Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - A Sheroes program will be held on Friday, April 3, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 136 of Warner Hall in the Patricia A. Doyle Women's Center on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus. Everyone is invited to attend this free event. Attendees can share a story, poem or song about their shero, a female positive influence in their lives, but it is not required.

The idea for the Sheroes program came from three other previous events that Patricia Foster, director of the UWP women's center, had either attended or heard about: a presentation by Maya Angelou at Minnesota State University at Mankato, a former student's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration event and UWP's Wilgus Hall women's weekend.

Foster wanted to create an event with positive energy where participants could come and talk about people they admire and leave feeling good. "Sometimes we don't think about the impact that people have in our lives," she said.

She also wanted it to focus on women. "HIStory has left women out and now we need to have HERstory," Foster said.

Past participants have talked about a variety of influential women in their lives: mothers, women entrepreneurs, volunteers in organizations like Family Advocates, Maya Angelou and Eleanor Roosevelt. "One woman even spoke about admiring her sister for refusing to shave her legs," said Foster.

One of Foster's sheroes is her childhood piano teacher from Reidsville, N.C., Mrs. Hairston. She was the wife of a Methodist minister, graduated from an all-girls school, grew or raised all her own food and according to Foster, had extremely good manners.

During piano recitals, Hairston required her female students to wear white organza dresses with shiny, patent leather shoes and curtsy following their performance. "Mrs. Hairston gave me a sense of class," said Foster.

She recalls that even after Hairston's former students began college that Hairston would invite them back to her home for tea. Nearly all of them graduated from college. Some became doctors, dentists and professional musicians because of her example and influence.

In previous years, about 30 people have attended the Sheroes program, both male and female, from the student body, administration, faculty and community. Interested persons can pre-register, but it is not required. Anyone who would like to speak about his or her shero can, even if the program goes beyond 1 p.m.

For more information, contact Foster at (608) 342-1453 or fosterp@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Patricia Foster, director, UWP Patricia A. Doyle Women's Center, (608) 342-1453, fosterp@uwplatt.edu Written by: Barbara Weinbrenner, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, weinbreb@uwplatt.edu