Rita Curry-Pittman phoned the other day to tell me that the program presenter for the Sandia Mountains Chapter November meeting had cancelled and could I do that meeting. Rita herself was going to be absent and needed some help. Rita is Vice-President Programs of Sandia Mountains, while I am president.
The October meeting is this coming Tuesday, the 14th of October. Jane Moses is doing part of the program. She received a scholarship from Sandia Mountains (as did I), for the last national seminar and now is pay-back time. Now let me just say one thing. I object to have to "pay back" a scholarship. A scholarship in the wider world is not paid back. I would much rather name the monies we give people for classes and other personal enrichment a grant or even a supplement. I think the word scholarship muddies the waters of the language.
But to get back to my main point: Jane is going to do part of October's program as the pay-back for her scholarship. That is good. I was going to pay back my scholarship later in the chapter year. But now it is going to be November. The scholarship program is a good one. I would venture to say that most chapters and regions have scholarship funds for members. Rocky Mountain Region has the Jody Gergens Memorial Scholarship Fund available for specific needs to anyone within the region. Sandia Mountains has a nice little fund that we award from once or twice a year, depending on the amount in the it.
I was awarded both a Jody Gergens and a Sandia Mountains so that I could go to national seminar. I am eternally grateful. Without those monies I would have been unable to go. And so November is pay-back time, probably for both scholarships.
My classes at seminar were the judging class and a class about making frogs--those sewn on fasteners for clothing. I have decided to do a program on judging for Sandia Mountains. The judging class was a revelation to me in at least one aspect: team judging. I have done a little judging in my time. Seven or eight times I have been asked to judge at county fairs, at SCA events, at a local photography show, and at local shop exhibits. In all instances but one I was judging alone. When I lived in Sandy, Utah, I had the opportunity to judge an embroidery show put on by a frame shop. The owner had three judges come in and we judged in a team. It was a very good experience. Each of us had areas of expertise and we could talk and make group decisions.
The judging class at national had us judge on our own and in groups. Once again the group judging was the better way to go. I want to give the chapter that same experience of judging. So Carole Rinard and I are gathering up ten original works for the chapter to judge. Unfortunately Carole can't be at the November meeting either. I will just have to soldier on by myself. So after introductory remarks, I am going to split the chapter into three- or four-person groups and have the groups judge the ten works on different merits. They are to choose a first, second, and third place for their particular merits. And then we will have a group discussion on those merits and choices. Sounds like fun to me. And I hope the chapter will begin to understand how judging works.
The ten original works of art will be mostly from Carole's fine collection contemporary embroidery art. I will contribute two or three pieces of my own work. It should be a first class art show (well, most of it) in addition to a good way of introducing tough judging to the group.
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