The branch does much good for kids in need
Winter is the perfect time for reading
A new year of books to read and discuss
A8 January 2025 Charbonneau Villager
This photo includes past and current presidents of the organization .
Boys & Girls Aid
By CATHY LOFFINK
The branch does much good for kids in need
The Cypress Branch Auxiliary of the Boys & Girls Aid is a group of individuals who sincerely want to help improve the well-being of children in need . Much
LOFFINK of the branch ’ s good work may go unnoticed at times in the community , yet its commitments are strong and enduring . For 35 years Boys & Girls Aid has dedicated time and energy to fulfilling the needs of others .
Along with the role of trying to educate others about the work of Boys & Girls Aid , it also plan fundraising events like “ The Dinner ,” provides assistance to the youth in residential care and creates special
Founding members pose for a photo .
COURTESY PHOTOS
moments for them . For the holidays , the branch puts together sports bags for each youth and bakes them cookies . Throughout the year it donates food , personal items and cleaning supplies to help maintain the resident ’ s pantry .
At our November luncheon we celebrated our 35th anniversary and part of the celebration was honoring our founders and past presidents . They include , but are not limited to , Mike Balter , Carol Hardwick , Camille Stubberfield , Bobbie Fisher , Jackie Peters , Betty Matthison , Helen Heestand and Jan Anderson . Thank you to all of them for the leadership and guidance in the past .
The highlight of our November celebration was a fabulous video created by Elaine Swyt that showcased the events and people over the past 35 years that helped make the Cypress Auxiliary successful .
All this good work is done by donations and membership support . We urge you to help and join as a member or participate by attending “ The Dinner .” Everything you do is appreciated .
Nonfiction Book Club
By DAVE MAUK
Winter is the perfect time for reading
The winter chill means it ’ s a good time to cozy-up indoors with a book . Our nonfiction book group chose biographer Walter Isaacson ’ s ‘ The Code Breaker ’ as January ’ s read and , at 500 pages , we ’ re glad to have had two full months to get through it !
When a press release claims that its subject is ‘ rewriting the code of life ,’ while noting that the person doing this won a Nobel Prize , it ’ s means that a special literary journey is worth the many pages . We might not understand it but we ’ re aware that DNA is the biological roadway for genetic information to travel within and between living organisms .
Charbonneau Book Club
By KRISTIE KEIL
A new year of books to read and discuss
In December , the annual end-of-year meeting included lunches ordered from Lux Sucre , paid for by members and cookies brought by attendees . We also discussed “ A Redbird Christmas ” by Fannie Flagg . From the book jacket , “ With the same incomparable style and
Imagine the impact of being able to edit that information for rerouting the roadway to then arrive at new destinations and the complexity of discovering the code for changing DNA structure in living organisms to attain different outcomes . CRISPR is the innovation enabling this . Its ability to affect change in DNA means to medicine and science what silicon and the microchip has meant to technology . This moment for life science may well mark the before and after tipping point of revolutionary change , like what happened in telecommunications and technology with the advent of the digital age .
As with all human history , there are people forging the new pathways , inventing the new things , laboring in laboratories , conducting experiments and crashing into deadness until the numbers tumble together in a formula that provides that answer to an ageless question . Knowledge travels in books , reports , white papers ,
warm , inviting voice that have made her beloved by millions of readers far and wide , New York Times bestselling author Fannie Flagg has written an enchanting Christmas story of faith and hope for all ages that is sure to become a classic .” In the story , the good works of the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society are legendary .
The January title is “ Jacqueline in Paris ” by Ann Mah . Building off research Mah conducted for a travel essay , she vividly imagines the inner life and comingof-age adventures of one of America ’ s most beloved classrooms , labs and minds transferring information to others . The central figure in this accumulation and transfer of knowledge about editing DNA is Jennifer Doudna . Her journey from being fascinated with the building blocks of life to going inside those molecules for deeper understanding and emerging with a startling innovation that can change human evolution is an adventure story .
Biographer Walter Isaacson leads us down the path Doudna takes on her quest in a systematic manner , where he uses chapters as building blocks for telling this story of complicated science so we can follow it . It ’ s a good story and well told .
If you are interested in hearing a group of novices talk about the book , please consider dropping into our meeting in the fireplace room of the clubhouse at 1:30 p . m ., Monday , Jan . 13 . Also , we will select titles for what we ’ ll be reading for the next few months .
icons and presents her in a new light for readers . She was Jacqueline Bouvier then , before she became known as Jackie . It ’ s historical fiction .
At the Jan . 14 meeting , we will choose the books for February through June . The $ 5 annual dues collection begins then too . The June meeting is when we will choose books for the remainder of the year .
We meet the second Tuesday of each month in the Wilson Room at the Activity Center from 1-2:30 p . m . Feel free to join our convivial group at any time .
Questions ? Email khkeil @ prodigy . net .