West-side friends organizing Spiritual Spa Day in Hamlin

by Caurie Putnam
article originally published in the Democrat and Chronicle on October 6, 2019.
​
Seven years ago Nanette Klein Davis of Brockport was going through a personally challenging time when she attended the first Spiritual Spa Day at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Hamlin.

“It was very uplifting,” said Davis, of the event for women of all faiths and ages. “It was a very calming day to center myself, relax and refocus on what’s important in life.”

Davis’ mother, Anne Klein of Hamlin, and her friend Teresa “Terry” Werth of Spencerport founded the daylong event seven years ago. About sixty-five women attended and, over the years, many have asked them to hold another one.

Klein and Werth, who have been friends for 40 years, took the requests to heart and will be holding a second Spiritual Spa Day from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 19, at the church on 3747 Brick Schoolhouse Road in Hamlin. The theme of this year’s program is Compassion: One Wish to Change the World.

“We both felt that if ever there was a time we, as women, needed to reflect, think and talk about compassion it’s now,” Werth said. “As women of different faiths, we have so many shared values and the way forward to a world that is a better place is to share those values with each other.”

The day doesn’t include manicures or pedicures, but, instead, a rich program of activities to help attendees better care for their inner selves.

These activities include: relaxation exercises, creating origami birds, rock stacking, a labyrinth walk, inspirational music and a short play adapted from Sharon Mehdi’s book “The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can't Save the World.”

Attendees will also help create a compassion tree with over 300 personalized leaves as a symbolic representation of those people, places and communities that need more compassion.

“Everything we will present takes into account the common threads of compassion we share in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam,” said Werth, who has a background in Christian education and public relations. “We will look at compassion from an inclusive, human perspective and explore ways we can carry compassion into the world.”

The cost for the Spiritual Spa Day is $20 per person, which includes lunch, bottled water, snacks, door prizes and take-home materials. A portion of the fee will be donated to the Willow Domestic Violence Center of Rochester, in support of October being National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Attendees are also asked to bring canned food or dry goods to be donated to Life Solutions of Hamlin. At the original Spiritual Spa Day there were so many donations the group was able to fill a kayak.

​“We hope to draw women of all faiths and ages from young mom to grandmas,” said Klein, who ran a local bed and breakfast for 20 years. “The goal of the day is to create a better understanding of what we can do as women when we come together.”
Contact Caurie at caurie@urgrad.rochester.edu with news from west-side towns. She’s on Twitter at @CauriePutnam and on Facebook at facebook.com/BrockportBlog/.