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A Match Made in MOMS Club History

Jan 13, 2021 | Chapter Submitted Stories

Chris’ son Anthony and Julie’s daughter Cameron

I met Julie Estes back in 2001 when I moved from Sacramento, CA to Richland, WA. She had just moved back into the area and was actively trying to get a MOMS Club off the ground. She had been a MOMS Club member since 1999 and I started in 1995 when my oldest, Anthony was just barely 1.

Julie has 3 daughters Cameron (25), Samantha (23) and Victoria (21). Mine are Anthony (26), Megan (23) and Jason (19). Cameron, Samantha and Anthony were always around each other. Megan and Victoria were inseparable. Poor Jason was the baby of the bunch and often was the attention of Megan and Victoria, that’s a story for another time.

We found ourselves a long way from my family and friends. I searched the MOMS Club website and saw that Julie was starting a new chapter in our area. I remember that first meeting that she had. It was just 3 of us committed to getting a chapter off the ground. The best part was that our kids hit it off immediately. Park days, swimming at the pool or playdates we knew that if we saw one kid we would find the other 2. Fun Fact: Conference Coordinator Theresa Tenney was our chapter’s Area Coordinator at that time.

My husband’s job took us to La Grande Oregon in 2005 and it was so hard to leave. Julie and I made it a point to get together as often as we could. The first year or so it was every few months, but as our kids got more involved in school and sports it was harder to get together. When we did see each other, the kids would pick up just like they have never been apart.

Anthony had just gotten a job with Union Pacific Railroad in 2016. He was told by the RR that he would have to go to Spokane, WA and work there temporarily. Spokane is about 4 hours from his house in La Grande. He had a day to show up and find a place to live. I mentioned to him that I thought that either Samantha or Cameron was living there and maybe he could crash on their couch. It had been a couple of years since they had seen each other. He called.

It was Cameron and she was nice enough to let him stay there. They reconnected and shortly after started dating. 20 years after first meeting in the MOMS Club, this past December Anthony proposed to Cameron and she said yes. I was lucky to be there to take pictures as he surprised her with a ring. February 2022 we will be having a wedding.

I have always said that some of my best friends have come from MOMS Club. Now I can say that I have met family from MOMS Club too.

P.S. Julie predicted this all those years ago.

Submitted by:
Chris Baldwin
Regional Coordinator

A Match Made in MOMS Club History was last modified: January 16th, 2021 by mcadmin
"MOMS Club", "International MOMS Club", "MOMS Offering Moms Support" and the Mother/Children logo are registered service marks/trademarks of International MOMS Club.

Thank you for volunteering to be a MOMS Club Volunteer!

     We appreciate both your volunteering to help and the special skills you are bringing with you. You are joining a close-knit group of mothers who have enjoyed their experience in their local chapters and are working hard to help support both those chapters and the International MOMS Club. You are very special!

     Most of our volunteers start out assisting the local chapters, but there is a lot of variety in volunteering opportunities with International. We depend on volunteers to help with everything from our on-line presence to fulfilling orders, planning training events and answering inquiries.

     Each of us has special skills and interests. (And our own personalities – we’re quite a group of individuals!) We try to match your skills and interests with the best volunteer position for you. If you have skills we may not know about, let us know. We are always looking for volunteers with special skills, so let us know about yours!

     We are also open to new ideas. International has been going strong since 1983, and although our basic format has stayed consistent, the specific ways things are done have changed through the years. If you see a better way to do something, let us know. Sometimes things cannot be changed for legal reasons or because they would fundamentally change our purpose or not be fiscally possible, but if we don’t hear your new ideas, we’ll miss the opportunity to adapt and improve. We will not promise that every idea will be adopted, but we will promise that they will be considered carefully.

     You will be working with other volunteers from chapters all over the country. Your Conference Coordinator has a lot of experience in the MOMS Club, over many years as both a member, chapter officer and International volunteer.

     Your Conference Coordinator may assign other volunteers to help train you in your job. Even so, if you have any questions that you want to talk over with your Conference Coordinator, contact her! She will want to know your concerns and questions, and can help guide you to the correct answers.

     We will try to provide you with all the answers you may need for your chapters, but there is one very important thing to remember:

     It is impossible for anyone to tell you everything you’ll need to know! The chapters are just too creative in their questions, and a tiny change in what a chapter asks can make a big difference in the answer.

     Because of that, whenever you get a question that you don’t absolutely, positively know the answer to, don’t answer it!

     Instead, tell the chapter that it’s an excellent question (because all chapter questions are excellent questions), and you’ll get right back to them with the answer…

… then ask your supervising Coordinator or your Conference Coordinator about it.

     Sometimes, there can be a nuance in either the situation or the answer that may not be obvious. Other times, there may be legal reasons why one answer is best. Or, it could be a totally new question that we’ll need to consider and answer at a higher level.

     The main thing is, we want you to be able to give the best advice possible, and sometimes that may mean talking it over with the volunteers above you. Never be embarrassed if you don’t know an answer. Recognizing that you don’t know the answer or that a situation is a little different from what you’ve been trained to handle is the most important aspect of being a Coordinator.

     So, keep the lines of communication open between you and your chapters – and you and the Coordinators who are helping you. We all work together to give our chapters exemplary support!

     Use this resource section to help you in your volunteering with us. This site will continue to expand and improve, so if there is any information you need that you don’t see, let us know and we’ll do
our best to add it.

     Again, welcome to the International MOMS Club! We’re happy that you’re here and are looking forward to working with you!