TheBanyanTree: Women's Weekend

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It’s not Mother’s Day yet, but I’m definitely celebrating my womanhood this
weekend.

Friday and Saturday was the Business and Professional Women of Minnesota
convention in St. Cloud, MN.  St. Cloud is a mid-sized river town with a
college known for partying and the streets lined with bars and pubs.  The
weather was spring perfect for this weekend, and because it was so nice, I
spent most of it inside the hotel in meetings.

This is a fantastic group of women.  The energy flow is almost overwhelming.
As I think about this weekend, my thoughts are of women who are strong,
intelligent, politically active, professional, and emotionally in tune with
themselves.  They care about the political atmosphere in this country.  They
care about education.  They care about jobs.  They care about women being
the best they can be.  And they show they care by opening up their
checkbooks and contributing generously to the BPW PAC, the BPW Foundation,
the BPW MN Foundation, and other charitable organizations in Minnesota.

The Foundations award scholarships to women to continue their education.
The BPW MN Foundation in conjunction with six colleges in Minnesota awards
annual scholarships to women who might not have a chance to go to school.
One of our scholarship winners spoke to us.  She’s married, two children, a
farmer’s wife, and working two jobs to help support her family.  In order
for her to make more money, she needs a college degree.  We’re helping her
get that degree.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after she spoke.

Our group has four “lege heads” as active lobbyists at our state legislature
and once a year, they go to Congress and speak to our representatives there.
Our issues are pay equity, Title IX, ratifying after so many years, the
Equal Rights Amendment.  It is so important during these times of an ill
planned war which has left the country of Iraq is worse shape than it was
before, of a lack of job growth and development, a time where carrying a
concealed gun in Minnesota is now legal, and we have no funds to take care
of our parks, much less people in need, to have strong and persistent voices
that will eventually bring our state and country back to the values they’ve
lost in the past couple of years.

I ate, chatted with, and met so many interesting women this weekend.  I feel
energized, and in a way, cleansed of winter build-up and ready to enjoy
spring and summer in a fresh new way.

Tonight Ray and I will go and listen to Maya Angelou.  Some of the women I
met this weekend heard her earlier this week and said it was a great
program.  I love her poetry and I love the kind of woman she is.

Listening to Ms. Angelou will put the finishing touches on a wonderful
weekend celebrating the power, grace, and creativity of women.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.skywaybpw.org
Skyway Business and Professional Women
Working women connecting.

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.
Enjoy the trip.

~Author Unknown