Local WOW honorees on display in mayor's office

SANDPOINT — Dozens of the region’s most influential women now have a place of honor in the mayor’s office.

The plaques created to honor each year’s selections for the Bonner County Women of Wisdom award previously collected dust in storage. Now that Mayor Marsha Ogilvie is settled into the new office she occupied in January, however, she set aside a place of honor for the women of honor. The twelve plaques now sit behind the mayor’s desk, where Ogilvie oversees the city’s business.

“It feels really good to have these plaques here,” Ogilvie said. “It’s very comforting knowing are here watching over me.”

Ever since 1999, the organizers of Women Honoring Women have selected some of the community’s most giving and hard-working women over 65 to acknowledge their contributions. After a nomination process finalized each year’s honorees, program organizers take a picture of them and include it in a plaque listing each individual’s name. Aside from a presentation at the award ceremony, there hasn’t been a location to house those plaques until now.

Ogilvie started up Women Honoring Women more than 12 years ago and initially served as the committee’s first chairperson. Since then, Kathy Chambers has taken over the role of chairperson, and the organization maintains its original goal of appreciating pillars of the community. In that time, 75 women have received the Woman of Wisdom title.

That number will soon be expanding. The Women Honoring Women committee is now accepting nominations for honorees. Candidates must be age 65 or older, possess a vision and achieve goals through collaboration, exhibit a love of learning, display commitment to Bonner County and its residents, demonstrate leadership that provokes respect and admiration, inspire others toward similar achievements and face life’s challenges with grace and courage.

If those qualities remind you of someone you know, feel free to send the committee a nomination. Women of Wisdom nomination forms will appear several times in the Daily Bee and are also available online at www.bonnercountywomenofwisdom.shutterfly.com.

Letters of support for nominees can be mailed to 1481 Wrenco Loop Road, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864, and should include describe why they deserve the honor.