On Friday, October 26, several Orinda Juniors and their young ghosts and goblins visited the Orinda Senior Village for a frightfully fun small parade inside their dining area. The children, dressed in their Halloween best, passed out the pumpkins that the Orinda Juniors decorated in our October general meeting. They (and their Orinda Juniors moms) enjoyed some delicious cookies and lemonade afterwards, and received a lot of festive applause as we departed. Once again, it was a nice visit to help spread some joy to the residents and their visiting families at the Orinda Senior Village.
Each year the Orinda Juniors donate supplies and a night of food and fun to children staying at the STAND! shelter for women and children facing domestic violence. This year, we brought them pizzas, salads and cupcakes for dinner; as well as comforters, shampoos and other beauty products. The highlight of the event was the Lawrence Hall of Science who brought an assortment of animals for the children to pet and learn more about. The kids had fun and even many of the moms had a good time. It was so nice to see them having fun and sharing lots of laughter.
The Orinda Juniors are pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 Youth Ink writing contest. The winners will be honored at an award ceremony at the Orinda Library auditorium on April 19, 2018, featuring guest speaker Elizabeth Perlman– the founder and Executive Director of The Intuitive Writing Project, a writing-based empowerment program for teenage girls.
First Prize, $250:
Malayna Chang, OIS, Run My Life
Second Prize, $125:
Kate Laudy, Athenian School, Eleven
Third Prizes, $75:
Jarret Zundel, OIS, Waterfall
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order) received gift certificates from Orinda Books:
- Eloise Anagnost, The Silent Angels
- Mia Balonick, My World Disturbed
- Nick Blair,Goodbye
- Devon Bradley, Yusra Mardini’s Choice
- Kaylin Chang, The World of a Rock
- Lukas Hendriks, My Sugar Bowl World
- Olivia Huynh, Clementine Grace
- Kiara Kofoed, The Man with the Black Cape
- Astrid Olsson, Sunday Morning
- Jade Peng, A New Land of Oz
The Orinda Juniors would like to give special thanks to
Our Judges:
John Inouye
Cynthia Leslie-Bole
Scott Ostler
Elizabeth Perlman
Chrissa Ventrelle
And Our Sponsors:
Orinda Community Foundation
Friends of the Orinda Library
Lamorinda Arts Council
The Orinda Junior Women’s Club had a wonderful holiday celebration last night! We collected a mountain of gifts for children at the Bay Area Crisis Nursery, packaged and sold olive oil gift sets for our holiday fundraiser, hosted our annual holiday mug exchange, dined on a wonderful potluck feast, and best of all had a fastastic evening enjoying each other’s company!
The Youth Ink writing contest was created to support the literary arts among young people in the Orinda community, Youth Ink is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who live in Orinda or attend an Orinda school.
Entries must be a story (fiction or non-fiction), poem, or other creative writing form; presented in English, and written specifically for the contest and without teacher or parent involvement. Submissions will be evaluated on content, clarity, structure, and originality.
Prompt
The writing prompt for 2018 is My World; however, you may write about anything you like—real or imaginary—adhere to the prompt or not! There is no limit to your imagination.
To Enter
Contest opens December 4, 2017 and closes on February 14, 2018. Download a Youth Ink 2018 Entry Forms, or obtain a hard copy at local schools or the Orinda Library. Contest rules and submission information can be found on the entry form.
Prizes
First Place $250, Second Place $125, and Third Place $75, and ten honorable mentions gift certificates. Winners will be notified by mail and receive their prizes at an Awards Ceremony on April 19, 2018. The ceremony is open to the public and all family and friends are invited.
Contest Sponsors
The contest is organized and run by the Orinda Junior Women’s Club, with additional financial sponsorship provided by Friends of the Orinda Library, the Lamorinda Arts Council, and Orinda Community Foundation.
The Orinda Juniors came together with all of their costumed kiddos and decorated pumpkins to bring a bit of Halloween spirit to the residents at the Orinda Village Senior Center.
Special thanks to Brigitte Meagher for corralling the little kids and making sure they got those pumpkins out. The kids were adorable, and the residents were lovely. We had all the superheroes represented, along with StormTroopers, GameBoys, ninjas, Steph Curry a few butterflies, the best snail costume ever and many more.
The pumpkin centerpieces stood the test of time (storage), and the kids loved the cookies and M&Ms.
Thanks also to our new members who attended along with their adorable kiddos. The Senior Village really was appreciative of the effort, and their Friday night dinner was off to a great start as we filed out.