Garden party benefits Weston Center |
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Sister Eleanor Spring, SSJ, Sister Shirley Campbell, SSJ, and Carol J. Pederzani, finalize plans for the first ever Garden Party & Book Signing to benefit the Weston Center for Women in Holyoke. Sister Spring and Sister Campbell co-founded the Weston Center.
Reminder Publications photo by Lori Szepelak
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April 11, 2011
By Lori Szepelak
Correspondent
HOLYOKE — The Mont Marie grounds at 32 Lower Westfield Road will be transformed for a new fund-raiser, a Garden Party and Book Signing, on April 30 to benefit the Weston Center for Women.
The Weston Center is a non-profit organization that assists women who are transitioning back into the community after incarceration or inpatient substance abuse treatment. Weston Screen Printing is the division of the Weston Center for Women that provides employment for those in transition and helps them learn marketable job skills as they gain earned income to support themselves and their families.
"Women gain valuable, transferable skills and a new sense of self in a supportive and realistic environment as they begin to rebuild their lives," Sister Eleanor Spring, SSJ, co-founder of the program with Sister Shirley Campbell, SSJ, said during an interview with Reminder Publications.
Sister Campbell echoed those sentiments.
"The length of stay is 18 months because we don't believe in a quick fix," Sister Campbell said, adding that the women are "incredibly resilient" and are willing to do what it takes to lead honest and productive lives.
Weston neither seeks nor receives funding from state or federal sources, and income is generated primarily through its screen-printing business, donations, grants, and fund-raising.
Carol J. Pederzani, a member of the board of directors of the Weston Center, is spearheading the April 30 event that will allow guests to interact with noted area authors while sampling fine wines and dining on delectable hot and cold hors d'oeuvres created by Mark Tansey of Partner's Restaurant in Feeding Hills. The fund-raiser is planned from 1 to 4 p.m., rain or shine.
Twelve authors are scheduled to participate including Jean Stone, author of multiple novels under her name and the pen name Abby Drake; Sister of St. Joseph Judith Kappenman, author of a fictionalized account of her grandfather's life story, "To Dakota and Back: The Story of an Orphan Train Rider"; and Dr. David Page, a surgeon at Baystate Medical Center and author of several books including "The Phoenix Prescription."
Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of "Selling the Light of Heaven," "Sundays in America," and several other works, and Ellen Meeropol, who will be celebrating the release of her acclaimed first novel, "House Arrest," will also appear.
Pam's Paperbacks of Wilbraham will provide all the books for the sale, and will donate a percentage of her sales to Weston, according to Pederzani.
Tickets for the fund-raiser are $30 in advance and $50 at the door.
For more information, contact Pederzani at 205-5003 or by e-mail, cpederzani@TheBigE.com.
For more details about the Weston Center for Women, visit its newly revamped Web site at www.westoncenter.org, or its screen-printing business, www.westonscreenprinting.org.
"We hope this fund-raiser is a success because it will help women who have lived lives that most of us would not have survived," Sister Spring said. "They are an inspiration to us everyday."
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