Please join us on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30 pm for friendship, a few snacks and discussion of, Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens.

Book club has enjoyed a great year so far, and we are pleased to have welcomed a few new faces along the way.  If you have been thinking about joining but haven’t made it yet, there is still time left and we have some great titles coming up.  This month we are reading the highly popular selection, Where the Crawdads Sing--Delia Owens' debut novel that will have you glued to the book within the first few pages!
 

"For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world--until the unthinkable happens."-- Provided by publisher.

 A look ahead at our 2020 reading list:
April:  A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
May: Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout
June: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

Cindy and Sue
Book Club Co-Chairs 
Cindy Carr   carr.cynthiad@gmail.com
Sue Hatton   hncbookclub@outlook.com

Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 4th, 10:30 am-12:30 pm! Our third annual Princess and SuperheroParty is back again at Placentino Cafetorium.

Last year was such a fun and interactive event with even more princesses and superheroes than before, as well as karate demonstrations, hair salon stylists, crafts, hair chalk, nail art, temporary tattoos, singing and dancing, and Holliston’s own everyday superheroes K-9 Mattis and Officer Hagan. All of this fun and an ice cream sundae bar makes for a magically sweet day!

Christel and Donna
Princess and Superhero Co-Chairs
Christel DiPippo   christellize@yahoo.com
Donna Goyette   dgoyette@verizon.net

We are currently canvassing businesses in Holliston and the surrounding communities to support us this year. Our sponsor benefits have been revised for 2020  with the details on our webpage at https://hollistonnewcomers.org/Become-a-Sponsor. We would like to welcome and thank the businesses that have already signed up to be our 2020 Sponsors

     ● Gold - Harelick Dental and Goldfish Swim School in Milford
     ● Silver - Tink’s Magical Vacations with Donna
     ● Bronze - Blessed Beginning Preschool,
                           Dr. Preussner Aesthetic & Family  Dentistry, and
                           The Bloom Center
 
If you or someone you know would like to sponsor HNN, email Christel DiPippo, christellize@yahoo.com
 
Debbie and Christel
Sponsorship Co-Chairs
Debbie Colburn   cd.mp@verizon.net
Christel DiPippo   christellize@yahoo.com

We are delighted to bring back our beloved playgroups to this membership year! In years past, we’ve split them into two different kinds of playgroups: one weekday and one weekend playgroup. Of course, you can choose both if you would like to meet more people and are available. Personally, I have met some of my closest friends here through HNN playgroups, when I barely knew anyone in town.
 
Traditionally, on a rotating basis, these playgroups are held at a member's home, the park, or library. But it is what you make of it, and each group may decide what works best for them. It’s such a fun and casual setting, where kids can play and parents can socialize.
 
Thank you to those who replied to our Children’s Playgroups email with a group preference. It’s not too late to let us know in which one you may be interested. Please email us at HNNplaygroups@gmail.com with your preferred group, or if you did not receive the initial e-mail.
 
Happy playing,

Christel
Playgroup Coordinator
Christel DiPippo   christellize@yahoo.com

Please join us on Tuesday, February 18 at 7:30 pm for friendship, a few snacks and discussion of,
The Island of Worthy Boys by Connie Hertzberg Mayo. In the spirit of community, we read along with the library’s “One Book/One Holliston” reading program each February. The meeting location for our monthly discussion is emailed to book club members a day or two before the meeting. Copies of the books are on reserve for us at Holliston Library.

This year the library is hosting an author presentation on Thursday, Feb 13 at 7:00 pm, and you are likely to find other club members there.  Connie will share the story of Thompson's Island, the Boston Farm School and how she came to write this novel.  If you are interested, check the Facebook page to see who else may be going, or just show up to this community-wide event.

“In 1889, the Boston Farm School didn't accept boys with any sort of criminal record. Which made it the perfect hiding place for two boys who accidentally killed someone. Charles has been living alone on the streets of Boston for the last two of his twelve years. Aidan's mom can't stay sober enough to keep her job. When the boys team up, Charles teaches Aidan the art of rolling drunks in the saloon and brothel district, and life starts to look up--until a robbery goes horribly wrong one night, and they need to leave the city or risk arrest. When the boys con their way into The Boston Farm School--located on an island one mile out in Boston Harbor--they think they've cheated fate. But the Superintendent is obsessed with keeping the bad element out of his school, and as both their story and their friendship start to splinter, Charles and Aidan discover they are not as far from the law as they had hoped.”  From the publisher.

A look ahead at our 2020 reading list:

March:  Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
April:  A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
May: Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout
June: TBD-Keep those ideas coming, and we’ll make a final selection soon.

Cindy and Sue
Book Club Co-Chairs 
Cindy Carr   carr.cynthiad@gmail.com
Sue Hatton   hncbookclub@outlook.com

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!

December was filled with HNN events. The Gingerbread House Decorating Fundraiser was great fun, plus our members enjoyed a couple of social get-togethers starting with a Dinner Club of appetizers for dinner and followed by a Ladies Holiday Escape, where we enjoyed a Shop Local Yankee Swap. And many member families had a very special Visit from Santa. Thanks to all our committee members and member volunteers! Great job everyone!

All of these events can’t happen without members stepping up to volunteer on the committees. The Princess and Superhero Party committee is looking for one more member, and we still need a coordinator for the Easter Basket Project for the Food Pantry. And I’ve begun investigating another possible fundraiser - a Month of Prizes! We do have a couple of people for the committee, but since this is a  new venture, if anyone else is interested - send me an email.

We have a couple of people interested in the Touch-A-Truck committee - our largest  fundraiser. But this event cannot be held without a full committee (5-8 co-chairs). Touch-a-Truck volunteer responsibilities can be separated into four areas - Volunteer Truck Reservations, Food Truck Reservations, Event Publicity, and Day of Event Coordination. We are holding an informational meeting for anyone who is interested but wants to know more about what is entailed before they make a commitment. This meeting will be on Monday, January 20 at 7:30 pm. Email committee.newcomers@gmail.com, and location details will be emailed to you. Remember - all family members are able to volunteer on our committees and at our events.

Hope to hear from you!

Debbie
President
Debbie Colburn   president.hnn@gmail.com

We wish to thank everyone who joined us for our Appetizers for Dinner event in December! A special thank you to Katrine Giroux and Mark Fynes for hosting us in their beautiful home. The food was plentiful and delicious, and we're glad so many members could join us for a wonderful evening.
 
We are in the process of selecting dates for spring events, so please stay tuned! The next Dinner Club theme will be Breakfast for Dinner, which is always a fun night! As always, we are looking for someone to host - if you are interested, please contact Beth and/or Erica. The committee will provide you with disposable dinnerware and setup and cleanup help!
 
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
Beth and Erica
Dinner Club Co-Chairs
Beth Welch   edwma46@gmail.com
Erica Long   erilouboston@gmail.com

Please join us on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 pm for a discussion of In the Midst of Winter, by Isabel Allende.

 The location will be emailed to book club members a day or two before the meeting. Copies of the book are on reserve for HNN members at Holliston Library. 
  

In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident--which becomes the catalyst for an unexpected and moving love story between two people who thought they were deep into the winter of their lives. Richard Bowmaster--a 60-year-old human rights scholar--hits the car of Evelyn Ortega--a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala--in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes an unforeseen and far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor's house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz--a 62-year- old lecturer from Chile--for her advice. These three very different people are brought together in a mesmerizing story that moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia.-- Provided by publisher.

A look ahead at our 2020 reading list:
February- One Book/One Holliston: The Island of Worthy Boys, by Connie Hertzberg Mayo
March- Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
April- A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
May-Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout
June-TBD-Put on your thinking caps and send us some suggestions!

Cindy and Sue
Book Club Co-Chairs 
Cindy Carr   carr.cynthiad@gmail.com
Sue Hatton   hncbookclub@outlook.com

Book club will close out the year reading, Little Fires Everywhere, by Celete Ng.  Please join us on June 18th at 7:30 PM for a discussion of this book and to help select our titles for next year.  Meeting location and any other updates will be emailed to book club members a few days in advance.
 
Would you like to host our June meeting?   If yes, please reach out through Facebook or send an email to the co-chairs.
 
About the book:


 ”In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood - and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.”  ~Provided by the publisher.
 
Cindy and Sue
Book Club Co-Chairs 
Cindy Carr   carr.cynthiad@gmail.com
Sue Hatton   hncbookclub@outlook.com

Monday June 17th at 4pm
Petting Zoo & Pony Rides at Willowbrook Farm (Lil Folk Farm) 

$10 per child

This was tons of fun last year; can’t wait to do it again this year!

Please RSVP as soon as possible, as there is a minimum we have to meet to make this event successful.
 
Julianne
Children’s Activities Chair
Julianne Catlin   juliannecatlin@gmail.com