American Canyon mother-daughter team win Soroptimist honors

By LINDA LUIPPOLD
Eagle Staff Writer

A mother and daughter from American Canyon were among the honorees at a Soroptimist International award ceremony held April 6 at the Holiday Inn in Vallejo. The evening was a collaboration of the Vallejo Gateway and American Canyon chapters of Soroptimist International, a group dedicated to "improving the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world."

"Tonight is about celebrating the joy of achieving dignity of service. That's what our awardees are about and what we are about," said past Soroptimist governor Susan Joyce.

Four awards were presented by each chapter to two women and two teens who each shared their personal stories of altruism and achievement.

Chapter presidents Mattie Young of Gateway Vallejo and Linda Tubb of American Canyon introduced the honorees to the appreciative crowd.

Role Model Teens

The American Canyon Chapter presented two Violet Richardson Awards (for young women between the age of 14-17) for volunteer action.

American Canyon's Amy Durham received $250 and a matching amount for her service project, the American Canyon Fire District Explorer's Post 262.

Durham is a senior at Vintage High and has been with the Explorers for three years. Explorers are ages 14 and 21 and are interested in becoming a member of the fire service or emergency medical fields. She assisted with many community activities including the annual Santa's sleigh and Toys for Tots programs.

Durham recently attended the Fire Explorer Academy to expand her fire and safety knowledge and is "looking forward to the next one."

The Durham family was doubly honored. Amy's mother, Chris, received the Women's Opportunity award and a $1,000 prize. That award is presented to a woman who is head of household and who is furthering her education to enter or re-enter the workplace.

Chris Durham is a single mother with five children and is working towards a paralegal certificate at Napa Valley College.

"My children are very motivating and I want to keep it that way and let them know life goes on," she said.

Like Amy Durham, Amy Fetcher of Napa also received $250, as did her service project, the Napa Valley Soccer Club.

Fetcher has been playing soccer since she was seven and now referees and coaches younger girls. "It's great to be recognized for soccer and helping out with things that come natural for me within the community," said Fetcher in her award speech.

Fetcher began volunteering when she was in kindergarten, singing Christmas carols at a retirement home. Now a senior at Vintage High, her resume of volunteering and community service includes helping disabled children, tutoring, taking part in coastal clean-up and volunteer efforts she started on her own.

Fetcher is the valedictorian from a class of 455 students at Vintage High School and will attend UC Berkeley next fall to study architecture.

A lasting impression

Long-term resident and AmCan advocate Joan Bennett presented the "Making a Difference for Women" award to Napa Valley College professor and author Lauren Coodley for inspiring women and girls and helping to improve their lives.

As a professor at Napa College in the late 1970s, Coodley helped to organize the school's first group to combat violence against women, NEWS (Napa Emergency Women's Services) with her students manning the phone lines. For 25 years she has held women's history events on campus and has been a mentor for higher education. Coodley taught "math anxiety" for more than 15 years. "Math was a barrier for women. They felt they couldn't excel if they didn't do good in math," said Coodley.

Under her leadership, the number of students grew from a single classroom full to 150 students a semester. At least a half dozen of her students, many of them first-generation college students, have continued their education and have become teachers.

Now Coodley teaches history so women can "believe in themselves and the power of history," she said. After raising two children as a single mother, she became a foster parent in the last few years and has written two books with a feminist perspective "to share her words with the wider public."

Coodley was also presented with a regional nomination and invited to attend a May 8, 2005 ceremony where, if a winner, she will receive $5,000 towards the charitable organization of her choice. Previous winners in this category include congresswomen, Princess Diana, Shirley Temple Black and former Philippines President Corazon Aquino.

Addressing the attendees, Coodley said, "History is stitched with the invisible work of women, sitting at crafts fairs, visiting nursing homes, coaching soccer, or staffing a hotline before there was even a shelter in Napa." She went on to say how she tried in her recent book, "Napa: The Transformation of an American Town," to write the history of all those women through stories of women she has known. She said she dedicated the book to her grandparents, "whose most proud achievement was their 30 years volunteering at the Vets Hospital in West Los Angeles. I only wish that they were still alive to share this moment with me. This award is for them."

For information about the American Canyon Soroptimists or to nominate candidates for future awards, contact Linda Tubb at 372-0812 or visit www.soroptimist.org.

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