International Peace Garden Festival

The Salt Lake Council of Women hosted it's annual International Peace Garden Festival at Jordan Park on Saturday. I arrived in time to see the Greek Dancers on stage, but the park's beautiful gardens were teeming with both international dancers in colorful costumes and those of us who came to watch the dancing, sample the various cuisines, and just enjoy the day.

As I walked through the gardens it struck me once again just how fortunate I am to be a part of an international organization with a mission of improving the lives of women and girls in our communities and around the world. While I am so very proud of the work that Soroptimist International of Salt Lake does locally, I couldn't be prouder of the work we are doing internationally as we combine the voice and the passion of tens of thousands of women. Over the years I've been a member, Soroptimists have brought drinking water to Senegal, homes and jobs skills to Sierra Leone, and prosthetic limbs to war-torn eastern Europe. We sent malaria nets to Central Africa. We established a micro-lending program we called "Project Independence" to help women survivors of war. And these are only a few. You can learn more about the programme (British spelling intentional) of Soroptimist International at http://soroptimistinternational.org.

The Salt Lake Council of Women is 100 year old this year, and SI SLC's own Cathy Stevens has the honor of serving as Council President during their Centennial year. SI SLC has been a member of the Salt Lake Council for many years - actually I'm hoping it's 80, which is the birthday we celebrate this year.

Congratulations to SLCW for a fabulous event, and good luck, Cathy, in your year as President! We're cheering for you!