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A Friendship Gone Viral  When a friendship is strong enough, it can survive just about anything – even a pandemic! Sterling Silver Club members and longtime friends, Marlene and Kim, are living and thriving proof of that.  Career & Community Cohorts  With successful careers in the Reno area and a common passion for community involvement, it’s no surprise the women knew of each other even before their friendship developed. The first time they actually worked together was in 2001 at TMWA (Truckee Meadows Water Authority), where Marlene’s company was brought on board to steer communications and Kim was heading up the then-new utility’s customer relations department. TMWA was where these colleagues became cohorts who have since become the best of friends.  Now retired, Kim’s favorite job these days is being a doting “Noni” to her two granddaughters who live nearby and who she keeps up with by staying active. Kim enjoys practicing yoga and loves to spend time walking and hiking in the great outdoors – with two enthusiastic dogs that are always ready to join her.  Marlene is still working and running her nearly 40-year-old public engagement and outreach company, GoodStanding. Her “fun and interesting” projects help to build community engagement for her clients and often focus on water resource management and conservation.  The Rotary Club of Reno, known as the “downtown club,” is also an important part of both women’s lives. Marlene was just the third woman to join the historically male organization in 1991 and made it her mission to recruit and sponsor female members – like Kim. Today, women make up nearly half of the membership and Marlene and Kim are both heavily involved in the club and its initiatives, including its scholarship program and community beautification projects along Riverside Drive.  A Friendly Q & A  To learn more about the friends and maintaining friendships in these socially distanced times, we asked them some questions.   What drew you to each other as friends?  Kim: Marlene’s honesty, integrity and ethics. Marlene always does what is best for her clients, no matter what.  Marlene: Kim and I communicate very well. It’s hard to explain, but sometimes we are both way ahead of our words. How would you describe each other in a single word? Marlene: Focused. Don’t put anything in front of Kim that you don’t want done, and done expertly. Also, helper. She thrives on helping people and working through their problems.  Kim: Creative! Marlene came up with many unique ideas to promote and publicize TMWA. And her house the most cozy spaces to sit and visit.  Do you have a favorite “That’s so her” moment to share? Kim: Burning Man! Marlene had friends with a camp at Burning Man and she invited me to join them for three days a number of years ago. We rode our bikes, admired the art and did our best to sleep through the techno music that played through the night. It was an amazing time.  Marlene: Kim’s involvement in Rotary’s Achievement Beyond Obstacles (a support and scholarship program for deserving local high school students). She has a heart for kids facing challenges, she is a great leader and she loves to help and make a difference.  How has COVID-19 affected your friendship, how have things changed and how have things stayed the same? Kim: We don’t see each other in person quite as much. However, Marlene has made sure that many of our girlfriends are able to stay in touch.  Marlene: I don’t take for granted we are going to see each other, so we plan it. I am the instigator of walks, socially distanced get-togethers in our green space and Zoom meetings. This new normal has also given me permission to stay home and work. Now, it’s OK to do some gardening or take a walk in the middle of the day. I suppose that’s one pleasant side effect of COVID-19.  Why did you become members of the Sterling Silver Club and why would you encourage others to join?  Kim: So many friends and family members had nothing but good things to say about Renown that I decided to switch providers. I also really liked what Renown was doing with the Healthy Nevada Project. So, when I saw the Sterling Silver Club, it seemed to me to be just another extension of all the good things Renown has to offer!  Marlene: This Club sounded interesting because it would allow me to focus more on my health with like-minded people in my age group. And, I’m with Kim, Healthy Nevada Project is very intriguing for how it could potentially improve health care for all of us.  What is the secret to a lasting friendship?  Kim: Have patience. Don’t take things personally. Be flexible. And just enjoy one another’s company. Marlene: Respect and grace, equally. We are not perfect and we are all different. So give your friends respect always, grace when they flub up and support when they need help.  Thanks to Kim and Marlene for being such generous collaborators and ambassadors of the Sterling Silver Club.  Friend Fun Fact:  Kim helped Marlene find her new house a few years ago – and more recently, a new dog! Marlene and “Levi” have been inseparable ever since.

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Beth Macmillan is a work of art in her own right. This Sterling Silver Club featured member is also a one-time professional dancer who now takes center stage as the passionate leader of Artown, northern Nevada’s colorful and wonderfully diverse, month-long celebration of the arts –happening throughout Reno in July! So how might we paint a portrait of someone as unique as Beth? We thought an art-full Q&A was a good place to start. Question: Can you tell us how you came to Reno and to your post as executive director of Artown? “I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and eventually moved to Reno, Nevada to dance in a show called ‘Hello Hollywood Hello!’ at the MGM Grand Resort (now known as the Grand Sierra Resort). I joined Artown in 2001, became executive director a year later and have thoroughly enjoyed my journey there – and here in Reno – every single day since.” Question: What do you love about the arts? “I love how the arts build creative minds in all of us. The arts spark our imagination and encourage innovation. We are all artists. We dress with creative intention, decorate our homes imaginatively and cook meals for ourselves and others to impress and satisfy through culinary artistry.” Beth’s Favorite Color: Green “I love the way green clothing looks on me and makes my eyes sparkle. Green is a calming color and my home is painted a soft and calming green on the interior.” Question: What is your personal vision and hope for the arts community in Reno/Sparks and northern Nevada? “My vision for the arts in our community is that we continue to build a cultural center in northern Nevada. We are a destination for the arts and should continue to build strength in that draw. Reno has become a place where artists are finding a home and are able to work and create artistry in every genre. My hope is that everything that is happening with the arts here is just the beginning.” Question: Do you think a person’s health can benefit from exposure to the arts? “I believe wholeheartedly that the arts are tied to health. Renown has a healing arts program which helps patients heal through creating art. I also know that Artown brings people together and out of isolation, which is one of the biggest culprits for depression. Artown encourages folks to come out and enjoy the outdoors, gatherings with friends and enjoyment of the arts – all of which build a healthy lifestyle. During COVID-19, Artown also helped heal of our community through our Heart own program, which encouraged creativity and inspiration. In short, I feel the arts are essential to our wellbeing, on many levels.” Question: What do you do to stay vibrant and healthy? “I always have a project going. I love to restore furniture, sew, paint, garden, knit and cook interesting meals for friends. I try to eat a healthy diet with tons of veggies and fruit. I also enjoy hiking, paddle boarding, gardening and yoga, all of which keep my working-out enjoyable and satisfying.” Beth’s Artown Highlight “When we brought Mikhail Baryshnikov to Reno… it made me proud of our community. It was one of the best performances I have ever seen and I didn’t have to go to a major market to see him perform.” Question: What do you appreciate most about your life at 55+ and what advice would you offer to other club members to help them live their best lives? “I lost my husband to cancer when he was young. His passing reminds me to cherish every moment of every day and take time to look around and be grateful for life. I am eternally grateful for my two sons. One is an engineer for a local construction company, the other is completing his studies in type theory in Gothenburg, Sweden. And I am in the arts – what a contrast!” Question: What excites you about partnering with the Sterling Silver Club for Artown? “I am excited for what Artown offers Sterling Silver Club members and our entire community. I want everyone to know that the best time in Reno to enjoy one another and the arts is in July, because we have Artown!” Question: Finally, how would you define the art of life? “The art of life is to create a world you want to read in a book, see in a painting, watch in a ballet, experience in a play and hear in music.” The Sterling Silver Club thanks Beth for being such an inspiring ambassador and for her tireless dedication to celebrating and supporting the arts in our community through Artown! Sterling Silver Club The Sterling Silver Club’s exclusive benefits are designed with you in mind. From social events and lectures to entertainment, special discounts, and health insights and tips. Sign Up for the Club!

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Janelle Wood’s life has been filled with moves across several states, travel, different jobs, multiple hobbies and best of all – her big family. She is very close to and proud of her entire family, including her six children, six grandchildren and extended family members. New Chapters Janelle was born in 1950 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She lived there her entire childhood and attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville where she received her Associate degree in Accounting. She then moved a few different times to various states including Louisiana and Arizona. In 1981, she and her family moved to Reno where she worked for a construction and mining supply company. In 1993, they relocated to a small town in southern Georgia called Thomasville, where Janelle worked for another mining and manufacturing company. “I was ready for a change of scenery and wanted to explore living in a new area,” said Janelle. “I was intrigued by moving to a smaller town to raise my children.” She and her family lived there for about 10 years when she eventually got transferred to Chicago for her job, to work at the company’s headquarters. “I was once again excited for another change and was happy to experience living in a big city,” said Janelle. “I loved my job and getting to travel as much as I did.” Janelle worked for the company in Chicago until 2014 when she decided to retire and move back to Reno to be closer to her son, daughter and grandchildren. Living to the Fullest Today, Janelle lives in Damonte Ranch in south Reno. She loves spending time outdoors, especially in the mountains and by the water. Her other hobbies include reading, cooking, doing puzzles, playing computer games antique shopping and something very unique – exploring old graveyards. “I love how they’re full of history and each one is different – I also enjoy reading what the headstones say, and the stories they tell,” said Janelle. “When I travel, I like to explore the old cemeteries that are nearby.” Janelle’s son even bought her a book called 129 Cemeteries to Visit Before You Die. She’s been to a few of them. As for traveling, Janelle’s favorite destination she’s been to is Catalina Island – she loves the history there. She also loves Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Canada and Mexico. “I’m always up for going someplace new,” said Janelle .  Janelle Wood hiking to Rainbow Falls in Mammoth, CA When Christmas rolls around, Janelle loves to decorate. Her family finds it interesting just how crazy about Christmas she is. “I have 31 totes of Christmas décor and a dozen large decorations,” said Janelle. “My entire storage room is full of Christmas decorations. I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving and it takes me about 2 to 3 days to put everything up.” Janelle said Halloween is her second favorite holiday, which she also loves to decorate for. Family Values Above all else, Janelle’s favorite thing about being retired is having so much free time to spend with her children and grandchildren who live here in Reno. “I love helping my grandkids with their schoolwork and attending their sports and activities,” said Janelle. She has been volunteering at her grandchildren’s schools here in Reno ever since her now 14-year-old grandson started kindergarten. “Family is the highlight of my life,” said Janelle. She also makes sure to stay in contact and visit as often as possible with all of her family that lives out of state, including three of her children, one of her grandkids and some of her extended family. “One of my great nieces, Madison Marsh, was recently crowned Miss America, and another one of my great nieces, Madeline Bohlman, will be competing this summer for the title of Miss USA, as the current Miss Arkansas USA,” said Janelle. “I’m very proud of both of them for using their platforms to further such important issues; pancreatic cancer research and mental health, respectively.”

Read More About Meet Janelle Wood: Family, Hobbies & Everything In Between

Renown’s Sterling Silver Club is honored to feature one of our more than 9,000 members each season. We thank Judith for sharing her inspirational story and all of our members for leading healthy, happy lives that inspire us all.     Mother, grandmother and eventually great-grandmother is the expected title progression as families grow and babies have babies. “Grand” and “great” usually imply roles and responsibilities have shifted from daily child-rearing duties to those of a doting grandparent – that is, unless you decide to do it all over again. At the age of 61, that’s exactly what featured Sterling Silver Club member, Judith, decided to do when she adopted four of her great-grandchildren. At the time, Alicia, Adrianna and Joey were all under five and Giancarlo, the youngest, was just a baby. “At the adoption hearing, the judge was concerned how stressful it would be for me to raise four children in my late 70s and early 80s,” recalls Judith. “But I told him I had raised my own four children and then three grandchildren for a number of years and that it would be far more stressful for me to have my great-grandchildren separated from each other and me, possibly forever. I knew I could handle the stress of raising them no matter my age, but I couldn’t survive the stress of losing them.” “That was when Giancarlo started getting fidgety,” she continues. “So I raised up his little shirt and blew a raspberry on his tummy which made him giggle and settle down. Seeing that, the judge told the recorder to “put that move in the record” and agreed I was capable of caring for my little ones.” Years later, Judith has come to realize that her great-grandchildren also want to be there to care for her. “Giancarlo always makes me smile,” says Judith. “Once during a stay in the hospital, I was awoken at 3 a.m. for blood work and found him sitting next to my bed watching the oxygen count – he was 10 years old at the time.” “The nurse asked him why he was awake and he said he heard her say the count shouldn’t go below 88, so he was watching to save me if it did,” Judith explains. “The nurse reassured him that she was also watching the count at her desk and he didn’t need to worry. Then Giancarlo looked her square in the eye and told her if it went below 88 to wake him up because he loved me and didn’t want to lose me.” “He is still my sunshine,” Judith smiles. “And I have never regretted my decision.”   Work & Play For 20 years, Judith worked at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), first as an administrative assistant for the police academy before moving to a position in the president’s office. There she worked with the TMCC Foundation and on TMCC projects to raise capital funds for new buildings, off-site campuses, scholarships, college programs and more. “It felt wonderful to be able to notify a student that they had received a scholarship or tell a department that they had received the funds to purchase needed equipment for their program,” recalls Judith. For fun these days, Judith still enjoys doing something she did as a teenager: playing pool. “My mother taught me to play pool in my dad’s pool room/teen hangout space in my early 20s and I’m just getting back into the game by taking lessons to help remind me what I was taught,” says Judith. “I grew up in a small, country town on the Ohio River and my mother could beat almost all of the boys in the county. I would love to be able to emulate her ability in the game.” Judith also enjoys reading, watching Hallmark movies or Warriors basketball games, walking in nature, playing “competitive” shuffleboard with friends, all genres of music – and dancing! In fact, she’s currently taking dance lessons to learn a few new steps. Always Good for a Laugh “My great-grandchildren and I laugh a lot when I try to teach them the stroll, twist, mashed potato and old-fashioned, rock-‘n’-roll dancing,” admits Judith. “But we laugh even harder when they try to teach me their dance moves!”   Faith in What Matters Faith is something Judith celebrates and embraces for herself and others. “I truly believe that we are placed on earth exactly where God feels we are needed and that we are here to help each other through life, not to accumulate material goods for ourselves,” says Judith. “I feel deep satisfaction when I can help others either through just listening to them, advising them, helping them with specific needs or simply giving a smile to a stranger. To me, giving a smile or a helping hand to someone is like skipping a rock across the water – the ripples go on and on.” Then she adds, “And raising my great-grandchildren to be able to have wonderful lives full of love and happiness and closeness to God is the greatest gift I could give them.”   Club Talk So what does Judith appreciate most about being a member of the Sterling Silver Club? She says it’s the opportunity to just – talk. “I fully enjoyed my initial interaction with the club and other club members at the Roaring Twenties dinner dance event,” remembers Judith. “I sat at a table with the nicest ladies and had great conversations with adults and danced with one of the instructors. When you are raising four teenagers who sometimes seem to speak an entirely different language, it’s refreshing to meet and speak with others your own age.” Pictures of some of the popular Sterling Silver Club events are featured here. Judith finds club events that bring her joy. “I also like the cooking classes and recently went on a walking tour of Oxbow Park, which was very peaceful.”     What advice does Judith have to help other members live their best and fullest lives? “On a wet December morning 50 years ago,” Judith begins, “a truck coming around a curve on a country road slid into me and that split second could have made all the difference in the world to me. But God was with me and I survived, which no one expected.” “You never know when that one second that could change everything might happen, so make the most of all of your seconds,” she advises. “Do what you love with those you love. My family means the world to me and I try to think about how my decisions will reflect on the memory I will leave behind for them.” Then Judith thoughtfully adds, “I want them to remember that I truly loved them and always did my best to let them know that.”

Read More About Club Member with a Grand Tale

You may recognize Debe Fennell from the Senior Care Plus advertising campaign that premiered last October. Debe is a Reno resident who enjoys staying busy with her career, gardening, music and more. We’re excited to introduce her as our featured Sterling Silver Club member for this fall. From Coast to Coast Debe was born in 1949 in the historical city of Elmira, New York. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) also lived in Elmira, which is where he got married, had children and wrote a few of his famous novels, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In fact, Mark Twain was a friend of Debe’s great-grandfather, who migrated from Europe to build what used to be called The Elmira Hotel. Debe and her family moved from Elmira to Kentucky in 1950, where they lived until Debe was 14. Debe grew up with three sisters and two brothers. Her family moved to Arkansas in 1964 and lived there until 1970. Debe graduated from Southside High School in 1964 and was part of the school’s first graduating class. After high school, Debe traveled to London with a group of missionaries to sing at the Lambeth Conference. When she returned, she went to the University of Arkansas - Little Rock for a couple of years before moving to Reno, Nevada in 1970.  Debe spent the next 15 years in Reno, enjoying life as a self-proclaimed ski bum and working at various jobs. Her first job in Reno was at the YMCA of the Sierra on Foster Drive, before Debe completed dealer school through Harrah’s Casino and became a high-limit blackjack dealer. In 1985, Debe moved from Reno to Nashville, where she began an exciting career in the music industry.   Making History in Music City Debe’s first job in Nashville was working as a journalist for a music publication. Her other business ventures included being a talent coordinator for two nationally syndicated radio shows, and a national records promotion executive for Sony/BMG, Curb Records, Magnatone Records and Giant Records. She was one of very few female Vice Presidents in the music industry in Nashville at the time, and worked for many big names in country music, including Tim McGraw and Randy Travis.

Read More About Meet Sterling Silver Club Member Debe Fennell