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SOROPTIMIST RUBY AWARD

Each year local Soroptimist clubs select a woman who distinguishes herself in that community, locality, area, or region. Award winners are customarily announced and recognized at meeting functions held in the early spring of each year.

Former U. S. Supreme Court Justice
and past Soroptimist (SI-Phoenix) member
Sandra Day O'Connor spoke during  Indiana University-Purdue University Omnibus Lecture Series April 24th, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Justice O"Connor was a Soroptimist between 1989 and 1991. She relinquished her membership upon being named by the President to serve on the nation's highest court. She was the first woman to serve the country in capacity as Justice.

Congratulations to Gaylord, Michigan's Whitney Cerak, who graduated from Taylor University, Upland, Indiana,
May 24th, 2009. The psychology major will travel to Kenya this summer to help her sister's efforts there.

From the Associated Press report:: May 24, 2009 
Whitney Survives Improbable Accidental Vortex Experience,
Graduates, Join Her Sister's Volunteer Efforts in Kenya

UPLAND, Ind. – Whitney, Cerak, a Michigan woman once believed to have died in a horrific van crash three  years ago,  has  graduated from Taylor Universityin Indiana. Whitney, a resident of Gaylord, Michigan, completed her studies in psychology at the Upland campus. She plans to travel soon to Kenya to work with her sister helping children.

"We are excited to see her reach this milestone of graduation. It just didn't seem possible three years ago," Taylor spokesman Jim Garringer said. "In fact, three years ago, we didn't even know that she had survived the accident."

Cerak was thought to have been among the Taylor students who died with a university staff member. April 26, 2006, a semi trailer crossed a median, crashed into their van on Interstate 69, claiming  four student lives. The group was returning from an event in Fort Wayne to the campus of the evangelical Christian liberal arts school. through a mis-identification by the county coroner, Cerak, on of two blonde coeds,  was declared dead. Her family made appropriate funeral arrangements. Parents of the affected families came together to support each other as the reporting of the creash, made them the focus of national attention. Treatment of the one survivor occupied treatment and therapy in closest Fort Wayne, Indiana, hospital in  proximity where the collision had occured. But five weeks after the truck-van collision,   the brother and family of another student, Laura Van Ryn, of Caledonia, Mich., realized the hospitalized young woman they thought was their relative actually was Cerak.
 
"She simply got into a van with some friends, and when she woke up she was in the center of this vortex," Garringer said. Police investigators determined the driver of the semi that struck the van, Robert F. Spencer of Canton Township near Detroit, had fallen asleep at the wheel. He pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and criminal recklessness and was given an eight-year prison sentence with four years suspended. He was released from prison last August. Cerak says she plans to travel to Kenya in July and remain there through February.  
See related  video statement. 

Acombined-family account of this multi-facet and story has been  in print since sortly following the 2006 accident. The book Mistaken Identity, whose cover features photos of the two girls, is available through most booksellers. "We rejoice with her and her family and look forward to what this next stage in life holds for her," Garringer said.

12.30.09 Update: Best Wishes! Whitney's parents have announced her engagement.

Chicago area women had the opportunity to meet actress Betty White March 13
as the Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications  hosed her return to the city. See details for tickets.

Columbus SUNNY Radio Names
Rachel Muha Among
20 Outstanding Women Leaders

Congratulations to Miss America 2009. She is the first Miss Indiana to win the coveted title.
Her platform as she represents America in her travels this year is to promote young people to engage in early and active volunteer service in their communities. Learn about this youthful advocate at www.missamerica.org