2022 – THe Guild Turns 25!
The year begins with a special 25th Anniversary Celebration to kick-off the new year. At January’s guild meeting, our program commemorates the official formation of the Guild in January 1997. The program will be complete with door prizes, and a tribute to honor our co-founders Phyllis Bates and Colleen Davis.
Don’t miss the January 4th meeting. Pre-register and zoom in promptly! It’s been an amazing, productive, and busy five years to get us to our 25th year!
Here is an overview of our Guild’s activities since we last celebrated our 20th anniversary.
Back in September 2018, the Guild moved its long-time monthly meeting location from the San Dieguito Methodist Church in Encinitas to Temple Solel, also in Encinitas. The Temple’s spacious meeting room met the demand of the growing number of members attending our meetings.
Then, beginning January 2019, the monthly newsletter which was formerly sent as a PDF document, was transitioned to a monthly email (later dubbed the “News Blast”) with links to Knitters News on the website. Our monthly programs continued to attract member attendance and to enrich our knowledge. Community knitting seemed to be at an all-time high.
2020 rolled around and then … the pandemic hit.
- Our last in-person meeting was held in March 2020.
- Besides the canceling of in-person meetings, we saw the cancellation of the August 2020 retreat and our annual festive Holiday Luncheon.
- We regrouped and began meeting again virtually via Zoom by that August 2020.
- The Program committee worked hard to bring us speakers and workshops via Zoom!
- The 2020 Stash Sale was rescheduled to November, moved outdoors to Lou Wanna Katz’s backyard, and 50 attendees made it a hugely successful sale!
- Our ‘Show and Share’ went virtual (links to photo galleries can be found here) and our website became critical in helping members to connect.
2021 continued to challenge us as new officers and new committee chairs stepped in.
- The new Program Committee took on the daunting task of securing speakers for our Zoom meetings, successfully bringing in several speakers from Europe that we might not have had the pleasure to meet in person.
- All 2021 meetings were held virtually along with the well-attended speakers’ workshops. Credit also goes to Karen des Jardins, our resident “zoom-master” for the success of the zoom events.
- In 2021, membership numbers rose slightly over the prior year and the zoom meetings garnered several new members from all over the USA and even Canada.
- Although the 2021January retreat was canceled, by late summer with vaccinations in place, the August retreat took place much to the delight of the attendees.
- The 2021 Stash Sale, once again held outdoors, was a bonanza sale that astonishingly brought in the highest proceeds ever seen.
- Our webmaster, Kerry Nare, produces the monthly News Blast which continues to be essential in keeping us in communication with one another. She diligently provides us with constant news updates on our website.
- Members still submitted their finished projects to our virtual ‘Show and Share”.
- 2021 concluded with the happy return of the HOLIDAY LUNCHEON. Although there were fewer attendees than in the past, all attendees were vaccinated, the Fashion Show participants were exceptional, and the beloved Sock Monkey once again made an appearance. The Holiday Lunch Committee outdid themselves on acquiring donations for the Opportunity Drawing. They delivered a splendid and successful event and even handed out several door prizes.
Although no one knows what the future holds as to when we will be able to return to in-person meetings, we are lucky to connect with each other via the monthly zoom meetings and the through the guild’s website. We’ll do our best to promote the craft of knitting through workshops, monthly meetings and informal knitting groups. Onwards to the future!
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The Guild turns 20!
The Guild celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding at the monthly meeting on January 10, 2017, almost 20 years to the day after the very first meeting. In recognition of 20 continuous years of service in Encinitas, the City of Encinitas and Mayor, the Honorable Catherine S. Breakspear, presented the Mayor’s Certificate of Recognition to the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild. On behalf of the membership, co-founders Phyllis Bates and Colleen Davis accepted the honor from City councilwoman, Tasha Boerner Horvath. (Click on the certificate to read.)
1997-2017
The first meeting of potential members was held on Wednesday, September 25, 1996, at the home of Phyllis Bates. Organized as a group, two more meetings were held that year at La Colonia Recreation Center in Solana Beach. Take a look at the notice announcing the third meeting! The first official meeting was January 7, 1997, when Colleen Davis was elected president and program chair. Phyl Bates was elected secretary, treasurer and mailer of meeting notices. Dues were set at twelve dollars for the year. The 1997 roster included 19 names. Of those charter members, Colleen and Phyllis are the only ones listed in the current roster. Read Guild Newsletters from 1997 here! At the end of 1998, the Guild had grown to the extent that the members decided to elect four officers.
The Guild continued to grow and evolve. Chairpersons were chosen to fulfill various functions beginning in June 2009. We add positions as needed to satisfy the mission and goals of the Guild. As Guild membership grew, opportunities to knit together outside of the general meeting were added. The first sub-group, meeting in May of 1999, was called the HMO (Help Me Out). By October of that year the “Clinic”, RN (Rather Normal) and MD (Master Design, now AKG) groups were added to allow members closer contact with others with similar interests and skill levels. Members Teaching Members (MTM) sessions began in April 2007. Quarterly Finishing Sessions were added as an impetus to get more members to complete projects to show at Guild meetings. Holiday parties began in 1998 with a pot luck luncheon and by 2000 the event was moved to a restaurant for festivities. In 2001 the holiday fashion show was added and the celebration was held at a country club for the first time. Colleen Davis and Phyllis Bates’ vision has grown into the present day San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild.
What’s in a name?
Our Guild was named the North Coast Knitters at the first official meeting in 1997. In each succeeding year the number of members increased. Knitters from beyond Encinitas, in fact, from all over San Diego county joined. In 2009 we changed our name to reflect the geographical diversity of our membership. We became the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild. Today we welcome members from all over California as well as out-of-state. Our new domain name www.SanDiegoKnitters.com makes it easy for everyone–including visitors and newcomers to San Diego–to find us. Our Guild name, however, remains the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild.
Guild Past Presidents
Colleen Davis (1997-2007)
Thea Lazarevic (2007-2008)
Barbara Levin (2009-2010)
Mar Gee Farr (2011-2012)
Sheila Kirschenbaum and Stacy Mann (2013-2014)
Liz Knapp (2015-2016)
Mary Brown and Laura Brubaker (2017-2018)
Tina Rounsavell (2019-2020)
