Do you know a woman who is involved in community and women’s issues, always making time in her busy life to take on those challenges?

The Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women wants her name, because she sounds like a candidate for the 2010 Outstanding of Comanche County.

Commission members have begun their annual search for candidates for their Woman of the Year and will be pulling in nominations from across the county. The winner, to be announced March 25, also will be Comanche County’s nominee to the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, said Sandra Kunz, commission president.

Residents have until Feb. 1, to submit their nominations.

Recipient to represent county

Kunz said the group is emphasizing that the winner will represent the entire county, so commission members are encouraging nominees from inside and outside the city of Lawton. The Mayor’s Commission also emphasizes activities accomplished outside a woman’s career or regular work day, because the idea is to laud those who choose to participate in activities important to women.

There isn’t a typical nominee. Over the years, the commission has honored women who fit their volunteer activities around their jobs and family, as well as those who have larger amounts of time for volunteer work because they are retired or don’t work outside the home.

Nomination forms ask for a brief description of why the woman is being nominated and note the nominee should have worked in Comanche County to champion and/or serve as an advocate for issues important to women. This year’s project is being spearheaded by Shirley Stricklan, the commission’s first vice president. An independent selection committee is created each year to analyze nominations and select the winner. The work remains confidential to ensure the integrity of the process, commission members said.

Nominees and the winner are recognized at an invitation-only reception, slated for March 25 at The Event.

Forms available

Nomination forms are available at the Mayor’s Office, located inside Wayne Gilley City Hall at 103 SW 4th, or through the commission’s Web site: www.lawtonokmcsw.org.

Kunz said the project ties into the commission’s overall goal, which is to identify the problems faced by women in the Lawton-Fort Sill community, advise the mayor and City Council on those problems and seek remedies. Kunz said members are “enthusiastic to serve and contribute to our community. These ladies are exceptional individuals that are talented, self-sacrificing and committed community members.”

JEFF DIXON/STAFF Linda Hill, left, and Sandra Kunz, president of the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, prepare for the group’s annual campaign to find nominees for Comanche County Woman of the Year. The program seeks to recognize women who contribute to the community and to women’s issues, with the winner to be announced in March.
 
Sandra Kunz
 
Director
Webster University
Harry S Truman Education Center
4301 NW Koehler Loop
Fort Sill, OK  73503-9009
Office: (580) 353-5766
Fax: (580) 353-0280
Website: www.webster.edu/ftsill