Wednesday, May 18, 2016

2016 ATHENA & ATHENA Young Professional Awards Banquet

April 7, 2016 ~ Tonight was the ATHENA Leadership and the ATHENA Young Professional Awards Banquet. This would be held at the Kimball Ballroom on Stephens College Campus in Columbia, MO. I was one of the three finalists for the ATHENA Young Professional Award and honestly didn't think I had a chance of receiving this honor because I was up against 2 amazing rock star ladies. 

Please see a previous blog post on this award and who were announced as finalists:


As many of you know I lost a really good friend almost a month ago. I've been working very hard to get things together with his wife in planning for his Celebration of Life and I guess he knew I had been thinking about him often because as I got to my momma and daddy's house it began pouring down rain. As we left her house it began spitting down little hail stones. By the time we got to our shop it had stopped raining and there was the most beautiful double rainbow over our building. Luckily I stopped to take a quick picture because by the time I got to my sisters house, nearly 3 minutes away, it was gone. It was as if Chuck was saying "You got this kid!" and I couldn't help but smile that he was sending me a message.

The first award given was the 2016 ATHENA Young Professional Award....

              

I was very surprised to see my name on the big screen but so honored to see my Golden Girl, Lindsay Lopez speaking about me on the video. I was really happy that my best friend, mom, sister and close friends could be here tonight to share in this very special evening. 

 The glass award in my right hand is the 2016 ATHENA Young Professional Finalist Award that we all three received. The really cool diamond looking award in my left hand is the 2016 ATHENA Young Professional Award!

A huge congratulations to Dr. Tonia Compton and Erica Pefferman on being named a finalist for this award... what an honor to have my name thrown in the hat along with you rock star ladies! These ladies have accomplished some really great things and I can't wait to see what the future holds for both of them!


The main award given tonight was the 2016 ATHENA Leadership Award.....



What an honor to see such a deserving woman from our community receive this prestigious award! A huge congratulations to Dianne Lynch of Stephens College! You have certainly done an amazing job and what a well deserved honor! 

A huge congratulations to Jan Grossman and Nancy Fay on being a finalist for this award! You both are incredible women who do so much for our community and I am proud to call you both friends.

What a night! Such and honor and it was a wonderful surprise to receive this award. I am grateful for the friendships and opportunities that I have because of my involvement in the Chamber of Commerce and Women's Network.

 Thank you to Women's Network for being engaged in this wonderful ATHENA program. You encourage, inspire and empower women in our community while being a huge support system for us. Y'all ROCK!

Thank you to Heather Stewart and Shelly DeVore for taking the time to nominate me and put together the nomination form. It's not an easy task yet you took time from your day to make sure it was perfect. I am so lucky to have wonderful friends like you!


Photo Credit: Daniel Brenner / Columbia Daily Tribune

Thank you to the Columbia Daily Tribune for a great article on these awards:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/lynch-spry-recognized-as-athena-winners/article_dd2ed270-160a-549e-9842-eaef0b8dcd57.html


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