National Conference of State Societies

Illinois State Society Honors Poet Laureate Feb. 16

The Illinois State Society of Washington, DC will honor the life of former Illinois Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) in a restrospective on her poems on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 10:30 AM.  The event will be held at the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage located at 1816 12th Street, NW. CLICK HERE to see map.  The event is free to members of the Illinois State Society and the D.C. State Society.  If members of other state societies wish to attend, there may be additional free tickets.  Please call the Illinois State Society RSVP line at 703-461-3610 to reserve a spot or to ask for more information. The Thurgood Marshall Center is near the Green Line Metro Stop at U Street. There is also free parking in a lot adjacent to the center. For more information about the center, call 202-462-0533.

Washington State Society Reception is Feb. 28

The Washington State Society of Washington, DC will host a reception for the members of the Washington Congressional delegation on Thursday, Feb. 28 from 6 pm to 8 pm in the Cannon House Office Building Caucus Room.  Capitol South Metro Orange and Blue Line station is the closest Metro stop. For information about sponsoring this event, please contact society president Katy Quinn at president@washingtonstatesociety.org.  For more information on how to join the society, please CLICK HERE to visit our web site.

Minnesota State Society Hockey Night is Feb. 26

This photograph was taken by Raymond Gehman for National Geographic Magazine of the beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wildnerness in Minnesota.  The area includes 1,200 miles of motor free water trails that span the lakes and rivers of the one million-acre winderness territory. See the link to National Geographic on the lower left side of this page or CLICK HERE to visit the National Geographic web page.

The Minnesota State Society of Washington, DC members and guests are invited to see the Minnesota Wild play The Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center, 601 F Street, NW, on Tuesday, Feb. 26.  Tickets are $30 each.  The Metrol rail stop is Galery Place-Chinatown for Red, Yellow, and Green lines.  There is also a Verzion Center parking garage located on 6th Street, NW underneath the building that is open at a charge of $20 for event parking. Please send in our reservations and payment to Minnesota State Society Treasurer David Miller at P.O. Box 4317, Alexandria, Va. 22303-4317 by Feb. 9, 2008. For more information call David at 703-960-2436 or send him an email at david@mnstatesociety.org. The learn more about future events and how to join the Minnesota State Society, please CLICK HERE.

NCSS Mourns Loss of David Keene

David Keene, husband of NCSS Japanese Liaison Director Akiko Keene, died earlier this week.  David supported Akiko in all of her NCSS cherry blossom activities since Akiko started translating for Japanese guests of NCSS in 1993.  More information will follow.  The viewing is private for family only and there will be a funeral service at Arlington Naional Cemetery on April 29, 2008.