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Community’s Story: Grass Valley, California
by Marilyn Nyborg
When we first launched Gather the Women on a global level
three years ago, my role was to encourage and support women
around the world. I decided if I were to be really helpful,
I would need to go through the process myself.
I live in a small rural area in the foothills of the Sierra
Mountains in Northern California. I knew we had many women
who met in circles throughout the years, and yet I also knew
that we had not created any on-going sense of connection between
those diverse groups of women.
So I began by contacting the women I knew who were so engaged.
I suggested we come together and create this day of connection,
celebration and inspiration for the week of March 8, 2003.
You can image how amazed I was to have close to 18 women at
our first meeting, and 25 on the second. Many of whom I had
never met.
It was extraordinary! Suddenly everyone showed up to do whatever
was necessary. We would say: we need chairs and 5 hands would
go up. We constantly stopped to acknowledge the experience
we were having.
We began each meeting with a check in to see where each person
was. Each meeting we spent some time in silence asking for
guidance and support… and then we’d go to work.
When we needed funds to rent a hall or get flyers made, everyone
dug into their own purses and like magic we were covered.
Some went to local business for their support and to friends
with talents we needed.
That first year, we took advantage of the global retreat
week structure offered by Gather the Women, through which
we encouraged women to meet each day for an hour or less,
to ponder specific questions and ideas leading up to the event.
Here in Grass Valley, we had as many as 40 women meeting each
day at noon. It was a wonderful deepening and preparation
for our event on March 8th.
On Saturday March 8th and the following year on Saturday,
we had over 200 women with a mix of inspirational talks, an
overview of GTW, music and dance. Lots of music! We allowed
plenty of opportunities to network with other women and organizations.
By the second year, the networking was particularly effective.
We invited local organizations to set up their tables and
to send representatives to attend the gathering . Throughout
the program we would stop and invite 2 or 3 members to stand
popcorn style and say a few words about their group and what
they needed. We worked hard to invite organizations across
the board from Soroptomists to both pro-choice and pro-life.
We emphasized our desire to connect hearts, not to change
minds. We encourage women to follow their hearts and their
passion to find the needs in the community where they could
lend a hand.
We also acknowledged women who were more quiet and preferred
to work within their families or their churches.
We made very clear that Gather the Women was a container
for women to exchange their ideas, interests and projects,
hat our role was to keep them connected energetically to
one another and beyond our own community.
We held follow up meetings for women interested in forming
circles and staying connected within our community. Circles
formed around mutual interests and needs, each following
circle protocol to be sure each woman is heard and respected.
We have also sponsored women’s art shows to encourage
our creative expression. We have supported one another’s
workshops. We have stayed connected via e-mail and for those
who do not have access to a computer, others have taken
the responsibility to contact them following an email message.
Not everyone from Grass Valley can attend the GTW International
Women’s Congress, but we can bring back to our communities
the information and experience we share.
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