OWA 30th Anniversary Celebration

For the last year, the OWA 30th Anniversary Celebration Committee has been planning for activities to commemorate this important milestone for the Organization. We want to include a variety of events throughout 2003 to give our members, former members, and friends of the organization the opportunity to participate in as many events as planned. Our goal is to offer choices that will live up to the diverse interest of our members as well as accommodate their busy schedules.

As we get closer to the events, we will be soliciting volunteers to work on both the preparation of the events as well as participating in the events itself. We look forward to your support and collaboration to celebrate our anniversary.

-- Gilda Puente-Peters

30thAnniversary Celebration Schedule 2003

Anniversary Party at Treasure Island
Bay to Breakers Race
Trip to Ecuador
Symposium at UC Berkeley
Anniversary Retreat at Westerbeke
Christmas giving

Anniversary Memorabilia
Fund Raising
We Need Your Help

8 Mar 2003
18 May 2003
14-22 Jun 2003
13 Sep 2003
19-21 Sep 2003
4 Dec 2003

Anniversary Party at Treasure Island: 8 Mar 2003

(see the recap and how to order photos in the May/Jun 2003 Newsletter)

Everybody put on the Ritz! Next year we're celebrating OWA's 30th Anniversary at a Gala Ball, March 8, 2003 (it's, International Women's Day appropriately enough). We are planning a fun party so please mark your calendars. We've already booked Treasure Island's Casa de la Vista, a perfect vantage point for taking in the sunset during cocktail hour. We'll enjoy the music of the Berkeley High Jazz Quartet during our gourmet dinner. Later in the evening, a dance instructor will sharpen our fancy footwork! The Gala is a celebration for past, present, and future OWA members and friends, so please help us make it a success by helping to contact all our former OWA members. We also need volunteers to form a telephone tree to contact members and encourage everyone to join in the merriment. We plan to fill the hall with flowers and twinkle lights, so we're looking for decorating and clean-up volunteers on the day and night of the party. If you are interested in helping out or know the whereabouts of a former member, please contact Betty Woo.

Bay to Breakers Race: 18 May 2003

Come run with us! Come walk with us! Or simply come for a jolly good time to hang out with your friends and 70,000 other San Franciscans! We would like to encourage everyone to participate as a group representing OWA in this world famous eclectic foot race. Organized by San Francisco Bay to Breakers Foundation, the race will donate all net proceeds to the children-at-risk programs at The Glide Foundation, The Guardsmen, the What to Expect Foundation, and Larkin Street Youth Center.

To dress or not to dress in costume? That is yet to be determined. There are still many details to figure out but we want you to start thinking about it. The plan is to have everyone meet for a simple breakfast, nothing fancy, so that everyone can get acquainted. After the race begins, whether you plan to run or walk, the agenda is up to you. However, we can plan on regrouping at the grand finale party in Golden Gate Park. And for you hardcore runners, don't worry we won't hold you back. Try not to lose your teammates!

If any of you have suggestions on how we can decorate ourselves, something simple and creative would be best. It would be a way for us to recognize and find each other in the maddening crowd. Please contact Mignon O'Young.

Motivate and prepare yourself for next year's run with OWA by checking out www.baytobreakers.com for updates on this year's race and related events, as well as next year's information.

Trip to Ecuador: 14-22 Jun 2003

(read a brief recap with photos in the Nov/Dec 2003 Newsletter)

Come and join us in visiting one of the wonders of the world. Explore everything from its beautiful natural scenery to the colonial architecture that goes back to the seventeenth century. Visit Ecuador with your OWA friends and your Ecuadorian colleague Gilda Puente-Peters as a personal guide. Ecuador is a small Andean country with abundant cultural diversity to offer. We will be visiting the avenue of the volcanoes, staying overnight at colonial haciendas, having a taste of the local foods, visiting artisans, local markets, natural hot springs and folklore clubs.

Enjoy downtown colonial Quito, full of wonderful architectural treasures, churches, cloisters and art museums. The northern part of Quito, a very modern city has many places of interest where we can enjoy the culture, local cuisine and scenic views. The trip starts at 9,000 feet and only goes up from there!! Extended trips can be arranged to visit the rain forest, beaches or the Galapagos Islands. Committee for trip - Gilda Puente-Peters and Marda Stothers.

Symposium at UC Berkeley: 13 Sep 2003

The one-day Symposium will be held in the new Auditorium in Wurster Hall. It is cosponsored with the Department of Architecture to attract students' participation and to introduce students to our organization. The speakers we have invited are Dolores Hayden from Yale University, Kathryn Anthony from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, Nasrine Seraji from Cornell University, Ananya Roy from the University of California,Berkeley, and Eleni Bastea from the University of New Mexico.

The theme of the symposium is about women design professionals in the 21st century. For more information, contact Mui Ho.

Moreinformation is available in the following Newsletters:
Nov/Dec 2002
Mar/Apr 2003
Jul/Aug 2003

Retreat at Westerbeke: 19-21 Sep 2003

To celebrate the Anniversary year, the retreat Committee has extended the traditional three day retreat to four. For more information, contact Janet Crane.

More information is available in the following Newsletters:
Jan/Feb 2003
Mar/Apr 2003

Memorabilia (in progress)

The subcommittee for publication has been working on a commemorative brochure. It will document the history, milestones, memorable events, and achievements of OWA. It will summarize the influence that groups such as OWA and others alike have on the lives and careers of individual members. The format and content of the publication is not yet finalized. We are considering several formats and editing the contents for the draft. We hope to receive contributions from past and current members in addition to our own files.

If you are interested in joining the subcommittee or would like to contribute a paragraph please call Danica Truchlikova or Inge Horton.

Fund Raising

In support of the OWA's 30th anniversary celebration activities this year, Kathleen Cruise and Janet Crane are coordinating a fundraising campaign. To attract sponsors and donors a solicitations were sent to members, friends and vendors. The donations and contributions are tax deductible and will be recognized in event programs. The events include the Gala Dinner, Saturday March 8 at Casa de la Vista, Treasure Island; an OWA Bay to Breakers runners group May 25; a trip to Ecuador June 19; the symposium Towards an Engaged Architecture, Saturday September 13 in Wurster Hall, UCB; and the anniversary retreat at the Westerbeke Ranch September 19-21. As of two weeks into the fundraising campaign, we have collected $3,500 toward our $10,000 goal.

Please help recognize the achievement of OWA in supporting women in the design professions since 1973 with your participation and financial support. Join the contributors, or attract other contributors so that we can have celebrations worthy of three decades of success, and so that we may make the celebrations accessible to all. Mail checks payable to OWA 30th Celebration to P.O. Box 10078 Berkeley CA 94709. Thank you for your support! We look forward to seeing you at the events.

-Kathleen Cruise

We Need Your Help

Roll call: Please Help us get in touch with former OWA members who might be interested in celebrating with us. If you are aware of any former members who are not currently in the OWA directory, pleas submit names and contact information to Inge Horton.

Graphic designers: A committee is in session to plan various venues for our 30th anniversary celebrations, and all of the, in one way or another, need a graphic designer's input. Understandably, we would like to work with an OWA member. This is a call for graphic designers who would like to participate, and recommendations from members for graphic designers you have worked with before. Please contact Danica Truchlikova.

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