Happy Holidays!

We braved the cold today at the Bel Air Christmas Celebration!

Bel Air Christmas Celebration

CM will be participating in the Bel Air Christmas Celebration this Sunday Dec 6th! Please visit our booth at Shamrock Park and join us as we celebrate the coming season!

Sunday, December 6, 2009 -- Downtown Bel Air

2:30 - 3:30 pm: Main Street Concert, Patrick Redmond Band
3:30 - 4:15 pm: Grand Processional March, Main Street and Lee Street, narrated by Teri Kranefeld
4:00 - 5:00 pm: Music, Carols, Bonfire, Hot Chocolate and Cookies in Shamrock Park. MC: Captain Jim McMahan
5:00 pm: Special Surprise Finale


Scheduled to appear:

The Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders, stilt-walkers and acrobats; marching bands from Bel Air High School, C. Milton Wright High School, John Carroll School, Joppatowne High School, Patterson Mill High School and Edgewood High School; costumed characters and mascots including Ferrous, Ripcord, Poe the Raven, The Oriole Bird, the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, McGruff the Crime Dog and Spiderman; plus Miss Maryland 2009 Brooke Poklemba, Maryland’s Junior Miss 2009 Kristi Snyder, Miss Maryland's Outstanding Teen 2009 Stephanie Meadowcroft, Mrs. Harford County 2009 Ashlee Johnston; plus musical performance groups including the Hoppin' Hawks, the Silver Eagle Cloggers, the Step 2 It Dance Academy, the TwirlTasTix, Applause of Bel Air, and the Titans Drum Corps; plus miniature horses and horse-drawn wagons, a Living Christmas Tree, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, and much more!

Food Drive: Are you Thankful?

By Marianne Handlir, Promotions Committee

Helping those in need seems to come easy for the 400+ members of Chesapeake Mommies.  Whether it’s helping a fellow mommy in need or cleaning up a local highway, our mommies have what it takes!
Beginning in October CM began collecting canned goods at all of our events. Two great outreaches have been chosen: Extreme Family Outreach of Edgewood and Ray of Hope Missions of Port Deposit.

Extreme Family Outreach, last year alone helped feed over 100 families in the local area! Let’s help both of these outreaches to exceed this number this year!  Just remember that even one can or one box can be the difference between a child going to bed hungry or a child going to bed with a full tummy and a dream that people still care.

There is a great need in this time we are living and we all have choices to make.  Please let one of your choices be to bring a canned/boxed good to one of CM’s November events.  If you have more to give, in a monetary way, please see one of CM’s managers or moderators. Don’t know who they are? Visit: http://www.chesapeakemommies.com/mommies/staff.php to find a list.
  
Since knowing is half the battle and now you know, decide how you are going to act.  Will it be through a visit to the grocery store to fill a bag? Getting into your pantry with your kids and see what you can share with others? You’d be surprised at how easy this comes to little ones when they are told they get to share their treats with others!  Or can you dig deeper and donate monetarily so that these outreaches can purchase turkeys for the families in need.
 
Remember that most people are only a paycheck away from going hungry, being on the streets or losing everything!  We never know who these people are, but it could be one of your CM sisters!

Charitable Initiatives like the food drive allow us to tangibly live out the TMN (the mommies network) Philosophy:

“We believe that, working together, mothers can change the world - one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time. ChesapeakeMommies is a connecting force, helping us each to make a difference in our own lives, in our families and in the places we call home.”

Please help us live out this philosophy and donate to the food drive. A helping hand to those in need is the perfect way to express your thankfulness this holiday season.

If you have any questions, please contact our Charitable Events Manager, Shoshannah Harvey at shoshannah@chesapeakemommies.com

Donations will be accepted at the following events, check out the CM calendar for more details!

Nov 19 – Coffee Break – Panera
Aberdeen Panera Bread
9:30-10:30 am

Nov 21 – Story Time – B&N
Bel Air Barnes & Noble:
Tollgate Marketplace
620 Marketplace Drive
Bel Air, MD 21014
10-11:30 am
(Meet in Café & proceed to Kids area)

Nov 23 – Chuck E Cheese
Bel Air Festival – Chuck E Cheese
10:30 – 12:30 pm

Nov 24 – Coffee Chat
Starbucks – Abingdon (in front of Lowes)
Constant Friendship
412-B Constant Friendship Blvd.
Abingdon, MD 21009
7:30 – 9 pm

Nov 27 – Moms Night Out
Joppatowne – Sapore Di Mare
500 Joppa Farm Rd
Joppa, MD 21085
6:30-8:30pm

Management Spotlight

Theresa, our site founder and site admin is in the spotlight this month! Lets get to know Theresa!

A little bit about Theresa's role with ChesapeakeMommies:
Theresa started the group in 2007. She was looking to connect with other moms who lived local to her in Harford & Cecil County. Finding great friends for herself and her kids is one thing about CM that kept her going as a member. Her favorite part of being site admin is looking back and seeing how far the site has come in the last two years. Membership went from one member (theresa!) to over 400!

What is your favorite CM activity/event?
Moms night out!

As the site admin, what are your duties?

• Running the basic day to day operations of the site.
• Brainstorming ideas and directing the leadership staff
• Doing reports (you would be surprised there is paperwork to be done!)
• Doing the majority of the purchasing for the site (be it promo materials to reserving spaces for site events)
• Spending a lot of time answering questions from members and helping direct them around the site and assist them in finding their right fit here at CM

What is the most challenging part of your role on the Management Team?

Juggling my time. I am a volunteer at CM and i spend about 15-20 hours each week working on the site and improving it. But i have to juggle that with a fulltime job and the needs of my husband and 3 kids as well.

What are some goals you have for the site?

• To see the site reach 500 members!
• To see the site become a real resource for the members of our communities
• To see our charitable work expand!

On the home front and outside of CM, Theresa works full time as a home daycare provider and raising three boys with her husband Jeff.  They are expecting their fourth child, a girl in March. For Theresa, the best piece of parenting advice she received was to trust her instincts. After moving to Maryland in 1999, Theresa moved to Abingdon from White Marsh in 2001. Before that, she lived in northern Virgina where she went to high school and college.


Some fun facts about Theresa:

1. Favorite Color: green
2. Favorite Hobby: reading, its an escape
3. One thing you like to do to relax: get on cm and check on whats going on!
4. Favorite family activity: going on vacation!
5. Favorite place to “get-away”: its a tie between the outer banks and disney world
6. Favorite Book/Author: Nicholas Sparks. love his books and them being based in the outer banks is nice!
7. Favorite Music/Bands/Song: bare naked ladies

Favorite Motto/Quote:
having 3 boys i always remember this quote:

"Men are what their mothers made them."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is there anything else you’d like to tell our mommies?

I remember my first cm event a dinner out. I was nervous and scared just like most moms are there first time. Questions like, what if they don't know what I look like, what if no one shows up, what if I dont get along with them... ran through my head. But in the end it didn't matter. We all had fun and we all had 2 things in common. We were CM members and we all had the common connection of motherhood!

 

Moderator: Infertility Support Group
Job Description

Forums:

• Keep an eye on your forum and the boards in general.

• Please move any posts that do not belong (i.e. moms selling items, etc.).

• If you need help with a problem post, please use the Blue Card system. There is no need to simply draw attention to a "potential" hot topic. If you're concerned about the post, keep an eye on it and if it requires moderator/management attention, then "blue card" it at that time.

• If you see a thread getting heated, please try to put out the "flames" by reminding members about respect and support for each other. Please do not fuel the fire. If at all possible, PM the poster of your concerns and possibly ask them to change their post. If a post in your forum is out of control and no one from management is around, lock the thread.

• If you see a post that breaks the Board Rules or learn of members who are violating our Board Rules (on the forums, in PM's or off the board altogether) please let us know. There are many cases where one member was getting away with something for far too long because not enough members thought to let us know.

Support Groups:

• You receive and approve ALL new member requests for your group. You are responsible for approving new members and welcoming them to your group.
  

Events: 

• Support Group Moderators are required to plan/host 2event(s) per month

If you are interested in applying for this position please contact a site admin:
Theresa (Theresa)
BelairHolly (Holly)
Beansauntie (Shannon)

This position will remain open for applications until October 20th

Food Drive Starts Oct 12

All Events thru October 12 - November 30 are thankful playdates and we will be collecting donations for food baskets. The food will be divided between Extreme Family Outreach in Edgewood and Ray of Hope Missions in Port Deposit. Please contact a Moderator/Manager if you have any questions.

Are you looking for a new job opportunity?

Do you have great organizational and people skills? Are you looking for a part-time or full-time job that is flexible and fun that helps moms in your community? If so, The Mommies Network wants to hire someone just like you!

TMN Sponsorship Account Executive
This is a TMN position. There are no membership pre-requisites required to apply.
The Mommies Network is growing and as part of that growth, we need some good people in your market to help with sponsorships.

The Sponsorship Account Executive should be organized, have great time management skills, feel comfortable contacting local business and building relationships to find sponsors for the local site. This can be accomplished through phone calls, emails, and face to face appointments.

SAEs will be compensated with bonuses based upon successful sponsorship contracts and there are tremendous growth opportunities as the network continues to grow. If you are interested please send your resume to Rachelle Watkins: rachelle (at) themommiesnetwork (dot) org.