Inductees to the 2018 Laredo Commission for Women (LCW) Hall of Fame were introduced at a media reception on Monday, February 5, at IBC’s community suite.
They are lifetime dance educator Yolanda Gutierrez García for the Arts category; Sandra Cavazos Ayala, director of the Imaginarium of South Texas for the Business and Professional category; St. Augustine High School principal Olga Gentry and LISD superintendent Sylvia Guerra Rios for Education; associate judge Melissa Joy Hinojosa García for Government Services and Legal; Sister María Luisa Vera for Health and Social Services; Carolyn Leyendecker for Law Enforcement; and architect Viviana Frank for Leadership.
LCW president Elia Guevara welcomed guests and inductees. The inductees were introduced by Esther K. Firova.
Guest speaker Sister Rosemary Welsh addressed the honorees on the topic of inspiration, the defining force that it is, and what drives being true to oneself.
The 2018 inductees, who were selected from written nominations and supporting documentation from the community, will be honored at a reception Saturday, March 4, at La Posada Hotel.
The LCW was established by the Laredo City Council on April 18, 1994. Its original appointees were Sylvia Bruni, Esther G. Buckley, Lucy R. Cardenas, Cynthia G. Conchas, Lillian S. Dickinson, Yvonne S. Gutierrez, Consuelo Montalvo, Ana Maria Montoya, Irma L. Morales, Blanca E. Nalaschi, Imelda Navarro, Audrey Salgado, Deborah Tenorio, Rosa Elia Treviño, Dr. Phyllis Voltz-Creamer, Sister Rosemary Welsh, and Camille Whitworth.
Current LCW members, who are appointed by members of the City Council, are Dolores Boswell and Ana Laura Botello, appointees of Mayor Pete Saenz; Sylvia Leal, the appointee of District I Council member Rudy Gonzalez; Claudia Medellin, the appointee of District II Council member Vidal Rodriguez; Patricia García and Linda Ramirez, the appointees of District III Council member Alex Perez Jr.; Esther K. Firova and Sylvia G. Palumbo, the appointees of District IV Council member Albert Torres Jr.; Sandra Rocha Taylor and Berenice Silva, the appointees of District V Council member Nelly Vielma; Diana Rodriguez, the appointee of District VI Council member Charlie San Miguel; Elia Guevara, the appointee of District VII Council member George J. Altgelt; and Alice Herrera and Frances Wawroski, the appointees of District VIII Council member Roberto Balli.
