Terri Petry, Publisher

The world’s gone crazy. Our local community isn’t far behind.  Take a look at the Mercer County Woman (MCW ) calendar for September & October. I think every organization in Mercer County is having an event, fundraiser or meeting in September & October!

Thankfully, our 2009 Health & Wellness EXPO is on Friday, Nov. 6th from 9am-3pm (see page 19). However, we are not off the hook because we are either sponsoring or participating in a good many of the events mentioned in this paper throughout September & October.

One of my favorite and most enjoyable fundraisers is the Gourmet Garden evening to be held Thursday, October 6th, 6-9pm hosted by the Zonta Club of Trenton.  Proceeds from this event benefit Crawford House to pay for urgent dental care for Mercer County women and will also benefit other Zonta supported community outreach programs, service projects and scholarships.

Another event that is near and dear to my heart is the Memory Walk. The walk is on Oct. 11 at ETS in Princeton.  My father passed in 2003 of early-onset Alzheimer’s at the young age of 64. My personal experience with watching my loved one disappear and then pass away will be with me forever. I certainly can’t imagine the torment he must have felt and I’m not quite sure that I can describe the daily sorrow my family and I felt as he withdrew into his unknown world.   Alzheimer’s is a disease like no other; it is fatal and it is cruel.   I support the Alzheimer’s Association and wish that you will come support them too.

The last event I will mention in my note is the Hamilton Rotary Club’s Harvest Brunch. I have been a Rotarian for 7 years now.  If you are not familiar with the organization, Rotary International is all about giving.  There are some 33,000+ local clubs with over 1.2 million members.  I belong to the Hamilton Club and each club has numerous fundraisers to raise money for local charities and for charities around the world. The Hamilton Club’s big fundraiser for the year is our Harvest Brunch, which is always the Sunday morning before Election Day in November; Sunday,  Nov. 1st this year. We serve about 1,000 scrumptious breakfasts. The menu includes custom omelets, waffles, Danish, bagel, sausage, eggs, famous cheesy potatoes, OJ & coffee. We also run a spectacular Gift Basket Auction. Come out to Nottingham Ballroom on Mercer St. in Hamilton Square and have breakfast and support a very good cause!!

I’m going to heed my own advice and take it all in stride.  There’s a lot to accomplish, but there’s plenty of time in which to do it. Walk steady, don’t run and enjoy the journey.

Looking forward,

Terri Petry, Mercer County Woman