The first meeting of the new calendar year was held on January 21.
Members met for an informal lunch at Shiloh’s Kitchen before moving to the Texana Room of the Farquhar Building.
President Carolyn Strnadel introduced the day’s speaker, Ms.
Gretchen Bernabei, a local author and hostess for writing retreats. She is a former San Antonio language arts teacher who has written several books concerning techniques to aid teachers in directing students to write more easily.
After applying tech structures from fairy tales, fables, poetry and from masters of American History, the students test scores improved, even those who previously would not even try to write. Rather than the five paragraph essay, Ms. Bernabei believes that the handwritten letter is much more personal, and she developed a structure that can help create a message from the heart – that with a technique of prompts, most everyone can produce a written message that is both informative and moving.
The EBLC ladies followed those same techniques to write and then read letters with the following content: a grandmother’s love for her granddaughter, a love for a doll blanket made by a loved one, an apology to a good friend for not staying in touch, a letter to a best friend from childhood both of whom have cancer fears, and one to a favorite fourth grade teacher written from a long career teacher herself. All realized how quickly handwritten, personal letters can be produced and how effective their content can be.
During the business portion of the meeting President Strnadel let members know that fliers and registration forms for Trivia Night are now available for distribution. Everyone needs to be aware of New Date for Trivia Night: MARCH 27, 2026
