2006 MANA Spring Board Meeting

MANA Spring Board Meeting Spring 2006 - Pacific Grove, California

The Board of Director of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Front row: Kelley Daniel (Treasurer) and Abby Kinne (1st Vice President) Middle row: Sheila Simms-Watson (Midwives of Color Representative), Gera Simkins (2nd Vice President), Maggie Bennett (Region 6 Representative), Diane Holzer (President) Back row: Trinlie Wood (Secretary), Ashley Kraft (Proxy for Region 9 Representative), Elizabeth Moore (Region 5 Representative), Deren Bader (Region 3 Representative), Pam Dyer-Stewart (Region 1 Representative), Linda McHale (Region 2 Representative), Sherry DeVries (Region 4 Representative)
Asilomar is an amazing California State Park, right on the beach! The meals were all included and the grounds were so beautiful. This is the main lodge which also contains a store.	This path leads to be beach from the public areas of the grounds.
And this is the view from the building where we stayed, looking out on the ocean.
The Executive Council at Dinner Kelley, Abby, Trinlie, Gera and Diane	Gera and Sherry about to sit down to dinner.
The Board Meeting
We had a wonderful meeting room, too, with large windows looking out at the surrounding scenery.	We had a lovely table in the center of our circle with flowers and meaningful items we each brought from home.
At the front of the room was a fireplace, a chalkboard for scribing and a screen for projecting our agenda and proposals.	Here's Kelley in her "Money Hat" giving us her Treasurer's Report.
Every chance we got, we headed for the beach or walked around the grounds.	The first two days were mostly dark and rainy with brief moments when the sun shone through the clouds.
There were many young deer all over the grounds. They seemed quite tame and used to people. These two were right by our rooms.	Even the birds were tame. In fact, they were so tame we were able to hand feed them.
Driving the Coastal Highway
Tuesday night, Maggie drove us south along the coastal highway to see the sights.	We ended our tour at the Highlands Inn Restaurant for a scrumptious dinner!
The wildflowers along the coast were fabulous.	As the sun began to set, it even looked like the cloud cover was beginning to clear on the horizon.
Ashley and her dessert. The food was delicious! What a treat!
Sunshine at last!
Sure enough, Wednesday was bright and sunny and warm.	It was hard to focus on our last day of work with the beautiful weather calling us to come out and play!

	Do you ever tire of looking at the ocean waves crashing on the rocks?
The Sunset
After dinner Wednesday night, we all headed for the beach to watch the sun set. Ashley and Kelley.	Abby...glued to her camera.
Kelley, Tina, Ashley and Abby waiting for the sun to set.	Diane, Linda and Pam


We were even treated to a sea otter, diving for shellfish and then floating on his back as he cracked the shell open against his belly and then popped the treat into his mouth!

Our Closing Ceremony
After the sun set, we gathered again in our meeting room, now transformed with a fire, candle light and a gathering circle in the center of the floor.	Throughout the meeting each board member worked on decorating tags Maggie brought with markers and colored pencils. Everyone, except Linda, knew we were creating well wishes for Linda for her wedding later this month. These tags were all strung together in a long string and presented to Linda with our love.
Our closing also included making "medicine bags" filled with good energy, protection and love for all the participants in mediation. And finally, we each shared our vulnerabilities with the group. It was a very moving ceremony with not a dry eye in the house! One of the things I love most about this board is the love, support and acceptance we each find here.
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MANA Spring Board Meeting

Spring 2006 - Pacific Grove, California

The Board of Director of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA)

Asilomar is an amazing California State Park, right on the beach! The meals were all included and the grounds were so beautiful. This is the main lodge which also contains a store.

This path leads to be beach from the public areas of the grounds.

And this is the view from the building where we stayed, looking out on the ocean.

The Executive Council at Dinner

Kelley, Abby, Trinlie, Gera and Diane

Gera and Sherry about to sit down to dinner.

The Board Meeting

We had a wonderful meeting room, too, with large windows looking out at the surrounding scenery.

We had a lovely table in the center of our circle with flowers and meaningful items we each brought from home.

At the front of the room was a fireplace, a chalkboard for scribing and a screen for projecting our agenda and proposals.

Here's Kelley in her "Money Hat" giving us her Treasurer's Report.

Every chance we got, we headed for the beach or walked around the grounds.

The first two days were mostly dark and rainy with brief moments when the sun shone through the clouds.

There were many young deer all over the grounds. They seemed quite tame and used to people. These two were right by our rooms.

Even the birds were tame. In fact, they were so tame we were able to hand feed them.

Driving the Coastal Highway

Tuesday night, Maggie drove us south along the coastal highway to see the sights.

We ended our tour at the Highlands Inn Restaurant for a scrumptious dinner!

The wildflowers along the coast were fabulous.

As the sun began to set, it even looked like the cloud cover was beginning to clear on the horizon.

Ashley and her dessert. The food was delicious! What a treat!

Sunshine at last!

Sure enough, Wednesday was bright and sunny and warm.

It was hard to focus on our last day of work with the beautiful weather calling us to come out and play!

Do you ever tire of looking at the ocean waves crashing on the rocks?

The Sunset

After dinner Wednesday night, we all headed for the beach to watch the sun set. Ashley and Kelley.

Abby...glued to her camera.

Kelley, Tina, Ashley and Abby waiting for the sun to set.

Diane, Linda and Pam

We were even treated to a sea otter, diving for shellfish and then floating on his back as he cracked the shell open against his belly and then popped the treat into his mouth!

Our Closing Ceremony

After the sun set, we gathered again in our meeting room, now transformed with a fire, candle light and a gathering circle in the center of the floor.