BY WOTYA, MESA, ARIZONA — Last week, we went to the Hyatt at Gainey Ranch for the Woman of the Year Dinner. After a difficult year, it was a night of fun and celebration. Pam was the chauffeur for the evening, driving Tammy’s Porsche Carrera, We started the journey by heading out on a back road so we could floor the Porsche and feel the engine kick in. It definitely has some get up and go. The car has a million gadgets, bells and whistles. It makes noise if the car gets too close to anything when you’re backing up. It beeps if you get to close the wall when you’re pulling into the garage. It made almost as much noise as the three of us laughing and being silly. Our trip was a lot more fun than Jeanette’s! She drove down from Flagstaff for the dinner and had to go home afterwards. Four hours of driving for a three-hour dinner.

None of us would have been at the Hyatt if it weren’t for the tenacity, inspiration and intuition of Pamela Jo. She’s the one who had the idea. As you may recall, Pamela Jo nominated me for Woman of the Year for my teaching career and the FilmZambia project. I was totally surprised that I was selected in August. Sponsored by KEZ 99.9 and Schumacher Mercedes Benz, nominees got a wonderful basket of goodies upon being selected. The dinner was just MORE of an already good thing. We got two main courses for dinner (petite filet mignon AND Chilean sea bass … which Pamela did NOT eat), a delightful salad and THREE desserts. The other eleven finalists were in attendance including several of the winners from previous years. Arizona Superior Court Justice Ruth McGregor spoke about her path to the Court as one of the first women to come through law school following the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Since we’re getting close to finishing the film, it was an especially sweet evening.