Wow! Once again we have jumped from Winter right to Summer! At least for today! Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather.

At our Board meeting last month, we continued our work on recruitment. We have agreed to focus on 3 activities: Colleges, MN Women's Directory and professional associations.

Colleges: Peggy has contacted a number of colleges. At the moment we are following up on 3 of them: Augsburg, St. Cates and Concordia. Augsburg is suggesting that we host a reception/luncheon some weekend in June for their weekend college students. Concordia, in cooperation with the Association for Women in Communications is hosting a 2 day symposium for women on April 25 and 26. We will have a table there with some information about Zonta. And St. Cates has asked for additional information which they would be willing to distribute for us.

MN Women's Directory: Phyllis and Marj are compiling a list of names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails for women who are advertisers in the MN Press Women's Directory. Once we have a promotional piece available, we will begin by sending an e-mail out to these women to invite them to a meeting or reception.

Professional Associations: Lois is compiling a similar list of women's organizations from the MN Women's Consortium directory. We will provide them with information about Zonta. We are looking for information on how we might get information out to their members about Zonta.

In order to fulfill these recruitment efforts, we need to develop a "snappy" brochure about Zonta. Unfortunately, the international brochure is outdated, and unavailable. So, we need to design one ourselves.

Thank you for your willingness to work on these recruitment efforts. They are so very important to our future.

A couple of other items that the Board has been working on lately are board nominations and the selection of committee chairs.

We have really struggled with nominations for the Board this Spring. We have been unable to identify anyone who is willing to become President-Elect and honestly, we are reluctant to transition to new leadership at this time. So, the Board has decided to recommend to the members that we retain our current officers. At the April meeting, we will be presenting the board roster for 2003-2004 for your vote.

Committee Chairs

At the April meeting, we will also present the committee chairs for 2003-2004. I believe that all of the committee chairs will remain in place, although I?ve not confirmed all of the positions yet. So, at the April meeting we will be asking you to make your committee selection.

Other April Meeting Agenda Items:

Committee Reports: I will be asking each of the committee chairs to make a brief

Service Committee Recommendations: The Service Committee will be presenting the service recipients for 2003-2004.

FY04 Budget: The Finance Committee will be presenting the FY04 budget.

Global Event: Speaker suggestions, committee volunteers

District Seminar Deficit: In January we agreed to ask District to reimburse us for only one half of the deficit for the District Seminar. The Board has received a request to reopen this discussion. So, we will reopen this issue at our meeting.

This will be a busy business meeting, so while we always love to have new prospects join us at our meetings, this might not be the most interesting meeting for them to attend. Next month we will hear from representatives of our service recipient organizations, as well as install new officers, hear from our scholarship recipient and present our annual report, so that might be more fun for prospects. So, I encourage you to bring prospects to the May meeting.

Thank you again for everything you do to make the world a better place for women.

Joann Usher, President

Remember that one of the ways we are building the conference fund is through the sale of Linders Gift Certificates. Now that Spring is here, before you buy any gardening supplies, pick up some gift certificates from Connie Nyman and make your purchases at Linders. Zonta gets 15% of anything purchased with a gift certificate and there is no additional cost to you. Pick them up for your friends; ask them to use them too. It's a really simple way to support Zonta.

I'm enclosing copies of the Area Meeting brochure for those members who were not at the March meeting. The date is May 3, in Duluth. If you are planning to attend, remember that we do have some money available to assist you with registrations.

This conference is scheduled for June 21 and 22 in St. Louis. The focus will be on membership recruitment and retention. Maybe some of us can carpool. Included with this newsletter is some additional information about the event.

Don't forget that your dues are due by May 31^st.

Romelle Vanek Helfmann and Connie Nyman have agreed to be co-chairs for our Global Event. So, we are looking for names of speakers, people who are willing to serve on the committee, etc.

The governor of Minnesota proclaimed March 8^th to be Zonta International Rose Day. I thought you might like to read his proclamation.

STATE of MINNESOTA

Proclamation

Whereas: International Women's Day is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development; and

Whereas: Zonta International is a worldwide service organization of executives in business and the professions working together to advance the legal, political, economic, educational, health and professional status of women; and

Whereas: For decades, the yellow rose, a symbol of friendship, has been the symbol of Zonta International and for the fifth straight year Zonta International Rose Day will be celebrated on March 8, 2003, coinciding with International Women's Day; and

Whereas: Minnesota has local Zonta International chapters in the Austin area, Breckenridge-Wahpeton, the Brainerd area, Duluth, the Mankato area, Minneapolis, the St. Cloud area and St. Paul; and

Whereas: The local Minnesota chapters support, with volunteer hours, in-kind and cash contributions, such organizations as The Jeremiah Program in Minneapolis, Hmong Women's Action Team and Women's and Children's Recovery Center-Hazelden Foundation Program in St. Paul, Port Group Home in Brainerd and Anna Marie Shelter and Journey Home in St. Cloud; and

Whereas: The local Minnesota chapters provided educational scholarship grants to support women in their pursuit of self-sufficiency through the Amelia Earhart Scholarship Program and the Myrtle Lee Scholarship Awards; and

Whereas: The purpose of Zonta International Rose Day is to increase visibility of Zonta and promote recognition of International Women's Day and issues affecting women.

Now, Therefore, I, TIM PAWLENTY, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim, that Saturday, March 8, 2003, shall be observed as:

Zonta International Rose Day

in the State of Minnesota.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Minnesota to be affixed at the State Capitol this fifth day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand and three, and of the State the one hundred forty-fourth.

Governor Tim Pawlenty