GFWC Poetry and Short Story Contest Local Winners

The GFWC Brentwood Woman’s Club is pleased to announce the winners of its 2015 Poetry and Short Story Youth Writing Contests:

Category 2 Poetry – Grades 4,5 and 6

Little Bob Mr by Jaya Gupta, Scales Elementary

Category 2 Short Story – Grades 4, 5, and 6

1^st Place – Lizzie’s Secret Garden by Lauren Stockdale, Grassland Elementary

2^nd Place – Sand Pirates by Rhys Clark, Scales Elementary

3^rd Place –  The Diary of John Murphy by Rachel Clark, Scales Elementary

Category 3 Poetry – Grades 7, 8, and 9

1^st Place – The Mouse Who Started the Great Fire of London by Robert Haukohl, homeschool

2^nd Place – Light Is Love by Nyah Stanfield, homeschool

3^rd Place – America’s Pastime by Drew Estes, Sunset Middle School

Category 3 Short Story – Grades 7,8, and 9

1^st Place – Blinded by Lauren Smith, Page Middle School

2^nd Place – A Fortune Cookie by Joseph Feduccia, Sunset Middle School

Category 4 Poetry – Grades 10, 11, and 12

1st Place – Handel’s Messiah by Alyssa Parker, Ravenwood High School

2^nd Place – The Refining by Hannah Hubin, homeschool

3^rd Place (2 winners):  A Light of Hope by Michael Hosale, Ravenwood High School

                                     A Time Not Forgotten by Lina Beach, Franklin High School

Category 4 Short Story – Grades 10, 11, and 12

1st Place – Sacre Coeur by Ashleigh Tyler, Summit High School

2^nd Place – Liar by Megan Carneal, Franklin High School

3^rd Place – A Different Pace by Hannah Hubin, homeschool

The first place winning entries are being forwarded to both the GFWC Music City District where they will compete with other first place entries from 6 other GFWC clubs and to GFWC of Tennessee where they will compete with all other winning entries from throughout the state of Tennessee.  The state winners will go on to complete internationally and be recognized at the GFWC Annual Meeting to be held in June, 2016. 

The Brentwood Woman’s Club has been pleased to hold this local contest for over 20 years and has had 4 international poetry contest winners .   A reception for our local winners and their families will be held on January 30, 2016, at the Brentwood Library.  

Unicorn Fund, serving Morgan & Scott Counties in east TN.

On December 6, 1984 fate changed the lives of thousands of residents of Morgan and Scott Counties. Patti Melhorn Thomas was killed in an auto accident in Scott County, leaving behind a grieving family.  Husband John Thomas and parents George and Shelby Melhorn channeled their sorrow by creating the Unicorn Fund.  And, for the past 30 years, this fund has grown into a 501c(3) charity raising hope by helping thousands of families.

To increase operating funds the board of directors enlisted volunteers to help with fair booths, bake sales, beauty pageants, craft shows, angel trees, cookbook/t-shirt sales, and rock-a-thon/talent shows. The creation in 1986 of the Second Time Around Boutique, a clothing store featuring slightly used items, paved the way for the Unicorn Fund to extend its means of helping others.  With more money coming in, more help was given.  The $3000 in financial assistance distributed in 1986 has grown to to $21,227 distributed thus far in 2015.

Throughout the years many volunteers have stepped up to make the Unicorn Fund grow.  The employees of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Battelle provided toys to Head Start for over 20 years.  The TN Federation of Women's Clubs (currently known as GFWC OF TN) support the Unicorn Fund with clothing items for the Boutique and monetary funds annually.  Several of these clubs were and still are pivotal to the growth of the Unicorn Fund.

Another milestone for the Unicorn Fund was the creation of its Scholarship Fund that has provided almost 300 scholarships to students of all six of the Morgan and Scott County high schools.  The Fund has also given scholarships to mothers who want to go into nursing and students who have been out of school for a while but want to reconnect and further their education.  In 2015 alone the Fund awarded $12,817.00 in scholarships.  

In 2010 the Unicorn Fund, in collaboration with the GFWC Tellico Village Woman's Club and the Rock Mission, opened the Unicorn Fund Youth Center in Petros, TN.  It provides a place for children in the area to go and participate in activities of exercise, art, music, basketball, and computer education.

The Unicorn Fund volunteers participate in community events such as "Christmas in the Mountains", the Scott County Fair, parades, and the Big South Fork Fly-In.  An office in the Boutique is provided to the Salvation Army to facilitate faster assistance to those needing help.  And, the Salvation Army helps provide the Fund with supplies for area schools.  The Fund's largest event each year is its Christmas Gift Distribution.  Over 3000 gifts are provided to needy children throughout the holdiay season in Morgan and Scott counties.

The GFWC Brentwood Woman's Club has been able to donate $6000 to the Unicorn's scholarship fund since 2010 through its fund-raising efforts and twice annually donates clothing and small household goods for the Boutique.

BWC members Jean Hairston, Gail Miles, Jacqui Love, and Pat Grove with the Unicorn Fund Volunteers after delivering a load of donations for the boutique in 2014.

Igor Babailov

"Artist to the Pope" to Speak at Luncheon on December 1, 2015

The GFWC Brentwood Woman’s Club is excited to announce their Holiday Luncheon Fundraiser to be held Tuesday, December 1, at the Brentwood Country Club.  This year’s program features Brentwood resident, noted portrait painter known as the “Artist to the Pope”, Igor Babailov, Hon. RAA. Some of his commissioned subjects include; Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II (recently declared a Saint) President George W. Bush, Nelson Mandela and President Vladimir Putin.

Igor Babailov will delight the audience as he sketches an event attendee and speaks about his life and work as a master drawer and portrait artist. He will also be there to sell his book, Greatest Portrait Moments, and to offer an amazing opportunity to have a sketch done for the Holidays of you or members of your family.

The Luncheon Program also features a musical performance by the Brentwood High School Choir, selected vendors for your Holiday shopping, including a chance to purchase one of a kind ornaments featuring local landmarks, a 50/50 Raffle where the winner splits the cash raised with the Brentwood Woman’s Club.

Tickets for the program are $50.00 per person. Raffle tickets are $5.00 for one or $10.00 for three. To RSVP for the event please contact Kathy Casey or you may call her at 615-500-2149. The RSVP deadline is November 25.

Happy Thanksgiving

To each of you special and hard-working ladies,

May this holiday week find you and your families safe and happy, and may you receive all of blessings you so richly deserve.

Paula Uhlir

Paula's great grandmother, Mary Egan Jones, 

was also a GFWC member.

Catherine's Garden

Through the collective resources of the Brentwood Garden Club, the Brentwood Woman’s Club and Owen Chapel at 1011 Franklin Road in Brentwood, TN., there are three gardens.  The most recent, a butterfly garden named “Catherine’s Garden”, is a recently completed, multi-year conservation project of the Brentwood Woman’s Club established as a feeding source for monarch butterflies whose numbers have been declining drastically in the last few years.

The name Catherine was selected in honor of Catherine Owen, wife of James C. Owen.  James and Catherine Owen gave the property for the chapel to be established in 1860.  Owen Chapel Church of Christ was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

We approached the Brentwood Garden Club and Owen Chapel with a request to start our garden in an area that needed some loving care and an agreement was made in 2013.  November 16, 2013, the first compost went down to work the soil in rich nutrients over the winter.  Our first plantings began on April 11, 2014 with perennial plants that are found in a butterfly garden, such as Moonbeam Coreopsis, Bee Balm, Butterfly Weed, Parsley, Coneflower, Garden Phlox, Butterfly Bush, Pincushion Flower, Rosemary, and many others.  At the present time, we have approximately 30 various plants that attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.  The garden was dedicated in a ceremony open to the public on September 2, 2015.

We hope that the many residents who drive past Catherine's Garden each day will enjoy the beauty of the garden and the role it will play in conserving the local butterfly and bee population.

Conservation Service Area Members
Pat, Lisa, and Mary

District Poetry and Short Story Contest Winners

The GFWC Brentwood Woman's Club is proud to announce that five Williamson County students, who won first place in the club's local 2014 poetry and short story contest, have gone on to win awards at the GFWC Music City District Level.  Distric winners are:

Ella Simpson, a student at Lipscomb Elementary, won third place in short story category 2.
Audrey Johnson, who is homeschooled, won first place in short story category 3.
Hannah Hubin, who is homeschooled, won first place in short story category 4.

Molly Hankins, a student at Grace Christian Academy, won first place in poetry category 3.
Hannah Hubin, who is homeschooled, won first place in short story category 4.
Waverly Alexa Rushing, a student at Fairview High School, won first place in poetry category 4.

Step Up, It's a Charity Affair

The Brentwood Woman's Club is excited about our upcoming event "Step Up, It's a Charity Affair" which will take place on May 5, 2015 at 10:30 AM at the Brentwood Country Club.  Melinda Doolittle, third place finalist of the sixth season of American Idol, will be our featured guest.  Please contact Kathy Casey to make your reservation today.  Tickets are $50.00.

GFWC Poetry and Short Story Contest Local Winners

Local Poetry Contest Winners

Local Short Story Contest Winners