; Angel, Sonya, and Moriah; Melody; Marie; and Jennifer, Kay, Vivian, Valerie, and Linnea. Many of our original members and more recent additions joined us also: Sheryl N., Stephanie, Amy, Becky, Mary Ellen, Jane, Rose, Vickey, Anne, Donna, Sheryl D., Lorena, and Michele.
We are grateful to the many people who made this day a success. Gary Grove, the Latah County Historical Society volunteer who assisted us, was so helpful and kind. Goose House Bakery (https://www.goosehousebakery.com/), a local Moscow home-based bakery, created the awesome treats. Amy, Mary Ellen, Michele, Sheryl D., and Stephanie helped with set up and clean up. Michele created pictures with Jane Austen quotes on flower backgrounds that were used for the decorations. Michele, Stephanie, and Sheryl N. put together the framed pictures for the table, the napkin decorations, and the small hanging pictures. Stephanie, Michele, and Sara T. allowed us to use their table linens. Books were donated books for door prizes by Debra, Michele, Sara T., and Diane. Jane provided amazing social media promotion of the event and did great event photography that day. To see many photos of the event, please visit our website at https://jasnaewanid.org/photos-of-past-events/ or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jasnaewanid/.
Our First Year: Our first meeting was June 4, 2017 at Café Moro in Pullman, WA. Since that time, we have grown quite a bit and have had many exciting events, including our Jane Austen Special Tea at Brambleberry Cottage in Spokane on 7/24/17, our December 2, 2017 Jane Austen Birthday tea at Bank Left Gallery in Palouse, WA, our May 6. 2018 Spring “Great House” Tea (see above), and several book discussion meetings in Spokane, Moscow, and Pullman. We also hosted an online event in January 2018 on our Facebook page where page followers watched the last episode of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice on their computers and shared comments on our page. It was a nice way to gather without having to leave your house and several people joined us long distance. A huge thank you to Yvette Tremblay-Kelly and Debra Peck for their presentation on “Creating a Regency Wardrobe: How to be an Emma, not a Mrs. Elton” in Spokane on March 25. 2018. If you missed this meeting we have posted the video of that talk, along with a handout that Debra Peck developed, on our website at: https://jasnaewanid.org/regency-wardrobe-video/.
Our New Website: Over the past couple of months we have developed and improved our website (jasnaewanid.org). There you can find our bylaws, contact information for our social media, purchase tickets for events, and look at photos of past events. We also have a blog which we occasionally post to. Recently we added two blogs about sympathy in Jane Austen’s novels connected with our May 2018 tea, focusing especially on Persuasion. Our first blog on the subject was an introduction to sympathy in Jane Austen’s time and has a few links for articles discussing sympathy in the novels in more depth: https://jasnaewanid.org/2018/04/22/tea-and-sympathy-part-1/. At the tea we discussed how Captain Wentworth is shown to grow in his sympathy for Anne. I added a summary of our discussion (organized by tables and the scenes they shared) to our blog on our website: https://jasnaewanid.org/2018/05/09/tea-and-sympathy-part-2-discussion-at-the-spring-great-house-tea/ .
Information about JASNA: Our group received a $200 start-up grant in fall 2017 and recently received $260 in dues money from JASNA, where JASNA shares with local groups an amount based on the number of members in the group at the end of the previous year (December 2017). Many of you have already joined JASNA. We do not have local dues but ask people to join JASNA if financially able to ($30/individual, $18/student at http://jasna.org/join/ ). If you have already joined, please renew your membership when you get the notice to renew (for most people it will be some time in August). In addition to supporting our local group, JASNA sends members newsletters three times a year and once a year they mail the journal Persuasion with articles about Jane Austen and her times.
Social Media by Jane Provinsal: Our regional Facebook page was created in May 2017 and has grown steadily, with massive increases this spring, following our Jane Austen Madness Event (where members voted on pairs of characters from the novels in brackets to achieve an ultimate favorite character), which helped us reach over 100
“likes” and “follows.” Our Spring Jane Austen Giveaway continued the tradition, bringing us to almost 170 Facebook likes in a short time, essentially doubling our page likes number from early March. In September 2017, we created Twitter and Instagram accounts, both of which have also reached over 100 followers, again through events such as the Madness brackets, the giveaway, and photos of our fun, interesting events. The increased numbers on all three social media accounts help us and our information reach a wider audience, provide more ways for regional Jane Austen fans to become aware of our wonderful group, and share our fantastic events, as well as interact with Janeites from all over the world! Please join us at Twitter and Instagram by searching for us through the user name JASNA_EWANID!
Upcoming Event: We finalized plans for our June 24 12:00-4:00 p.m. Box Hill Potluck Picnic at Kamiak Butte in Palouse WA. Bring your family members and/or friends for a fun day at Kamiak Butte. We have reserved the large shelter. Since members will come from different distances and might come at different times, please bring lunch for your party or eat lunch before you come. We ask that members bring snacks, fruit, or desserts to share with others for the afternoon (food that does not need refrigeration). We will supply drinks (lemonade, ice tea, and water), ice, and all tableware (plates, cups, napkins, plastic silverware). Katie Johnson-Watts will lead us in a discussion of the picturesque in Jane Austen’s novels. We will also have games available and those who wish to can hike to the top of the Butte to enjoy the amazing views. There is a range of trails available of differing difficulty levels and it does not take too long to get to the top to see the amazing views. More details are on the website: https://jasnaewanid.org/events/ and you can purchase tickets on the website if you wish to through PayPal or download a flyer and mail a check. If you prefer to pay cash at the event, that is fine, but please send an email that you are coming so we can keep track of numbers.
SAVE THE DATE: Several of our members in Coeur d’Alene keep asking when we will meet there—it is coming! Sunday July 29, from 2-4, we are planning a meeting at
the Coeur d’Alene library in the afternoon and the theme will be Jane Austen and the Navy. We are still in the planning stages, so more details to come.
Financial Update by Sheryl DeShields, Treasurer and Michele Larrow: At this time (5/21/18), our income for the period 10/1/17 to today has been $1556.68 (JASNA start-up grant $200, donations/ raffle donations $157, December 2017 tea $475, JASNA dues sharing $260, and May 2018 tea $464.68) and our expenses have been $1198.37 (meeting food/supplies $60.30, bank fees/checks $38.45, postage $51.60, copies/ printing $42.77, costs December 2017 tea $444.00, website upgrade $67.20, costs May 2018 tea $394.05, shelter rental Kamiak Butte $100.00) leaving us a grand total of $358.31 in our bank account (and it all balances 😊).
Volunteers Needed! Our group has grown to over fifty members since we first met in June 2017! Our regional coordinators are Amy Lyons and Michele Larrow. We are lucky to have the assistance of Sheryl Deshields as Treasurer and Jane Provinsal as Secretary/Social Media. We would love help in finalizing our program for the rest of the year. If you would be willing to join our social committee, please let us know.
Thank You! We have had a tremendous first year. Thanks to everyone who has attended the meetings, brought food, hosted, and donated to the region. It is great to meet so many Jane Austen fans. We are looking forward to a dynamic rest of 2018.
Michele Larrow and Amy Lyons co-regional coordinators
email: jasnaewanid@gmail.com; Facebook @jasnaewanid;
Twitter @JASNA_EWANID; Instagram: @JASNA_EWANID
Naval Jane Austen from the 2018 AGM on Persuasion found at:
http://www.jasna.org/agms/kansascity/registration.html
JASNA Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho 