Diocesan women attend State CDA conference
Gentle Women of Faith and Vision

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
May 10, 2007

DES MOINES - The State Catholic Daughters of the Americas Convention was recently held in Des Moines at the airport Holiday Inn. Several women from the Diocese of Sioux City attended.

The convention was held the weekend of April 20-22. The theme of the convention was "Gentle Women of Faith and Vision." There were close to 200 women in attendance.

The purpose of the state convention is to get all the courts together and meet people from different courts. Catholic Daughter state conventions are held every two years. Doris Schealler, regent of Court Mary Immaculate #1710 in Graettinger, commented that it is a time to hear what other courts are doing.

"It is to discuss the concerns and issues of today's church and society and the issues that affect the well-being of women and children," said Linda Nepple, regent of Court Joyce Kilmer #460 at St. Patrick's in Estherville.

During the convention, there was a business meeting along with presentations on subjects relating to faith. Nominations and installation of new officers took place. Mass was also held each day of the convention.

Nepple mentioned that she decided to attend the convention because she had a good time at the convention two years ago.

"I was blown away by the camaraderie of all the women. They are all there to make our church and society better with all the different breakout sessions and speakers," said Nepple. "It makes me feel better once I go and talk to the ladies at these conventions. They help me carry through with what I want to do with my court."

There was one speaker, Louann Alemao, author of a book titled "Grip, Grin and Greet," that she mentioned that she enjoyed.

"I am big on making people feel more welcome in our church," said Nepple. "She presented the whole idea of trying to find some simple gesture of offering good will to people we meet every day - verbal sunshine."

Another speaker talked about ways people can "feed their soul," including humor.

"The two speaker solidified what I already knew about trying to make things work in our church and society - being kinder to each other and finding things that are going to feed our souls," said Nepple.

Schealler noted that she tries to attend the conventions when she can.

"It is very helpful to have someone down there for business transactions," said Schealler. "It is very interesting. They have a nice program."

She mentioned that she was inspired by the talks that were given. One talk she especially liked was about respect life. Other talks were upbeat and ways to improve attitudes toward work.

Carol Kelzer, regent of Catholic Daughters Court Ave Maria #269 in Sioux City, attended the convention. She noted that she was impressed and it was enjoyable.

"I try to attend as a leader and to find out what other courts are doing," said Kelzer. "I like to bring ideas back to our court. There are as many ideas as there are courts."

She mentioned that she gained enthusiasm and encouragement from attending.

Donna Day-Templin, financial secretary for Court Joyce Kilmer #460, also attended the convention. She has been a Catholic Daughter for about seven years.

"I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of being a member," said Day-Templin. "I hope I can continue for a long time."

She was on the nominating committee from the last convention.

"I got a lot of ideas of things that our court can do learning from sister courts," said Day-Templin. "Our regent and I came away with 20 things to hopefully build a fire in our group."