Fourteen women who have been nominated to receive one of four awards, will have to wait until April 24 to find out who the judges decided is the most worthy recipient of one of Estevan's Women of Today titles. The short-list of nominees vying for the title of either Outstanding Entrepreneur (Ida Petterson Memorial); Contributor to the Community (SaskTel); Contributor to the Workplace (SaskPower) or Young Woman of Achievement (Shirley Orsted Memorial), was revealed on Tuesday afternoon during a press conference luncheon in the small Legion Hall.The Quota Club of Estevan, in partnership with the major sponsor, SaskPower, held the event to help promote the Women of Today luncheon on April 24. Darci Lang, a motivational keynote speaker and author who focuses on women needing to pay attention to the other 90 per cent of their lives since they mostly give just 10 per cent to their families, will address the audience. The luncheon also featured the handing out of certificates of appreciation to the many corporate sponsors of the Women of Today event which is now in its 15th year in the Energy City. Quota also received a cheque in the amount of $4,200 from SaskPower, their major partner in the program from corporate representative Sandra Whitford who noted that the 2,700 employees of the Crown corporation joined her in honouring "those who want to make our community better." Whitford added that SaskPower has been the long-time major sponsor of the Estevan event and they applaud Quota and the community for the teamwork that goes into its production every year. Valernie Hall and April Mitchell, co-chairwomen of this year's event, accepted the cheque and reminded those attending the Tuesday noon function that the major unveiling of the winners slated for April 24 is usually a sold-out event. This year it will again be held in the Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadet Hall on the exhibition grounds. The chairwomen also announced that the profits from this year's Women of Today will be sent in six different directions with cheques going to Envision, the Family Centre, Westview and Sacred Heart Schools, Hearthstone (new nursing home) and St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation. It was the naming of the nominees however, that attracted the most attention on March 26. Three nominees made the short list for the SaskPower Outstanding Contribution to the Workplace Award and they are Susan Mack of Canyon Technical Services, Sue Resler at the Prairie Animal Health Centre and Shannon Leibel with Sun Country Well Servicing. Four women were nominated for the SaskTel Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award and they were: Becky Tait,marketing and operations manager for the Estevan Bruins; Carol Knievel, hospitality co-ordinator for the Warm Welcome shelter; Valerie Paulson, a passionate fundraising volunteer for minor football; and Raelene Fieber, a Sunday school instructor, Girl Guide leader and a founding member of Prairie Wind Sisters. The four nominees for the Shirley Orsted Memorial Award for Young Women are: Elusha Baird, a leader in the Lampman School's after school and leadership programs; Shaylee Foord, an ECS student who excels in music and is a committed volunteer with a large work ethic; Taylor Roy, who focuses on humanitarian projects locally and in other countries and Chanel Thievin, a competitive athlete, coach and volunteer. The three nominees for the Ida Peterson Memorial Award for Outstanding Female Entrepreneur are: Clara-Marie Freitag, owner and operator of the retail Street Wear store; Sylvia Garchinski, owner and manager of Houston Pizza; and Judy Istace, co-owner and manager of retail outlets XS-iV in both Estevan and Weyburn.
