A WORD from the CWC Executive Board
In response to concerns about Coronavirus, we have taken a number of precautionary steps to protect the health and safety of our members, including canceling our in-person activities for the time being. Here are a few items for your attention.
Please write. We hope you are staying healthy and sane in these uncertain times. Since our craft is a solitary pursuit, we writers may be uniquely wired to handle this new normal—and the found time it provides perhaps might allow you to dust off that manuscript, complete your poetry chap book or start telling a new story. Whether you’re keeping a journal to document your experiences and emotions or are creating something new, we encourage you to take this time to write.
Stay Informed. Keep an eye on the CWC website. That’s where you’ll find the most up-to-date information and writing resources. We’ll also post on Facebook and send out monthly newsletters. (Normally the newsletter takes the summer off, but this year we’ll keep it going to keep you informed about our plans.)
Stay Engaged. Although we will not hold in-person meetings until we are able to do so, your executive board has been brainstorming ways to help keep you engaged and to remind you that social distancing does not mean social isolation. We can still connect with one another and we encourage you to do so. You can look up other members using our Wild Apricot Membership Software and send each other messages directly from that site. To do so: login, then go to Membership Directory and search by name. Click on the member’s name, then click “Send Message” button or grab their email address or (if they’ve shared it) their phone number.
Stay Current. Please renew your membership when you are notified and use the online payment system. Membership fees constitute the majority of the club’s income, which we then use to pay for our programming and the church facility fees. Your board is hard at work planning for the next year. Note that we might not be visiting the post office box for a while, so if you mail us a check it may be in the box for many weeks.
Now, here’s what is going on with club events.
Monthly Club Meetings: The March 17 and April 21 club meetings have been cancelled. We are looking into rescheduling those speakers for next season. We’ll monitor the situation with the virus over the next month to determine if we should cancel our May general meeting, too.
Workshops: We cancelled Abigail DeWitt’s workshop scheduled for March 21, and hope to reschedule it as well. Refunds should all have been processed, so please let us know if you haven’t received yours.
Open Mic Nights at Mugs Coffee: March 20th was cancelled as well because of the North Carolina Stay at Home order, the April 17th Open Mic is also cancelled. Debra is working with the owner of Mugs, and when the ban on in person customers is lifted, we will resume Open Mic Nights.
Contests: The Poetry Contest and the Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Contest are both closed. Our judges are now reading your entries. The submission period is also over for CWC North’s Beyond Poems and Paintings. The names of the poets and poems selected for artist interpretation and the Poetry Contest winners will be announced in the April newsletter. If there is no general meeting in May, the Elizabeth Simpson Smith winners will be announced in the May newsletter.
Spring and End-of-Season Socials: These, of course, have been put on hold.
Critique Groups: Critique group leaders are finding ways to continue with virtual meetings though Zoom, Skype, FreeConferenceCall, and other services or emailing each other comments. If you are in a CWC-sponsored critique group, your leader will explain how your group will work during the virus period.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact the president through the website.
Keep Writing and Stay Well,
Caroline Kane Kenna, CWC president
(If you would like additional information on preventative measures, and the impact of the coronavirus on North Carolina please visit the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website at NCDHHS. Looking for ways to help the larger community? Check out Covid-19 Greater Charlotte Mutual Aid or on Facebook.)
