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In 2024, WCA will gauge our community’s interest in Fireside Chats, a series of informal conversations to take place at the Little House. Since we are a community of people with diverse backgrounds, interests, jobs, and experiences, we hope the topics of our Fireside Chats will be equally varied.
From our early soundings, we have heard suggestions on topics ranging from solar energy in Westmoreland to photography, native plants, parenting, estate planning, decorator’s tips, meditation, writer’s block, and health tips. That suggests that we would love to hear from gardeners, journalists, travelers, artists, philosophers, parenting experts (if these exist!), professors, entrepreneurs, and really anyone who is excited about a topic and brave enough to share it with others. From our perspective, the more niche and specific the topic, the better!
If you have ideas, we invite you to share them in this brief questionnaire. It shouldn’t take you more than 3 minutes to fill out. The success of this endeavor depends on your ideas, interests, and engagement.
Disclaimer: The Fireside Chats don't wish to promote, advocate, or endorse companies, viewpoints, or products. The intention is to have interesting, fun, and, whenever possible, useful conversations with neighbors and friends.
2024-25 Season
WCA Fireside Chat Fall Series Kicks off on September 17, 2024
Carpe Diem: The Story of a Group of Women Investing
September 17, Tuesday, at 7:30 pm at the Little House in Westmoreland Park
Join us for our inaugural Fireside Chat for this season and hear the story of a group of women investing. Carpe Diem was founded by WCA neighbor Sally Herman.
Sally has lived in the neighborhood since 1983, building a family and focusing on investing. In the early 1990s, she began teaching women the fundamentals of investing. Carpe Diem, a women's investment club, grew out of Sally's classes. Like the classes, the purpose of the club has been to enable women to be knowledgeable and confident in managing their own investments either directly or via a money manager.
Sally will be joined by Leslie Martin, who has been a member of the club for over ten years. After a lengthy legal practice, mainly in corporate securities law, Leslie wanted to help care for aging parents and manage her family assets and joined Carpe Diem. Leslie is one of a small group of women of diverse backgrounds who've built a wonderful resource for investing and a place to build friendships and community.
Inaugural WCA Fireside Chat at the Little House: Tuesday, January 16th, 7:30 pm
Topic: Resolutions or Intentions: The Significance of a New Year
Lead conversationalist: Margaret Anderson
Topic: Resolutions or Intentions: The Significance of a New Year
Lead conversationalist: Margaret Anderson
A new year gives us a chance to straddle the past and future and reflect on what has worked well and what we'd like to change. New Year's and Solstice have been observed throughout history, and generations before us also sat at this intersection, dreaming and planning for the future. Winter also offers the chance for retreat, reflection, and renewal, which is chronicled in Katherine May's beautiful book titled Wintering: The Power of Rest & Retreat During Difficult Times. We'll spend this time discussing what is possible when we take time for introspection and evaluation at the new year.
Margaret and her family have been living in the neighborhood for more than 15 years, during which time Margaret pursued a career in biomedical research and public health with a focus on innovation and equity. Margaret is a Managing Director at Deloitte engaging across the federal health, nonprofit, and life sciences sectors. She sits on several boards: Act for NIH, Allen Institute, FasterCures, Friends of Cancer Research, and the National Cancer Advisory Board. She is also a certified Executive Coach and a self-described super connector and networker for good.
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FEBRUARY FIRESIDE CHAT: Going Solar with Susan Kessler
Monday, February 12th, 7:30 pm, Little House
Monday, February 12th, 7:30 pm: Going Solar in Our Neighborhood
Monday, February 12th, 7:30 pm: Going Solar in Our Neighborhood
Come join WCA neighbor Susan Kessler and WCA Board Member Steve Herman to hear Susan's "My Solar Journey" story about the realities of solar power at her home. Our neighborhood, it turns out, is in a unique zone that offers us extra financial incentives to go solar, which makes this environmentally crucial technology sensible for our neighborhood.
Susan is a surgeon, not an engineer or finance expert, but her layman's experience of installing solar panels in her home is illuminating: “After the activation of our solar grid in August of 2023, we on Elliott Road reduced CO2 production by 3.1 Tons! The equivalent of planting 51 trees or charging 369.8K phones, says my nifty solar consumption monitor. My Solar Journey is about what I learned about adding a Solar Roof to our house.” Susan will share how she approached her solar project and help us understand some new technologies, regulations, and financing options.
WCA Board Member Steve Herman will facilitate this discussion. Steve advises on renewable energy and innovative energy technologies focusing on climate change, including clean hydrogen technology and sustainable private equity. He has had decades of experience in investing in fossil and renewable power generation, environmental infrastructure, electric transmission, and energy services, through private equity, investment banking, and law.
Susan is a surgeon, not an engineer or finance expert, but her layman's experience of installing solar panels in her home is illuminating: “After the activation of our solar grid in August of 2023, we on Elliott Road reduced CO2 production by 3.1 Tons! The equivalent of planting 51 trees or charging 369.8K phones, says my nifty solar consumption monitor. My Solar Journey is about what I learned about adding a Solar Roof to our house.” Susan will share how she approached her solar project and help us understand some new technologies, regulations, and financing options.
WCA Board Member Steve Herman will facilitate this discussion. Steve advises on renewable energy and innovative energy technologies focusing on climate change, including clean hydrogen technology and sustainable private equity. He has had decades of experience in investing in fossil and renewable power generation, environmental infrastructure, electric transmission, and energy services, through private equity, investment banking, and law.
You can view Susan's presentation
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MARCH FIRESIDE CHAT: Let's Talk about Books: Reading, Writing, and More
Conversation with Deborah Kalb
March 5th, Tuesday, 7:30 pm, Little House
We often skip books that don't make it to the New York Times bestseller list, and we sometimes feel we want to write something - a novel, an autobiography, a poem, perhaps - but we never end up writing it. We lament the times when our children or we used to read more, yet when we look around, we often see people glued to a screen. Depending on our own judgments and habits, we conjecture that they are likely absorbed in breaking news, an important email, a not-to-be-missed op-ed, a parenting blog, or a recipe - the screen possibilities are endless. Or maybe a novel...
Join us for a talk about reading and writing with Deborah Kalb, a neighbor and an author of fiction for kids and nonfiction for adults. She is the host of the blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, where she interviews an eclectic range of authors. She's also the co-host of the new podcast Rereading Our Childhood. Deborah is the author of the recent novel Off to Join the Circus. She also has written three novels for kids in the President and Me series, and has written or edited various nonfiction books for adults on the topic of politics and government.
Deborah lives in the Westbrook neighborhood.
You can join by Zoom here.