Ingram Thurston: Celebrating the excellent women of Los Banos Soroptimist
The Los Banos Soroptimist held one of their banner events Feb. 28 when the club hosted a social night for prospective new members, as well as awarding of the three winners with the Live Your Dream award.
The event, held at the amazing Biggins Texas BBQ on ninth street, mixed the winning combination of great food, lively conversation, acknowledgments and awards to wonderful women, as well as a timely talk by guest speaker, Rhonda Lowe.
The full evening was hosted by Soroptimist president, Sherry Pearson, who reconfirmed the club’s mission statement to improve the lives of women and girls.
The evening began with a moment of silence in recognition of the suffering in Ukraine. The committee head of the Live It Dream It Award, Deborah Todd, explained the award is designed to help women further their education or training to better provide and care for their family.
Todd explained she felt that the night’s winners were remarkable young women who were working hard to achieve their goals in spite of life’s speed bumps.
Funds to help provide for the three scholarships were in part provided by our communities’ great support of the Soroptimist recent See’s Candy sale and a grant from Sutter Health.
The third place winner was Luz Mungia who is pursuing her education in health science with nursing as her goal. Second place Elizabeth Lopez is also on the educational path of health science.
The first place winner was Chirstine Carlson-Marion who is heading for a degree in law with her emphasis on family law.
The main speaker, Rhonda Lowe, has been involved with the business community of Los Banos for over 30 years and is currently with the Small Business Development Agency representing multiple counties.
Lowe spoke about the dynamics and needs of the small business owner, and said that small businesses are still the leaders in job creation, representing about 61%.
Speaking of the wins and losses of owning a small business, Lowe commented she had owned small businesses herself and understood the challenges, and was excited to be in the position to help new businesses with the information and skills to help them succeed.
The Small Business Developments Youth Entrepreneur program is an area where Lowe is especially excited to be able to facilitate. Lowe closed her remarks with one of her favorite quotes:”When we embrace a woman, we embrace her child, when we embrace her child, we embrace the world.”
March has already shown that Los Banos is facing a robust future calendar. The activity began last Friday, March 4, with the Milliken Museum’s Arbor Day Breakfast held at the Community Center where many citizens came to enjoy pancakes and help raise funds for the Milliken Museum.
Upcoming events
The popular Rotary Crab Feed is back! It will be held on April 1st at the Fairgrounds. For tickets, $75 contact Gene Lieb at (209) 704 3831.
April 16th will be the Easter Egg Hunt at Pacheco park from 11-4 p.m.. Dogs must be on leashes.
There promises to be food, vendors, family fun and of course, a visit from the Easter Bunny. Mother’s Day in the Park this year will be hosted by the Los Banos Downtown Association on May 7 and 8.
The Arts and Crafts Day Fair will be held at Pacheco Park from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and will include arts, crafts, foods, entertainment and more.
The May Day Spring Fair is coming soon! Plan to enjoy a vacation right here at home. There is something so magical about our fair. The parade, the animals, the rides, the entertainment, the food, and oh yes, the food! Nothing smells as good as fresh cotton candy, cinnamon rolls and corn dogs.
This is the event made for the entire family. We are so blessed to have a fair like this right here in our own hometown. If ever there was a time we needed a spring fair it’s now!
People who drive by home may note that on my two lamp posts I have a bunch of sunflowers tied together with blue and yellow ribbon. This is to show my solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
Like most of you, I am watching the news as we see in real time this invasion of a sovereign nation. Perhaps it is due to a strong connection to World War II that I feel it is so important for us to be reminded that the human race is all interconnected.
What touches one, touches all. It is my prayer that peace and sanity return soon. Our world has endured a nightmare called COVID and we are striving to rebound and live a fuller, safer life. The world should not have to endure yet another nightmare.