Saturday, February 19, 2005
Proceeds benefit victims of domestic violence.
YOUNGSTOWN -- If you are a woman suffering from "cabin fever," or any other malady inflicted upon the souls who call the Mahoning Valley home this time of year, there is a special day of pampering, education and fun designed to be just the cure.
The Women's Wellness & amp; Wisdom seminar will again be at the Youngstown Country Club, 1402 Country Club Drive, Liberty Township, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 5. All proceeds will benefit Sojourner House Domestic Violence Program.
There will be four, 45-minute sessions, and participants will have 20 different activities from which to choose their four sessions.
Examples of some of the sessions include yoga, scrapbooking, drumming, wine tasting, belly dancing, home decorating and acupuncture.
This year, 11 sessions have been added to the program.
A sample of events
Kathy Roberts, a member of the planning committee, explained the event's concept. "Each of the sessions are designed to give the participants a sample of an activity that at some future date she might want to further pursue.
"For example, someone may choose to attend the basic Pilates class and discover that they really enjoy this type of exercise. Another example is a session on how to take the mystery out of buying and selling on eBay."
Each participant also will receive a 20-minute massage and 20 minutes of make-up demonstrations or spa treatments.
After lunch, Sharon Dundee, editor of Get a Life magazine, will be the keynote speaker. In addition to lunch, a continental breakfast will be served during the morning registration; health screenings will be offered by Humility of Mary Health Partners and a Chinese auction will be held.
"Last year was the first year we did this, and the event was very successful both financially and, more importantly, in the measurement of our participants' satisfaction," said Barb Gaffney, another committee member.
"More than 98 percent of the women who completed an evaluation form at the end of the day, rated the overall event as excellent," she said.
All of the presenters, massage therapists and demonstrators donate their time. "All of the money that we make from the $65 registration fee goes directly to the shelter for its operations. Our only expenses are for food and printing and thanks to our sponsors all of those expenses are met," Gaffney explained.
The major sponsors for this year's event are Humility of Mary Health Partners, Denise DeBartolo York, The Center for Behavioral Medicine at Forum Health, Gasser Chair Co. and National City.
Tickets
Tickets are available for $65 each and are being sold on a first-come-first serve basis. The deadline is Friday.
For more details log on to www.sojournerhouse.com, scroll down to Women's Wellness & amp; Wisdom and click on the registration brochure. A copy of the brochure can be downloaded or call Sandy Kessler at (330) 743-9275 for more information.
Sojourner House, a Youngstown/Mahoning Valley United Way agency, is a comprehensive domestic violence program serving Mahoning County.
In addition to the shelter, a 24-hour crisis line is operated; case management, counseling, children's programming, community outreach and judicial advocacy services are available; community support groups are held; and prevention and awareness programming is taught.