Profile....

Joan Gootherts - In Her Own Words

I was born in San Francisco. I won't tell you the year. I'll just tell you that Charles Lindberg made the headlines that year....I didn't.

My mother, Evelyn, was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1891, her parents having emigrated there from Denmark. My father, Jacob Flowerman, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1884. He emigrated to New York at age 7.

You may ask how these two people living lives a world a part ever crossed paths. This is a story worthy of a screenplay but it is, unfortunately, a story for another time. I'll be glad to tell you, my friends. Just ask me.

Fast forward. Love walked in and my parents were married in Sacramento. The year was 1920 and they took up residence in San Francisco ... the city they loved. Dad was in line for a judgeship in New York and was also offered the presidency of the City of Hope in Duarte, California, but he declined both to live in San Francisco.

My brother Rob, five years my senior, was always my protector and I was devastated when he passed away two years ago. I lived a typical child's life in San Francisco. My brother defended me on the streets when he wasn't rolling me down a hill in a rubber tire or enlisting my help to sell magazines in the neighborhood or giving me driving lessons on The Embarcadero. (I became aware later that most people are taught to drive in a vacant parking lot!)

I graduated from high school, worked a few different jobs, and had a brief six months of community college. Playtime was tennis, poor quality ice skating, knitting, sewing, and time devoted to a service organization.

In 1951 I went to Australia for a calculated 3 months stay with mother's family. Eight months later I sadly left a boyfriend and my Australian family for home. My boss had held my job all that time and wanted me back. By then I had an Aussie accent. I loved Sydney but I also missed my U.S. family.

Three weeks later I met my future husband at our first cousin's engagement party. Our cousin's engagement didntt last but Jerry and I did - for 37 years. We were engaged within 4 months. We married in 1953 and initially lived in Redwood City, where our two wonderful sons were born.

We bought a home in Sunnyvale when the boys were five and seven. We had a wonderful life there. You know the routine with kids in school: PTA health and welfare chairperson, storytelling-reader to primary grade children, instructional aide to teachers, membership chairperson. All of this led to a secretarial job in the front office.

Son Paul graduated from UC Berkeley in computer science and math. He's in his 26th year at HP in Cupertino and still loves it. John graduated with honors in Motion Picture Television from UCLA and is working on his first novel. We're hoping that publishing it won't be as difficult as screenplay writing.

Jerry and I moved to Grass Valley in 1988. He loved it here but sadly succumbed to heart failure in 1990. He spent many years in aerospace and when a heart attack slowed him down in 1975 we decided to open a small coffee bean and tealeaf business in Town and Country, Sunnyvale. It was quite a departure for a missiles and space engineer and a school secretary but we walked the Embarcadero in S.F. and learned the business from the importers.

Soon after we moved to Grass Valley I started volunteering at both Alta Sierra School and Hennessey School. But it soon became time for a new challenge. I answered an ad for a receptionist at the Senior (now Community) Center and found a niche. Or so I thought. When Jill Sonnenberg wrote a grant to develop a computer learning center I was fascinated by the idea. Jill persuaded me to attend the organizational meetings but I didn't consider myself computer literate enough to be much help. After all, "I had a Macintosh." Jill snatched Mitch Bain from the Nevada City Library where he was teaching and he became program coordinator, along with Don Tweedie. Sallie Faulkner co-chaired and later chaired the Administrative Committee. Sallie persuaded me to co-chair that committee with her and I soon became hooked. I believe in the program, and I learned that when you see a student's light go on when he or she "gets it", it feels great! The students energize me. I also believe in the purpose of the Community Center as a whole and the services they provide the community

When I'm not user grouping or seminaring or trying to decipher computer stuff, my interests are in Civil War history, the pioneer movement west, and the middle east cradle of civilization. I love theatre and good movies, music, interesting lectures on various subjects, the high Sierra and all the photographic opportunities. Fred Astaire and Karen Ziemba (broadway) are favorites as is all dance, and most classical music and musical comedy. Real estate and the financial markets interest me as well. I enjoy great conversation, entertaining friends and family, traveling, watching football, and just plain visiting.

Without Joan, the GCCLC would probably have to go without seminars or user group meetings. She coordinates the presenters and subjects, signs people in and collects the fees, publicizes the events, and much more. And she is a valuable member of the Coordinating Council, freely volunteering for other jobs too. Editor

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Seminars and User Groups....

We Need Your Help!

The GCCLC leadership makes decisions about what seminar and user group subjects should be presented based on 1) what skills they think the attendees need to develop, and 2) what subjects they think will be entertaining and fun. As you might expect, the only way to assess whether they have been right or not is the attendance figures. Some are well attended and some are not.

Now, we want you to have a greater say in what seminar and user group subjects are selected. Following is a sampling of past seminar and user group subjects. We would like you to let us know whether you would like to have any of these repeated or whether there are other subjects not on this list you would like to have scheduled.

Please! These events are for you. Won't you help by tellingus what you would like to know about? E-mail your suggestions to publicity1"at"gcclc.org

Photo of the month

Submitted by Carol Kuhwarth

Carol Kuhwarth has submitted this nice photo of Wyoming's Teton Range with the Snake River in the foreground. Thanks Carol!

Send your photos (minimum size 600 x 600) pixels to the editor (publicity1"at"gcclc.org), and include a brief explanation of your photo.

Sierra Singles

Submitted by Carol Griffis

The singles group meets the second Wednesday of each month at the Community Center.

The group is very informal. There are no by-laws or set rules. We just have a fun time meeting new people and participating in casual activities. Many of our activities include breakfasts and lunches as a group. New activities are announced during meetings and sign up sheets are passed around for participation.

We invite you to join this social group. For more information contact Carol at (530) 272-0593