Fallas is nearly upon us! The IWCV will be up and running, although perhaps not as fast nor as frequently as in other months. We will not have a luncheon this month (so difficult to find restaurants that can accommodate a large group during Fallas), but the Fellows of the IWCV will, and the women of the IWCV are very welcome to join the men and enjoy a delicious Spanish meal with free flowing drinks (see below for details).
Speaking of luncheons, if you are interested in finding new restaurants with some very good food to eat, please consider joining our IWCV Luncheon Committee! Right now there are only two of us who get to find the restaurants, taste the food, make the reservations, and bask in the appreciation of our members who get to enjoy the luncheons. If you think this might be up your alley, please email Jane at pres.iwcvalencia@gmail.com for details and to find out exactly what’s involved. Thank you all!
Read on to find out what’s happening this coming month, and don’t forget to check the IWCV website (www.iwc-valencia.com) periodically as events are added all the time!)
Upcoming Events
Bloom Gallery Art Show – 1 through 6 March. While this is not an IWCV event, several of our IWCV members (and a spouse!) will be displaying their artwork at Bloom Gallery, Carrer Lluis Oliag 17. Come see some fabulous artwork by Susan Kaplan, Gary Kirkpatrick, Cynthia Marin, and more! The gallery is open all day. On Tuesday 5 March refreshments will be served all day and there will be a cocktail hour between 7pm and 9pm.
First Tuesday Coffee AT A NEW VENUE! Tuesday 5 March, 10:30am indoors at Entretiempos, C/Angel Guimerà 47 (at the corner of C/Buen Orden). Open to the women of Valencia, both IWCV members and those who have not officially joined us yet. There is no need to sign up in advance; just stop by for a cuppa and a chat! Our new venue is very easy to get to – just take any bus or metro to Angel Guimerà and walk towards the Abastos.
Fellows of the IWCV Bi-monthly Lunch – Tuesday 5 March, drinks and mingling at 1 pm, lunch at 2 pm. Open to everyone! Restaurante Secreto de Ana, C/ de la Vall de la Ballestera, 6, Campanar, 46015. For only €25 per person, you get appetizers, drinks, entrée, desert and coffee.You cannot sign up for this lunch on the IWCV website. To register, please contact Cary Hepler at carey.hepler@gmail.com or WhatsApp +34 613 39 56 39. You can either pay in cash, or you can send the money to Carey's Bizum account.
IWCV joins the International Women’s Day Parade in Valencia – Friday 8 March, meet at 6:30pm at Jardines de Glorieta, at the Monumento de Pintor Muñoz Degrain. Open to IWCV members, their partners/spouses, guests, and Fellows of the IWCV. Spain is known for having some of the largest women's marches in Europe. All over the country, people dress in purple (the official colour of International Women's Day) and take to the streets to march for women's rights and greater gender equality. The march begins at Porta de la Mar at 19:00. Visit this event on the website to see the route.
Come show your support for women’s rights as you march behind the IWCV banner! The first 50 to arrive for this event will receive a free purple bandana to display their support. For complete details and to sign up, please click here: IWCV Joins the International Women's Day Parade | IWC - Valencia
ANNUAL FALLAS TOUR – CASAL DEL PILAR, Wednesday 13 March, 11 am at Casal del Pilar, C/ de Maldonado, 30, Ciutat Vella. Open to IWCV members + 1 guest maximum. Come join us for a rare treat during Fallas! We will tour the Falla, and after the tour there will be a fiesta at the community center. This event is full, but for details and to join the wait list click here.
REAL ESTATE IN VALENCIA SERIES, SESSION 4: THE BUYING PROCESS, Thursday 21 March, 3:45pm at Rebecca Cabo’s offices. Come learn about the buying process in Valencia from our own real estate expert, member Rebecca Cabo! Open to IWCV members, their partners/spouses and Fellows of the IWCV. For complete details and to sign up, click here: Real Estate in Valencia Series - Session 4: The Buying Process | IWC - Valencia
PUNCH NEEDLE RUG WORKSHOP, Friday 5 April, 10am to 1pm. In this workshop, we can all try our hand at being a hooker – a rug hooker, that is! During this 3-hour workshop you will learn all the basics of hooking a rug with a Punch Needle to make your own embroidered rug. Open to IWCV members, their partners/spouses, and Fellows of the IWCV. For complete details and to register, go to Punch Needle Rug Workshop | IWC - Valencia
Yes, Pilates Can Help Your Knees! A Special Class withLeyna Noel, Friday 12 April at Noon. Do you have knee pain? Ever wonder if there is a surefire way to alleviate it in a way that doesn’t hurt? Can your knees get stronger and better as the years pass? The answer is yes! Come to this class to find out how. The class is open to IWCV members, their partners/spouses, and Fellows of the IWCV. For details and to register, click here: Yes, Pilates can Help Your Knees! - A Special Class with Leyna Noel | IWC - Valencia
Please remember that you cannot cancel your place at any IWCV activity by clicking a link on our website. It will not work! Instead, please email pres.iwcvalencia@gmail.com so that we can cancel your place and give the next person on the waitlist a chance to attend. Thank you for understanding.
MEMBERSHIP
Janine Forbes, VP Membership
We continue to encourage all existing active members to “spread the word” about our wonderful group. I have reached out to some of my Ladies group networks along with the relocation companies I have personal connections with such as Valencia Property and Globexs. They are often looking for ways of helping new arrivals to Valencia settle in and making a network of friends which is very important, so they will refer us to their clients.
I now have Admin rights to add members to the Social and Event chats. If you are a new member and want to join one or more of our WhatsApp groups, please contact me at janine_forbes@hotmail.com.
I would like to organize a new members coffee specifically for members who have joined in the last 3 Months, possibly after Fallas?
Input from Ambassadors
We have an active and enthusiastic group of Ambassadors. We probably have enough at present so don’t need more but I encourage new members to take up the offer of an ambassador! You will learn so much about your own neighborhood, Valencia in general, and the IWCV – plus you might just make a new friend in the process! Contact me if you'd like to meet the ambassador for your neighborhood.
We had 8 new members in February
Alessandra Lopez - American
Bath Gauper - American
Catherine Guillot -Canadian
Meg Keough - American
Rakhee Jain - American
Rebecca Zimmerman - American
Sarah Arditti - American/Spanish
Veronique Cassell - French
Happy Birthday to our March birthday members!
Anna Rivera
Carmen Rieff
Gail Gillis
Inez Reser
Jean Freed
Kay Gerken
Linda Kearney
May Leong
Missy Anobile
Patricia Cooper
Patricia Murray
Rosemary McGrath
Sirkka-Liisa Kaila
Taryna Hughes
Thao Cam
Charities & Fundraising
Pauline Fitzgerald, Charities Chair
In March we continue to focus on the needs of our three charities. For those of you who wish to make a private donation, the bank details of our charities are as follow. Please ensure that you note IWCV in the reference box.
Proyecto VivirES75 3159 0066 9828 5328 2123
Casa Caridad1. La Caixa: ES47 2100 0736 0022 0061 23102. Banco Sabadell: ES75 0081 7352 4300 0105 7311
Casa RonaldES27 0081 1518 9300 0150 8057
Charity Coordinators
I am pleased to announce that we have two new coordinators:
Casa Caridad - Marta Slomiak
Marta is Polish and moved to Valencia in October 2023 from Cambridge UK. She was a volunteer in UK and was involved with various groups. She is looking forward to working with Casa Caridad.
Proyecto Vivir- Rosemary McGrath
Rosemary has been in Valencia for some time now and she is keen to get involved to make a difference. She has a passion for Proyecto Vivir's cause and looks forward to working with the the team.
Myra Deuel, our former Proyecto Vivir Coordinator, has taken on the new fundraising coordinator position. A big thank you to Myra for her hard work with Proyecto Vivir during the past year, and for her willingness to continue helping our charities help the less fortunate in Valencia.
And as always, thank you ladies, for your continued support. Your generosity shows no bounds and this was again evident when so many IWCV members stepped up to the mark to support the victims of the recent fire tragedy in Valencia. What a wonderful group of ladies you are!
Activities
Susan Burke March, VP - Activities
In February, we had some interesting events, including the Civil War Sites tour with Brenda Stein and David of Ars Magnus; Rebecca Cabo, our member real estate expert, presented twice, including one session about Renting in Valencia and another very interesting one with a guest expert tax attorney about real estate taxes in Valencia. February concluded with two special events - an exclusive English language tour of the new Centro de Arte Hortensia Herrero on the 28th and, on leap year day 29th February, we learned about the opportunity to spend one or two special weeks as summer students in Cambridge, England.
Ongoing Events
All the following ongoing activities have private WhatsApp groups to keep members informed of what’s happening with that particular activity. Please visit the Activities page of the website to learn more about each activity.
Please send a WhatsApp message to the coordinator if you want to join a particular group; I've included the contact numbers below.
Mah Jong Mondays
Contact info: Jane Buck – forjbuck@aol.com)
Spanish and Coffee
Contact Info: Mary Reeves, +34 686 50 20 90
Stitches and Yarns
Contact Info: Cathy Cleaver, +34 635 97 89 98
Women Who Walk
Contact Info: Liz Humphreys +34 637 74 89 90
Board Games and More
Contact info: Ann Linton - +1 (312) 208-8666
Chicas de Libros
Contact: Ruth Ann Hepler, ruthannhepler@gmail.com or What’s App +34 613 395 458
Do you have ideas for other activities? Our members make this work, and you, our members, have so much talent to share! If you have any ideas, please contact Susan March Whatsapp +34 651858463 or
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Susan Kaplan, Member-at-Large
Looking for someplace to eat? Check out Amanda’s recommendations for March on our website under “Restaurant Reviews” Restaurant reviews | IWC - Valencia.
Or, are you looking for something to cook? Take a look at the mouth-watering recipes submitted by your fellow IWCV members at IWCV Recipes | IWC - Valencia
FELLOWS OF THE IWCV
Carey Hepler, Coordinator
The Fellows of the IWCV is open to the men of Valencia, including the male spouses/partners of IWCV members, current & former. To join the group, please email Carey Hepler at carey.hepler@gmail.com and give him your name & contact details. If there is a particular activity that you are interested in and would like to coordinate, let Carey know!
Take a look above for details of the Fellows’ March lunch. All IWCV members are invited to attend!
MARCH HOLIDAYS IN VALENCIA
Friday 1 March – Tuesday 19 March Fallas
Tuesday 19 March St. Joseph’s Day
Friday 29 March Good Friday
To those of you who will be out of town in March, have a good time and we’ll see you when you get back. To those of you who will be staying in Valencia, enjoy Fallas and we hope to see you at IWCV activities during the month!
Jane Buck,
President