Welcome spring, I say!!  This is a wonderful time of promise and taking on new projects.  In fact, we have several happening in the coming weeks and months.

Our regional clubs are meeting in Alaska next month to discuss how we are doing as Soroptimists and how to improve our reach and goals to make a difference in our communities. This trip is just one of the benefits experienced in Soroptimist. First, knowing we are making a difference for the women and girls we serve, second, networking with professional women of all walks of life and the resulting friendships and, lastly, having tons of fun in the process.

On that note, Sunday March 28^th we are offering an informational tea to women who have the same goals for women and girls in this community. If you are interested in finding out more about our organization and meeting some of the amazing women who work together in our organization, don’t hesitate to let us know. Contact me here or talk with a Soroptimist you know.

We needed to move the date for our next Bunco fundraiser to May 20^th. If you purchased a ticket, please let the Soroptimist you received it from know and we will either refund your money or you may hold on to it and use it in May. There will be more details in an upcoming newsletter.

Sara Teasdale once said, “A hush is over everything, silent as women wait for love; the world is waiting for the spring.” I am not sure if her thoughts of silent women applies to the women I know, but I do know we surely look forward to helping other women experience spring in their lives. Consider joining us in our cause!

Get Your Friends Together and Join Other Women from Walla Walla for a Fun Evening of Bunco for a Great Cause!

Walla Walla Valley Soroptimist is Proud to Sponsor a Benefit Bunco Event

Proceeds for this important fundraiser go to The Girl’s Council – Cottage Project, a plan which involves raising $450,000.00 to build a home for girls in the Walla Walla Valley. Click here to learn more about this important project and the Girl’s Council.

If you’re already in a Bunco group, please consider holding your February game at our event.

Tickets are only $20.00 and will be available from any Soroptimist next week. Contact Jennifer Sullivan at JSullivan@communitybanknet.com for more information or to get your tickets today!

Don’t know how to play Bunco? Come anyhow! We’ll teach you!

The winners were Melinda Brennan, Carol Peterson, and Anne-Marie Schwerin, with the Grandmother’s Roundtable receiving honorable mention.

Melinda Brennan was a past president and board member of Blue Mountain Association for the Education of Young Children.  She has served at the state level on the advisory panel for the development of Early Learning & Development Benchmarks, was the TEACH Advisory Committee Chair, the President and executive board member for the Organization of Parent Education Programs, Washington Early Learning Foundation Advisory Board, and is a member of the Childcare Resource & Referral Council.

Carol Peterson is involved in many different activities and organizations in the Walla Walla Valley representing the interests of women everywhere.  She served on the Camp Fire USA Board of Directors from 2003-2005 encouraging fundraising as critical to the programs of Camp Fire. She chaired the annual CFUSA Greenery sale and has volunteered at camp for three years with her husband Jim. Carol also served as the Council’s 2nd vice president for two years.

Ann-Marie Schwerin has been a member of Rotary since 2000. She is the board chair of the Housing Authority and a board member of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation. Ann-Marie is also a strong Advocate of Hispanic and Latina girls through her involvement with the Mariposa program.

Those nominated for the award were

Miranda Baerg
Melinda Brennan
Jane Drabek
Holly Howard
Betty Lodmell
Carol Peterson
Anna-Marie Zell-Schwerin
Honorable mention–Grandmother’s Roundtable

The 3^rd Annual Women of Distinction Awards will be held in October 2010.  For more information about this event, please contact Karin at 509.869.0717 or Julie Anne at 509.526.3837.

WWVSI has gone through a few such changes. We have new committee chairs for this year who will continue in the leadership of our club. Our President Elect, Teresa Larson (Baker Boyer Bank) is our Membership/Public Relations chair. Past president, Kaylene Fletcher-Shirley (WWCC) heads up the Service/Program committee. Darlene Snider (WWCC) directs the Fundraising group and Past President, Esther Allred (retired St. Mary’s Hospital) is in charge of our awards. Frances Hector (WWCC) graciously took the challenge of Finance.  Co-chairs Vice President Julie Anne Jones (Consultant) and Karin Hilgersom (WWCC) are doing a wonderful job on our upcoming Woman of Distinction awards banquet.

We also welcome Jennifer Sullivan as a new member of our club. Jennifer works for the Milton-Freewater branch of Community Bank. She comes to us from Soroptimist sister club in Baker City, Oregon. We are sorry for the Baker City club who will miss Jennifer, but we are the glad recipients of her energy and support in our community. Keep a look out for a bio on Jennifer in a future newsletter.

Hopefully you have purchased your ticket for our upcoming Women of Distinction dinner on Saturday, Oct. 17th.  If not, contact any of our members who would be happy to furnish you with a ticket. For more information call us at 526-3837 or e-mail us at julie@julieannejones.com. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Educational Background: Bachelor of Science in Health and Health Promotion.

Passion in life: Health education, dating violence prevention, HIV/AIDS education, risk reduction and relationship communication skills.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley: Give women and girls the opportunities to think about what they want from life and what their ideal relationships would be. One dream would be for women of all ages to be able to come together and share their stories and the wisdom that they have gained and to be able to support each other through life’s challenges and successes.    Strong support networks available to women since many live quite isolated lives.

Melinda Brennan, Walla Walla
Family: Husband: Jack.  Five adult children and 6 grandchildren.

Service & Volunteer Work: Past president and board member of Blue Mountain Association for the Education of Young Children.  Served at the state level on the advisory panel for the development of Early Learning & Development Benchmarks, TEACH Advisory Committee Chair, President and executive board member for the Organization of Parent Education Programs, Washington Early Learning Foundation Advisory Board, member of the Childcare Resource & Referral Council.

Passion in life: Her life exemplifies commitment to the positive development of children, the support of families an the professional growth of women in our community.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley: Continue to advance the cause of young children and their families in our community.

Jane Drabek, Walla Walla
Family: Husband, Charles.  Two adult sons; 4 granddaughters and one grandson.

Educational Background: All of family are or have been educators. She earned BA from the University of New Mexico with a major in elementary education. She earned a  M. Ed. from University of Arizona with specialization in diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities.

Service & Volunteer Work: Helped found Blue Mountain Heart to Heart.  Serviced as Vice President, then President of the board of BMH2H from 2007-2009.  Active member of First Congregational Church; serves on the board of the local PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) chapter; Volunteers for Planned Parenthood of Central Washington.  In 2008, she attended the organizations annual Lobby Day and spoke to her representatives about the importance of funding for family planning services for those that lack insurance.

Passion in life: I am passionate about health, safety and education of girls and women.  I am passionate about creating a community where my four granddaughters can be validated and achieve their goals.    In working with girls and women of all ages in my career in education, I learned their intellectual development depends on physical and psychological security and self-confidence as students.  I am compelled to support organizations and to find volunteer opportunities that promote the well being of women and girls.

I dream of legions of people asking “How Can this be?”  Then I imagine them flying into action by joining those who ask difficult questions and research answers like the Grandmother’s Roundtable and Commitment to Community for finding organizations like Soroptimists or AAUW which raise money to educate women or by volunteering at Planned Parenthood of Blue Mountain Hear to Heart to help keep women healthy.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley: I want people to value girls and women not only for their compassion and physical attributes but for their intellectual achievements and leadership ability.  I want them to have safe places to live, enough to eat and adequate health and dental care so they are free to learn, to work and to dream.

Holly Howard, Walla Walla
Family: Husband, Frank K. Skorina, a physics professor at WWCC, married 24 years. Four children – Matthew 16, junior at Wa-Hi; Russell, 12, 7th grader at Pioneer; Laurel 6, 1st grader at Green Park.

Service & Volunteer Work: Has served on the boards of Explorers, Audubon, Campfire, Walla Walla Swim Club, AFS International Student Exchange.  She has organized the Balloons Day Fun Run 5km for the past 7 years.  She has organized the Walla Walla Valley Mathematics Contest for several years.  She was very involved in fundraising and community support for the Children’s Department Library Addition.  She served as the Executive Director for the Community Center for Youth.  Holly is also an Exchange Club member and USA Swimming Official.  Her latest project is the Lincoln Health Center where she has made health services available to students at Lincoln Alternative high school accessible and affordable.

Passion in life: Her passion for this work has arisen out of the fact that adolescent health care and better health care education is vital from both a primary and mental health care standpoint.  These are formative years and right now we are letting our future community slip away.  We as today’s leaders need to do more and do it efficiently by drawing together resources and not splintering apart over issues that are not the focal point..

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley:
Give people the ability to make choices for themselves, whether that be in sports, or work, relationships or health care options.  All people too, have responsibility for their actions.

Betty Lodmell, Walla Walla
Family: Three children, Jeff, Scott and a daughter, Brenda Shields

Educational Background: She received her teaching credential from Western Oregon.  She was able to attend college with a 4 year scholarship from the PTA.  She taught in public school kindergarten, preschool and first grade. She is in her 52nd year of teaching.  She is the owner, director of Betty’s Preschool since 1962.

Service & Volunteer Work: Belong to Junior Club;   Chairman of book writing project “Mother, May I”  which has 6 successful printings and is in the Library of Congress.  Cub Scouts and Campfire organizations were a big part of her volunteer time .  She was also director of Bible School in her church.

Passion in life: My goal for my work with children is to help them grown in independence, to have as many successes as possible and to gain self esteem and confidence.  Being a self assured can be the key to many good things in life including, good choices for oneself.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley: Her hope for our community is for young mothers of all walks of life to have opportunities to gain knowledge about their roles in their children’s early childhood enrichment and that they would understand the importance of these very formative years of learning.  For children, my hope is that they would have the opportunity to receive quality early childhood education because it can and does make a big difference in the course of a child’s life.

Carol Peterson, Walla Walla
Family: Husband, Jim.

Service & Volunteer Work: Carol is involved in many different activities and organizations in the Walla Walla Valley representing the interests of women everywhere.  She served on the Camp Fire USA Board of Directors from 2003-2005 encouraging fundraising as critical to the programs of Camp Fire. She chaired the annual CFUSA Greenery sale.  Volunteering at camp for three years with her husband Jim; Driving the CFUSA “float’ in the Christmas and fair parades.  She served as Council’s 2nd vice president for two years.

She was musical director for the 1990 WWCC Foundation summer musical Oklahoma.

She served on the YWCA board and is intensely committed to women’s empowerment and is seriously devoted to the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism.  She chaired the YWCA’s Racial Justice Committee.
She coached girls little league softball and senior league softball for many years.  She started the girls’ softball team at DeSales High School.  She served as volunteer coach with Robin Greene at WWCC women’s softball team.   She volunteered with Jerry Humphreys coaching Wa-Hi girls’ softball for 9 years.

She volunteers with the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery program.

She is a member of the Walla Walla County Rural Library District Board of Trustees and is currently serving a 5 year term appointed by the county commissioners.

She is a member of the Walla Walla Valley Band and her role as a great humanitarian has made a great impact in this organization.

Passion in life: I really believe in the statement “She believed she could so she did”.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley:The most important thing we can do for women and girls in our community is to create opportunities so they understand they can make anything they dream come into reality.

Anne-Marie Zell-Schwerin, Waitsburg

Educational Background: An accountant by training. She is the Executive Director of the YWCA for many years.

Service & Volunteer Work: Member of Rotary since 2000; Board chair of Housing Authority; Board member of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation.  Safe housing has been made available, essential clothing and personal items have been collected and legal and social services support have been donated.  Advocacy of Hispanic and Latina girls has been strengthened through the Mariposa program.

Passion in life: Women are incredibly strong, and we don’t always know it.  We have considerable influence in our homes, and we don’t always believe it.  We influence most of the major household purchasing decisions, and we don’t always realize we do.  I want to be part of creating conditions where women and girls realize their strengths individually and collectively. Seeing the face of a woman when she realizes that rape is NOT her fault or listening to the presentation by the girl who discovers she CAN make a public presentation reminds me that the potential for empowerment is present in each one of us.  We need to nurture it in ourselves and also in others.  An empowered woman makes an empowered household.  Empowered households change society.

I am inspired by the potential of women and girls as change agents in our world.  Women who came before us made things happen and instead of stopping after meeting their individual needs, they made policy to make life better for all.

Ways in which she would like to see women and girls better served in the Walla Walla Valley: I dream of a day when asked to envision leaders, the women and girls of this community would all envision women as leaders.

Grandmothers Roundtable

This is a nonpartisan group of mature women from the Walla Walla Valley.  These women believe we have a special responsibility to model the ethic of participation to make our democracy work.  They seek out and create opportunities to listen, question and learn so we and our neighbors can better participate in more balanced public decision making.

They sponsor nonpartisan open dialogue, educational forums and other activities around issues of interest in the Walla Walla Valley.

If you know one of the ladies congratulate them.  Consider coming to the awards dinner to support and celebrate their achievements with us on October 17th at the Marcus Whitman.  I can promise you a night of fun and inspiration.  Contact any Soroptimist member you know or call the numbers listed on our website for more information and tickets.

Later in November we will hold another crazy night of Bunco.  If you are currently in a bunco group, consider talking with your friends about joining us for the evening. If you have never played then definitely come and learn how. We can guarantee you will learn quickly and the night will be filled with laughter, fun and prizes.  As usual we will be looking to raise funds for the many projects we support such as free mammograms for women, sending girls to camp, and donating to organizations that improve the lives of women and girls in our community.   Keep your eye out for the details on when and where.

Our September program meeting will feature Laura Schilling, MSW from Girls Counsel. If you are not familiar with their organization you can find more information on their website http://www.girlscouncil.org/.  Their missions statements reads: GIRLS COUNCIL is committed to “empowering girls to become strong women” through researched based, gender-specific programming and a residential placement project.  Consider attending this interesting presentation on September  22nd at 5:30pm.  Information of the location will be posted on our calendar soon.  We hope to see you there.

Marian Wright Edelman once said, “I’m doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I’m really grateful to have something that I’m passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.”  As Soroptimists we are passionate about women and girls in our community and in our world. If you are looking for others who share this passion and commitment we invite you to join us.

The list of nominees is:

Miranda Baerg
Melinda Brennan
Jane Drabek
Holly Howard
Betty Lodmell
Carol Peterson
Anna-Marie Zell-Schwerin
Honorable mention–Grandmother’s Roundtable

These nominees serve the Walla Walla region in so many significant ways.  Like the Soroptimist service club, these women have worked in ways to improve the lives of women and girls.

Come celebrate their achievements at the Women of Distinction Dinner, Saturday, October 17th at the Marcus Whitman. Soroptimist members are selling tickets now.

Please phone 509.869.0717 (Karin) or 509.526.3837(Julie Anne) for ticket information.

The Women of Distinction 2009 Award Winners will be announced at the event.

One of last years’ projects was to help establish the new Helpline STEP Women’s Shelter for homeless single women. In early June, I was honored to attend the grand opening and cut the ribbon as a representative of Soroptimist. We are continuing to support this project by hosting a Human Trafficking Weekend in January to raise awareness of the problem and more funding for the continuing needs of the shelter. Stay tuned for upcoming information.

We are also looking forward to the growth of our club as we continue to spread the news of our club and mission by words and deeds in our community. One example is our July program meeting where members brought items and made care packages/baskets for the women coming into the shelter. Another is our annual Women of Distinction awards banquet in October where we will once again recognize the nominated “ordinary women doing extraordinary things” in our community.

If you know of a need for women and girls in our local area, don’t hesitate to send us an email and we will see what we can do to help.

If you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome! We hope you enjoy hearing our news each month. If you are interested in more information about Soroptimist, upcoming events, or our meetings, check out our calendar to the left or click here to contact us. We would also love it if you would forward this e-mail (using the link to the left) to any other women whom you feel would be interested in our group.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said, “I believe that what a woman resents is not so much giving herself in pieces as giving herself purposelessly.”  Join us as we live with purpose in our efforts to improve the lives of women and girls in our world.

Click here to view part 1
Click here to view part 2

Soroptimist International of Walla Walla Valley is a group of service minded women working toward the betterment of women and girls in this community and worldwide.  As an extension of its parent organization, Soroptimist International of the Americas, SI of Walla Walla Valley is one of more than 1,400 clubs in 19 countries and territories.  Each local club assesses the needs of its community and undertakes projects to meet those needs, receiving assistance in its volunteer efforts by participating in programs developed and sponsored by the international Soroptimist organization.

In addition to providing this community the opportunity to celebrate local women whose lives exemplify the club’s own mission, this prestigious event will raise funds for two award programs supported by Soroptimist clubs worldwide—the Women’s Opportunity Award and the Violet Richardson Award.  The Women’s Opportunity Award provides cash grants for head-of-household women seeking to improve their lives with the help of additional education and training.  The Violet Richardson Award honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17 whose volunteer activities make a difference in their communities.  To learn more about these awards and other Soroptimist programs, please visit:  www.soroptimist.org, www.soroptimistnwr.com, or www.soroptimistwwv.org.

You are invited to help our club honor the women in our community by nominating one or more women whose contributions on behalf of other women and girls you believe to be noteworthy.  Nominations must be made via the nomination forms,  (click here to download the application) and submitted to SI of Walla Walla Valley, at the address below, by Friday, July 10, 2009. This award is not limited to professional women, or to those most visible in the community.  We encourage you to nominate any woman you know to be inspiring, encouraging and supporting the lives of other women and girls.

Click here to download a copy of the above letter along with the application.