The Women’s Alliance actively continued to provide opportunities for interaction, sponsoring several popular outings attended by members and some prospective members. Summer Alliance programs are always publicized to the church at large and new church members often find these informal events a good way to get acquainted with the church community in a setting less intimidating than coffee hour or formal meetings.

In May some, members saw the Acting Company’s Production of the play American Dreams Lost and Found by Studs Turkel, in the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher Street, and then had dinner in a Cuban restaurant across the street.

During June and July, the Alliance sponsored two more outings that were very well attended. The first one was a visit to the Museum of the City of New York to see a special exhibit about the life of women in the city during the 1920s, with a focus on gradually won social changes and freedoms. The tour was led by a curator who pointed out the gradual changes in women’s clothing during that decade, illustrating the trend. The trip was followed by a lunch at a nearby Hanratty’s.

In July, a group of 19 visited The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, including a guided tour around the grounds on a little tram. The group then went to the Garden Café for lunch and afterwards, small individual groups visited the huge Conservatory as well as two gardens in which sculptures from the Museum of Modern Art are temporarily located and exhibited.

In August, several gatherings of Alliance and Women’s Reading Group members welcomed long time church member Ronna Abbott home from her two year Peace Corps stint in Lesotho, in southern Africa. Ronna joined the Peace Corps after her retirement from her job. She brought back fascinating stories and pictures of her life in that still very backward country. She will now start her “retirement” here in the United States.