We were so proud of our accomplishments in 2013 that we just had to share them with a letter to our new Advisory Board! Read the full letter below.
Dear Advisors:
2013 has been one of excitement and planning for poets in our area. In January of this year, interested members of our poetry community came together to consider establishing a poetry center for our area. Enthusiasm for the idea was high, so it was decided that we would proceed in bringing a new organization to our area, one dedicated to promoting poetry in Stanislaus County and Stanislaus County through poetry. And so the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center was born.
Since last January, we’ve met every month, creating vision and mission statements, becoming established with the Stanislaus Community Foundation, and crafting articles of incorporation and bylaws as we move toward establishing nonprofit status. We began accepting donations in August under the auspices of the Stanislaus Community Foundation and have established the beginnings of an ongoing fund to help us achieve our goals. We’ve also established a board and a slate of officers, as well as the advisory board of which you are a hugely appreciated member. In addition we have created a Facebook page, a website (www.mostpoetry.org), and established an email address (info@mostpoetry.org).
In 2013, we also began to establish ourselves as a vital part of our community, giving workshops to second graders at Orchard Elementary, giving readings at senior centers including Standiford Place, the Stratford, and the Modesto Senior Center, and organizing “The Stanislaus Poem,” a community, collaborative poem celebrating life in our county. We’ve also established a new reading series in addition to the Second Tuesday Reading Series held at the Barkin’ Dog Grill in Modesto. The new series is held quarterly at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock and features four poets per reading. In addition to all this, we’ve also established connections with Community Hospice, MJC’s Quercus Review Press, Stanislaus County Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and the Modesto Art Museum. We hope to bring poetry to their various constituencies in a ways that help other realize the power of poetry. As you can see, we have jumped in with both feet and we could not be more excited to continue our work into the new year.
As 2014 opens ahead of us, our calendar is already filling up. We will publish “The Stanislaus Poem,” our first MoSt publication this spring; the MoSt Poetry Festival, a day-long series of workshops and readings is slated for February 8, and we look forward to continuing readings and workshops at senior centers and schools. We are especially excited about establishing regular poetry workshops in the afterschool program of the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. We also hope to hold our first annual gala benefit sometime this spring.
As we contemplate all this, we appreciate even more that you’ve agreed to be on our advisory board and join us on this journey. If you have thoughts or ideas you feel we should consider, we are always happy to hear them. We look forward to a vibrant and poetry-filled 2014 in Stanislaus County, and we wish you all the best. Thank you so much for your support of the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center.
Sincerely,
Gillian Wegener
President, Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center