Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Downtown Greater Napanee BIA and the Napanee District Chamber of Commerce (NDCC) will be celebrating the many inspirational ladies in the area with their first ever Women with Momentum event Nov. 28 at the SPC.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with a vendor show followed by guest speakers at 6:30 p.m.
Following a similar format to the hit talk show The View, Women with Momentum will feature a panel of four local women who are thriving in their respective fields.
“We have a marketplace happening for the first hour for those who purchased tickets, we have a light dinner thanks to the Catering Company and some awesome gifts,” said Megan Sands, business manager for the NDCC. “A part of this will be a speaker panel. We have interviewed several ladies in the community and have picked four ladies to talk about their challenges and their wins in terms of everything from business to professional life to personal life to education and equality.”
Moderated by Lisa Ray Koenig, the panel includes six-term Limestone District School Board Trustee Laurie French, Health Hut owner and registered massage therapist Thomasina Larkin, Diamond Fitness Mixed Martial Arts owner and Miss Greater Napanee 2018 Meighen Hodgen and Napanee Opticians owner Lori Morris.
“It’s going to be a comfortable atmosphere where both men and women will be able to take something away and maybe identify with one or more of the panelists up on stage,” said Sands. “We have a lot of powerful women in this community, a lot of women that are trail blazers, business professionals and young entrepreneurs. We wanted to showcase them with this event and really honour them on (at another event on) March 5.”
The Women With Momentum speaker panel on Nov. 28 is meant to serve as Part 1 of the event, with an awards ceremony planned for March 5, also at the SPC.
Tickets for the Nov. 28 talk are $60 and available at www.WomenWithMomentum.com, which also features a full bio on each speaker.
Those that do attend are encouraged to bring with them gently used women’s business wear to be donated to Dress For Success. The charitable organization, which will have a booth at the event, helps women get back into the workforce after an extended absence.
Among the gifts included in the purchase of the ticket is a pink card, which offers discounts to Moonlight Merchants, which will be taking place in downtown Napanee on Nov. 29 from 6-9 p.m. During that night vendors will set up shop at Lili’s Esthetics, Second Debut, Indigo & Roses and Smart Florists, offering a variety of deals.
As a lead up to the speaker panel event, a ‘Travelling Mug’ has been making its way around town with the words Women With Momentum adorned on the side.
“You have to pass it on to someone in the area who is an incredibly amazing, strong wonderful woman,” explains BIA executive director Tiffany Lloyd of the mug. “There was no limitations on who it could be. It could have been someone in business, it could have been a doctor, it could have been a stay at home mom, it didn’t matter.”
For much of 2019, the mug has been popping up on social media as it makes its way through Greater Napanee. The mug has had no shortage of recipients, highlighting just how many inspiring women reside within the community.