PLEASE NOTE: As you peruse our programs, please take notice of the changes of venue. We have the opportunity to experience three different country clubs in the area for this season. Please notice the changes in days of the week (secondary to hours of operation of the clubs) and location as you plan your season! We look forward to seeing everyone for the 2024-2025 season!
“An Elegant Afternoon Tea” Tuesday, September 10, 2024 Allegheny Country Club – Flute Quartet, Kumer Studio
It is September and time for our annual Woman’s Club of Sewickley Valley Tea. Dust off your chapeaus and join us at the elegant Allegheny Country Club for a memorable afternoon. You will be served delicious tea fare — soup, mini sandwiches and sweets. But wait, there is more. In the ballroom, overlooking the glorious landscape, we will enjoy a talented flute quartet from the Kumer Studio. The quartet is very eager to entertain our group. The director Wendy is busy planning an enchanting program for us all to enjoy.
Monday, October 7, 2024 “Embracing Diversity” Edgeworth Club
Our President, Judy Haluka is a talented public speaker with a wealth of knowledge. In a recent survey, the membership asked for more of her presentations. We are going to deliver! Judy has lectured many times on the subject of Cultural Diversity in Healthcare. Using that background, she will make the subject appropriate to everyday life. We will examine various cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds around the globe in an attempt to better understand and embrace our differences. She will relate the topic to our everyday lives in her signature fun, but informative way. Join us as we explore what makes us different and how to celebrate it.
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024 – Pittsburgh’s Leaders in the Women’s Rights Movement”, Eliza Smith Brown, Author Montour Heights Country Club
The strength of Pittsburgh women is well known — members of the WCSV are proof! Eliza Smith Brown has written a book on this attribute entitled She Devils at the Door. The biography is a true story of the Gilded Age’s “political twins” who brought women’s suffrage to the city of Pittsburgh.
A Steel City resident, Ms. Brown is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and studied historic preservation at Cornell University. Her writing prowess has earned her a place on a plaque at Pittsburgh International Airport as one of our local, well-known authors. The book chronicles two formidable sisters Lucy and Eliza Kennedy, graduates of Vassar College, who became non-partisan leaders. With their tenacity, wit and intelligence, they forced a disgraced mayor out of office, exposed scandals and started to clean the smoky Pittsburgh air. In November, Ms. Brown will recount to us the incredible lives of her two history-making relatives. As a bonus, her book will be available for sale at our meeting..
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 “A Christmas with Brass” Pittsburgh Brass Project, Montour Heights Country Club
It is time to celebrate the holiday season. What better way than with brass horns? We have invited the Pittsburgh Brass Project to entertain us. Montour Heights Country Club will be decorated in its traditional Christmas splendor. The chef will prepare a delicious holiday luncheon for us. And, then we will enjoy the spirit of the season with the help of the popular, talented group of musicians — the Pittsburgh Brass Project. Don’t miss this one! It will give you a delightful break from your holiday preparations and refuel your energy to enjoy this special season of the year.
Monday, January 13, 2025, “The Underground Railroad” Carol Braun Kunz, Edgeworth Club
The Underground Railroad sounds so mysterious. Actually, it was a lifeline for thousands of enslaved Africans, during the eighteen hundreds. This intricate and secret network provided an effective means of escape for those enslaved. Please, join us as our speaker leads us through the journeys of the enslaved travelers.
Some traveled through our Western Pennsylvania area and beyond. Carol Braun Kunz is an experienced educator. She knows the facts and leads her audience through this unforgettable and sad part of our history. Ms. Kunz, a graduate of Duquesne University, taught for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. She was a former Education Coordinator, on the staff, at the Heinz History Center. As we prepare to celebrate Black History month, in February, our speaker will share with us this important part of our history.
From Ms. Kunz: “Our journey begins in Africa and continues to the north and eventually freedom. Their dream of freedom, their bravery, determination, resilience and eventual success is reported. The insurmountable hardships and challenges experienced by the enslaved traveler are reviewed. Free African entrepreneurs, who were also abolitionists and residents of Pittsburgh are considered. The program includes abolitionist and safe houses where the enslaved were assisted. Many traveled through Pittsburgh, and the surrounding area, on their way to Canada and freedom. I discuss safe houses in our area as the enslaved made their way north.”
Biography and Lecture Description prepared by the Speaker
Monday, February 10, 2025, “Women’s Heart Disease- How and Why we are Different” Judy Haluka, WCSV President Edgeworth Club
Women have long been underdiagnosed, undertreated and unrecognized in Cardiology. The WISE (Women’s Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation) was the largest and longest (it is still underway) research study ever undertaken looking at women and heart disease. Judy was a Clinical Research Coordinator for this trial and will share with us why the hearts of women are not only different but require different diagnostic procedures and certainly different treatment regimes. Why have we failed to recognize heart disease in the female population? Are we better at it now? What do I need to look for? This promises to be an informative talk that may just help us to recognize if and when we need to be evaluated and/or treated for heart disease.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, “Then and Now” – A History of the Pittsburgh Zoo Allegheny Country Club
Those of us who have lived in the Pittsburgh area, know the magic of the words “Pittsburgh Zoo.” They may have made you jump for joy as a child or you may have seen the faces of the children in your family light up in the anticipation of a visit. The Woman’s Club of Sewickley Valley will bring those smiles back to your faces again as the Pittsburgh Zoo comes to us at Allegheny Country Club. This time the staff will capture your attention as they recount the highlights of the zoo’s history. The Pittsburgh Zoo has changed so much since its opening in 1898. This photographic journey will guide us through more than a century of growth of this Pittsburgh institution
Sunday, April 13, 2025 – Brunch at Montour Country Club Families Welcome “Singing in the Spring” Wexford’s Sing, Sing, Sing! Duo
Our club members, guests and family members loved the combination of beautiful scenery, a tasty brunch and fun music last year on a Sunday afternoon at the Montour Heights Country Club (MHCC). So, in 2025 we are going to repeat the formula with a bit of a change. This year we are welcoming back, by popular demand, Wexford’s Sing, Sing, Sing! This duo entertained us for our Christmas program in 2024. In April, the program will be seasonal again–filled with happy, airy tunes to welcome the new season. The group is delighted to return and was busy planning the musical program even as we called them to book the event. Come usher in spring with us in the lovely MHCC dining room.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Allegheny Country Club “Gifts of the Living Earth” ….appreciating our planet. Patricia DeMarco, Author
Patricia DeMarco, PhD is an accomplished author. She is from our local area and has a doctorate in biology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. DeMarco has had a 50-year career in energy and environmental policy in the public and private sectors. She now lectures in the fields of sustainability, energy, environmental policy and natural history. Dr. DeMarco sits on the Board of Trustees of Phipps Conservatory, the Botanical Gardens, and The Allegheny Land Trust, just to name a few of the positions she has held in her impressive career.
The speaker will explain to our audience how, as individuals and people acting together, we have the power to move the world toward a sustainable future. In Dr. DeMarco’s words:“I believe we already have the solutions for sustainability in hand. No “silver bullet” technology is necessary. We just need moral fortitude to take action. The laws of Nature are not negotiable. We must adjust our laws to live in harmony with Nature and work to strengthen the life support systems of the Living Earth.” Please join us in hearing Dr. DeMarco’s hopeful message on how we all can make positive changes to preserve our world.
Monday, June 9, 2025, Wilpen Hall, WCSV Members Only “Lunch on the Veranda”, Garden and Carriage House Tours
Nothing is the harbinger of summer more than a Woman’s Club picnic on Wilpen Hall’s veranda. The glory of this beautiful historic site is almost palpable. From the veranda, we can enjoy the mansion’s incredible architecture, the manicured gardens beginning to burst into bloom and the gently rolling hills of Sewickley Heights. Our hospitality Director will find a delectable picnic lunch for us to savor as we chat with old and new friends. Tours of the garden and Carriage House will be offered at the end of the afternoon. Transportation from the house to the carriage house will be available. Wilpen is ADA compliant. What a finale to the 2024-25 season!