February Friends Meeting

The February meeting of the Friends of the Hermitage was well attended, informative and fun. Thanks to those of you who brought food to be shared before Sharyn Lonsdale welcomed us. It was good to have our friends Eleanor Hodges and Florine Broden back with us again.

By Marianne Schafer, Coordinator of the Friends of the Hermitage

The February meeting of the Friends of the Hermitage was well attended, informative and fun. Thanks to those of you who brought food to be shared before Sharyn Lonsdale welcomed us. It was good to have our friends Eleanor Hodges and Florine Broden back with us again.

Patricia Caswell gave us a head’s up on what’s happening in the next month. Then we went on a “field trip” to the banyan tree in the side lawn where visual artist Felix de la Concha was painting a study of sunlight on palm trees with the Whitney and the cisterns in the background. We also visited the studio where several of his paintings weredisplayed.

Friends were thanked for their volunteerism: Gladys Varga for adding new books to the compilation for the Fellows Library, Mike Schafer and Don Morrison, for assembling a new bookshelf for that expanding library, and Jacobina Trump for tending to it. Mike Schafer also helped out at a surprise event for Annette Dignam in honor of an endowment named for her.

Special thanks were given to the following Friends who staffed the beach events in January: Linda Schilke, Audrey Snyder, Peggy Parker, Velvet Wildermuth, Bob Kinsey, Sarita Kruysman, Kay Rihn, Dale Mancini, Robert Jackson, Rosalie Conlon, Mike Schafer, Tom and Annette Dignam.

Kay Rihn presented a Certificate of Recognition to Mike Schafer “for services above and beyond” when he took on a job cleaning her community’s traffic cones to be used at the Artful Lobster. (They really were a mess)

A watercolor by Jackie Parsons was displayed and an invitation was extended for Friends to show and share their art at future meetings.

The meeting ended with visual artist James Esber discussing and answering questions about his work entitled “PPS—Painting Perpetually Shown”.

Being a part of the Friends of the Hermitage and attending meetings has some wonderful perks. One of the best is spending individual or small-group time with our artists while they are in residence. The February meeting provided those of us present with that kind of quality time that is so enriching.

It’s great when Friends like Mary Clement, Richard Mueller and Linda Schilke remember the Hermitage Wish List. Richard donated a bookshelf that will house the overflow from the Reading for Pleasure Library, and Mary donated a cooler and small fridge. Linda is a frequent donor of household items she finds in yard sales. When organizing or cleaning your home, please keep the Hermitage in mind for those new or seldom-used articles you don’t want any more. They may be exactly what the Hermitage needs to make our artists’ visits more comfortable.

There’s lots for you to do at the Hermitage in the coming weeks including a session of jewelry making for beginners on up at noon on Feb. 25, community programs (the next one is Feb. 27) and the next Friends Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 11th at 10:30 a.m.. So watch the website for updates and more information.