BINGO

Elizabeth deBoer

We will be sponsoring Bingo at Arcadia Place for the residents as a thank you for our being able to meet at their facility. The following VFN members are helping with this event. Helpers: Mary D, Marilyn F, Bunny H, Mary H, Linda M. Thank you, Ladies. Monday Sept. 18 is the date

Book Club

Elizabeth deBoer

Our September selection is: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. Mary D will host an evening potluck at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 10. All members are invited to bring a guest and a dish to share. The October Selection is Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan. Trudy S will host.

Please let our hostesses know of your planned attendance. Maureen

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President’s Message

Elizabeth deBoer

Dear Vista Friends,
Your board continues to examine and implement ways to make our group both viable and vibrant. Below is some of the latest news on that front.
The monthly hospitality tasks have been redistributed. Lynn Hillman will oversee this process, (that means the coffee and supplies ride around in the trunk of her car) and the calling tree will still remind the birthday girls to bring treats. What is different is that every month one of the interest sub-groups will be responsible for helping Lynn bring the supply box in from her car and set-up and take down the room.
The sub-groups have been set-up in a monthly rotation and the head of each sub-group is responsible for seeing that the ladies in that group step up and do their part. For example:

September-Book Club

October-Bridge

November-Bunco

December-None

January-LEI

February-M&M

March-Stitch & Bitch

There is some confusion in my notes for April & May so I won’t go further, but I think you have the idea. The “Mailing of paper newsletters” invoices have gone out to those who have been receiving printed newsletters. It offers them the option to go to e-mail; arrange for e-mail to a friend or relative on their behalf or pay $33 to continue to receive a paper newsletter. The deadline for those responses is October 12, 2017.

You may recall that some years ago Arcadia Place asked that we start our meetings at 9:30 am. Since then “the creep” has set in and our starting time has been drifting back toward 10:00 am. Effective this month we will start our meeting at 9:45 am. That will give you time between 9:30 and 9:45 to get your coffee and socialize a bit before we start. We want to be thoughtful as to our guest status with Arcadia Place.

With kindest regards, Janet & Trudy

Presidents’ Message

Elizabeth deBoer

Hi Vista Friends,
We are proud to announce the start of a new eating group called “Fine Dining”. There is a detailed article about the new venture a little further on in this newsletter. (page 6) Possibly on a quarterly basis we will eat at an upscale restaurant (with prices to match) somewhere in northern San Diego county. This dining experience may be a lunch, brunch or dinner depending on the hostess’s preference. Spouses and significant others are welcome to join us. Our aim is to have an exceptional meal with exceptional service and ambiance and enjoy it with our Vista Friends.
On a very different note, We need to share with you what a difficult process it was recently as we struggled to establish a 2017/2018 operating budget. It is no surprise that, for a variety of reasons, our membership continues to decline which means, in turn, our operating revenue is diminished. We have had to make a couple of very, very difficult decisions just to make ends meet in the coming year.
We are taking just under $1,000 from our checking account and applying it to the operating budget. Wehave never had to do this before and it diminishes our liquidity cushion, but the unacceptable alternative was to reduce some of the things we enjoy most in our group.
Secondly, we will be charging a separate annual fee to those who receive the newsletter by mail. We understand that some of you do not own a computer while others of you do not wish to print out the newsletter using your own paper and ink. The painful reality is that Vista Friends can no long afford to carry this cost for these members. We know some of you are thinking you dues must cover this cost, but the sad fact is that none of this cost is covered by dues and members who receive the newsletter electronically are actually carrying the paper newsletter cost which benefits only about 15% of our membership. Annually the cost for each member receiving a paper copy of the newsletter is $33. The board and the budget committee have tried to look at this from many different ways but it always boiled down to making this difficult decision. At the August coffee the board will welcome your input and then at the August board meeting a decision will be made concerning the specifics of this new assessment.
We wish we had better financial news but the plain fact is without making these hard choices the ongoing viability of Vista Friends and Newcomers is at stake.
With kindest regards, Janet & Trudy