Network News

FROM THE PRESIDENT – January 2010    

Dear AWN members,

Welcome to 2010!  It’s hard to believe that we are not only winding up the first decade of the 21st century but we are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of Amarillo Women’s Network!  The contributions and accomplishments of AWN members over the past 30 years are too numerous to mention here but I think they can be summed up with this statement: 

“Ladies, we’ve come a long way thanks to you and we pledge to honor your sacrifice, dedication, and accomplishments by leading the way for all future members”

When we were discussing the 30 year anniversary, way back in 2009, we tried to think of ways to honor this wonderful event.  As brains flittered through ideas we hit on one that we thought could be a unifying theme.  The traditional gift for a 30 year anniversary is pearls and after some research the board declared that Pearls were a perfect symbol for this anniversary.  Depending on which reference you use Pearls stand for:  innocence, unblemished perfections, and pure of heart.  In ancient times they were considered to have magical powers and in the Latin the word for Pearl literally means “unique”.  With all of this in mind, I cannot think of a more perfect symbol for our celebration. 

30 years ago a “unique” group of women “innocently” gathered together because they believed in their “hearts” that the “power” of networking was crucial to their future achievements in career and business.  With this foundation they marched forward, literally taking Amarillo by storm and forcing the business world to take notice of them.  AWN members have been benefiting from that original storm for 30 years. 

We have a lot of exciting things planned for 2010 so I hope you will grab your pearls and come along with us for a great year!

Rhonda Bailey Dittfurth