I'm excited for HNN 2025!  We had a successful 2024 of socializing, grant fundraising and civic engagement and look forward to enjoying more fun events with you this year.  To start the year off, don't forget to bring your little ones to the January playgroup, and if you have an idea for a unique daytime event for families this year, let us know at the January 22nd General Meeting!  We'll help you plan and market the event.  If you want an event for couples, be on the look-out for the details on our February social event, coming soon.  Want a moment to socialize on your own, then join us at a cozy book club meeting this Winter!  There are so many ways to be involved in HNN, and I wish it is as fulfilling for you as it has been for me and many others! Once again, Happy New Year!

Annual Board Elections are Coming Soon!

As we ring in the new year and look forward to another fantastic year of community building and friendship, it's time to think about the future leadership of our cherished organization. We are excited to announce our upcoming annual board elections, where we'll be selecting dedicated members to guide our club forward. While elections take place in May, now is the time to consider the opportunity to help continue to shape and guide HNN.

Positions Open for Election:

• President
• Vice President
• Vice President of Membership
• Secretary
• Treasurer

Each role offers a unique opportunity to shape our organization's future while working alongside fellow community members who share your passion for making Holliston a more connected place to live.

Why Consider Running?

• Make a meaningful impact in your community
• Build lasting relationships with neighbors
• Help shape the future direction of our organization
• Work alongside a passionate team

No prior board experience is necessary – just enthusiasm and a willingness to contribute to our vibrant community. Current board members will be happy to answer any questions about the responsibilities of each position and provide guidance during the transition.

Are you interested in running or want to learn more? Please contact Justin by April 15.

Your participation strengthens our organization. Whether you're a longtime member or recently joined, we encourage you to consider this rewarding opportunity to serve your community. Together, we can continue making Holliston Newcomers & Neighbors an outstanding organization that welcomes and connects our community members.

Children's Playgroups are in full swing and it has been great to see some new faces at our recent gatherings. We hope to see you at our next playgroup on Sunday, January 26th from 3:00-5:00. Please RSVP to Jackie for the address and details.

Happy New Year! If one of your 2025 resolutions is to do more reading, you’ve come to the right place. (Although you are more than welcome to attend Book Club if you haven’t finished [or even started] the book—Book Club is mainly an opportunity for old and new friends to get together and chat and snack.) We hope you will join us for our first book of the new year on Wednesday, January 15, at 7:30 pm, when we will be discussing Shelley Noble’s Tiffany Girls, “a gripping historical novel about the real-life ‘Tiffany Girls,’ a fascinating and largely unknown group of women artists behind Tiffany’s most legendary glassworks.”

The Holliston Public Library reserves several copies of each book for us—they can be found (typically about a month ahead of each meeting) on the shelves along the windows on the right as you enter the library; ask at the circulation desk for the HNN book. For those who want to get a head start on next month, our February book will be whatever the library designates as the “One Book, One Holliston,” but as of this writing, no book has been chosen yet. We hold most meetings in person but also have a Zoom option if you can’t attend. Please contact Debbie if you have any interest in hosting a meeting.

About the book:

It’s 1899, and Manhattan is abuzz. Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World’s Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women’s Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world’s finest artist in glass.

Known as the “Tiffany Girls,” these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of  Tiffany’s extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit. Brought together by chance, driven by their desire to be artists in one of the only ways acceptable for women in their time, these “Tiffany Girls” will break the glass ceiling of their era and for working women to come.

HNN will be closing out this fabulous year of Club activities & events with our annual Holiday Yankee Swap on Dec. 19th.  This has always been a favorite event for the ladies of our club, so if you haven't already made it a tradition to attend please join us this year. Then, in February, stay tuned for details on a fun night out for couples. Lastly, if you have an idea for a unique & easy day-time event for families, let us know!  We'll help you plan and market the event.  This Club is yours, and I wish it will be as fulfilling for you as it has been for me and many others!  Happy New Year!

We are so excited to hold our annual Holiday Yankee Swap and Craft Party once again at Studio on the Hill, a magical quilt studio in Holliston. We’ll do a fun craft project first and then exchange gifts. Please bring $15 cash for the craft and a wrapped gift (valued at $25) for the gift exchange. Due to the size limitation of the barn, this is a 'ladies-only' event.

• Date: THURSDAY, December 19 at 7 pm
• Location: 1038 Washington St., Holliston
• RSVP to Timea

Hope to see you there!

We had a great discussion of our November book, Three Things About Elsie. Thanks to Sue for hosting. We take the month of December off, but we hope you will join us for our January meeting on Wednesday, January 15, at 7:30 pm. We will be discussing Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble. It is “a gripping historical novel about the real-life ‘Tiffany Girls,’ a fascinating and largely unknown group of women artists behind Tiffany’s most legendary glassworks.” Please don’t feel that you shouldn’t attend if you haven’t finished (or even started) the book—Book Club is mainly an opportunity for old and new friends to get together and chat and snack. All are welcome—we would love to have some new members join our group.

The Holliston Public Library reserves several copies of each book for us—they can be found (typically about a month ahead of each meeting) on the shelves along the windows on the right as you enter the library (now behind the circulation desk). We meet the third Wednesday of each month. We hold most meetings in person but also have a Zoom option if you can’t attend. Please contact Debbie if you have any interest in hosting a meeting.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, we will be reading the One Book One Holliston choice (still TBD) from the Holliston Public Library in February. Then, subject to availability, our books choices will be:

• March—The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann by Virginia Pye
• April—The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
• May—The Cliffs by J. Courtnay Sullivan
• June—Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

November is upon us and members may be ready for some cozy play-time with their kids at the HNN playgroup or cozy nights with friends at the HNN book club.  But don't settle in just yet!  Our COMEDY NIGHT Fundraiser is on Nov. 8th at Anthony's on the Green, hosted by Holliston's own Paul Gillespie.  It sold out last year, so don't wait to get your tickets!  I also hope you choose to participate in our annual Thanksgiving Meals for Seniors, assembling and distributing Thanksgiving meal kits to Holliston Seniors before the holiday.  There are so many small ways that our members can meet new friends and spend time with old ones through our three primary efforts: social, civic and fundraising.  For example, some easy ways to get to know members is to come to a book club meeting, assemble meals for Thanksgiving Meals for Seniors, come to a fundraising event and introduce yourself, even host a small social activity of your choice when it's convenient for you.  We'll help you market your activity and can reimburse you for reasonable expenses.  HNN members love to connect, just let us know how we can help you achieve it!

Children's Playgroups are in full swing and it was great to see some new faces at our October group. We will meet this month and then take December off for the holidays.

Save the date for our next playgroup on Sunday, November 17th from 3:30-5:30pm. Please RSVP to Jackie to receive the address or with any questions. 

Let's get together & play!

We had a great discussion of our October book, Absolution, by Alice McDermott. Thanks to Deb for hosting. We hope you will join us for our November meeting on Wednesday, November 20, at 7:30 pm. We will be discussing Three Things About Elsie, by Joanna Cannon. Please don’t feel that you shouldn’t attend if you haven’t finished (or even started) the book—Book Club is mainly an opportunity for old and new friends to get together and chat and snack. All are welcome—we would love to have some new members join our group.

The Holliston Public Library reserves several copies of each book for us—they can be found (typically about a month ahead of each meeting) on the shelves along the windows on the right as you enter the library (now behind the circulation desk). We take the month of December off from Book Club, but for those who want to get a head start on January’s book, we will be reading Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble. We meet the third Wednesday of each month (except no meeting in December). We hold most meetings in person but also have a Zoom option if you can’t attend. Please contact Debbie if you have any interest in hosting a meeting.

About the book:

Eighty-four-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, she thinks about her friend Elsie and wonders if a terrible secret from their past is about to come to light. If the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly like a man who died sixty years ago?

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Three Things About Elsie “breathes with suspense, providing along the way piercing, poetic descriptions, countless tiny mysteries, and breathtaking little reveals…a rich portrait of old age and friendship stretched over a fascinating frame” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). This is an “amusing and heartbreaking” (Publishers Weekly) story about forever friends on the twisting path of life who come to understand how the fine threads of humanity connect us all.