LaRita Aragon Named 2008 Woman of the Year

I attended The Journal Record's 2008 Woman of the Year banquet at the Cox Center this evening. Keynote speaker was Prudence Bushnell; she was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya when Al Qaeda blew up the American Embassy in Nairobi. I was very moved by her remarks. Linda Haneborg received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Four Oklahoma programs were honored for their contributions to Oklahoma women: N.E.W. Leadership [which I am co-founder along with Cindy Rosenthal], the Oklahoma Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" program, Dress for Success, and the YWCA of Oklahoma City. Jan Peery accepted for the YWCA and several of our NEW Leadership graduates got to receive their award. The highlight of the evening was announcement of the 2008 Woman of the Year. Fifty woman are honored each year but one get's the gold ring. This year the very deserving winner was (Ret.) Major General LaRita Aragon. I'm tired so I'll write more of LaRita tomorrow. But you can click here to read a bio on LaRita when she was still in the military. She now works for the University of Oklahoma. This is a fun evening filled with great women. I got to tell Lt Gov Jari Askins about the Oklahoma Women's Coalition. Visited with Jan Peery, Karen Morgan, Andrea Chancellor, Cynda Ottaway, Donna Lawrence, Dana Murphy, many many others, plus I got to meet the new director of NEW Leadership. Fun night!