GUELPH – Two women with links to Wellington County will receive Women of Distinction awards at the YMCA-YWCA’s gala event here in May.
Anne Day, who lives in Puslinch, has a long list of accomplishments over her eclectic career, but is perhaps best-known as founder of Company of Women, an organization that brings women entrepreneurs together for networking, workshops, and support as they navigate their own businesses.
ANNE DAY
Day and her husband lived in Oakville for 35 years and moved to Puslinch 15 years ago, where she plunged into volunteer work – as a former board member of the Aberfoyle Farmer’s Market, and volunteer editor of the Puslinch Pioneer.
She also operates Full Circle Publishing, which helps budding authors get their manuscripts ready for print and marketing.
The award, she said, “is very flattering. I won a Rotary award last week and now this. Seems like it took 69 years for me to become famous.”
Sharon Rice, the executive director of the Children’s Wish Fund for Guelph since 2015, has a long history of volunteer work in Elora and Centre Wellington.
SHARON RICE
She was general manager of the Elora Festival three times as well as being a board member in 1983; she was on the board of the River Run Centre in Guelph before it was named; sat on Centre Wellington’s Parks, Recreation and Culture committee and was a board member of Groves Memorial Community Hospital for eight years.
“I guess I have a spirit of volunteering,” she said. “I love Guelph and I love Elora.”
More honorees
Other honorees include: Chantalle Asselin, Melinda Burns, Dr. Andrea Bradford, Charmaine Collins, Katherine Gibson, Rachel Guthrie, Sarah Haanstra, Jennifer Harrison, Leslie Howarth, Barb McPhee, Merrill Pierce, Crista Renner, Pat Smith, and Ingrid Von Cube. Honourary chair is Dominique O’Rourke.
As well as celebrating remarkable women in the community, the Women of Distinction event is a fundraiser for the Y’s Teenage Parents Program (TAPPS), a program that supports the growth and personal development of pregnant and parenting teens and their families.
Maddison Ford, a 20-year-old mother of a three-year old, is winner of this year’s Turning Point Award. She joined the TAPPS program when she learned she was pregnant at 17 and has been a regular ever since. She credits the program with offering friendship and life skills and is a full-time nursing student at Conestoga College.
The gala is slated for May 7 at the River Run Centre in Guelph. Tickets are $70 for adults; $40 for students aged 13 to 17 and are available at the Guelph Y or at guelphy.org.
