Beginning in 2018, Northern Community Mediation (NCM) began participating
in Women Can / Women Do as a table designer for both the
Charlevoix and Petoskey Women Can / Women Do luncheons,
which are fund raisers for the Women’s Resource Center.
With the exception of a hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19,
NCM has designed a table for both events ever since.
The staff has already begun plans for the 2024
Women Can/Women Do events.
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Featured from left to right: Laura Buckingham, Karen Cole, Denise Petoskey, Jane Millar, Stephanie Brew
In collaboration with Stephanie Brew and Denise Petoskey from the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa,
the NCM staff featured our local, native American heritage. The tablecloth was in the colors of the Medicine
Wheel with black for the East, red for the South, yellow for the West and White for the North. The decorations
for the table relied upon nature itself, and all the favors for the guests had cultural meaning and significance.
What fun the NCM staff had in decorating the Women Can/Women Do table in 2022. It all started with Case
Manager Laura Buckingham’s having a life-size skeleton, and it went from there. For favors for the guests,
we found wine glasses that said “Witch’s Brew.” Added to that, each guest also got a bottle of red wine with the
label “Witch’s Brew.”
The staff was one hundred percent thrilled to be able to once again design a table for Women Can / Women Do. They were especially excited about the theme “The Teddy Bear Picnic.” A tree filled with lighted bees and a hive, a yellow gingham table cloth, and straws of honey all were a part of the festive table. The guests received three favors: 1) Sip, Pick and Pack, a beautifully illustrated book written by mediator Polly Cheney explaining pollination; 2) an adorable teddy bear; and 3) a jar of honey.
Mistelle Langen at NCM’s Table
The staff had so much fun working on Women Can / Women Do in 2018 that it was decided that NCM would again design a table for both events in 2019. The 2019 theme was Women of Note. Featured artists were Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Billie Holiday, Carole King, Cher, Dolly Parton, Lesley Gore and Rebe McIntire.
Caroline Smith & Karen Cole with the Queen of Hearts
As part of its 25th Anniversary Celebration in 2018, Northern Community Mediation (NCM) decorated one of the tables at Women Can/Women Do in both Charlevoix and Petoskey. The Charlevoix event was held at Castle Farms on Wednesday, June 13, and the Petoskey event was held at the Lange Center in Bay Harbor on Wednesday, September 12.
NCM’s theme for the table was the “Queen of Hearts.” The NCM staff is forever grateful to William of Monarch in Petoskey for his assistance in designing the table. He even loaned us his Queen of Hearts.
