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Zonta International

Four members of Batavia-Genesee County Zonta Club attended 56th annual conference

By Billie Owens

Above, Marianne Sernoffsky, Mary Yunker and Heather Parker at the 56th annual Zonta International Conference in Buffalo.                        

Submitted photos and press release:

Zonta International is celebrating 100 years since its founding in Buffalo in November 1919. Three of the original nine clubs are part of District 4: Buffalo and Rochester, and Erie, Pa. District 4 of the organization held its 56th Conference in Buffalo Sept. 17-30 and four members of the Batavia-Genesee County Club attended the weekend portion of event.

Heather Parker and Marianne Sernoffsky were club delegates, Mary K. Yunker, as one of two district historians, and AnnMarie West as an area director (inset photo below).

District 4 Governor, Bonnie Clesse, of the Hamburg-Orchard Park Club opened the conference, followed by Zonta International Director Judy Gorton, from the Perth Club in Australia.

Attendees heard from several guest speakers:

  • NYS Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke to the group on Saturday;
  • Mary Travers Murphy, the CEO of the Family Justice Center of Erie County;
  • Beverly Jacobs, J.D., of the Mohawk Nation, an attorney who works to empower indigenous women of Canada and has received awards for the human rights fight relating to missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada.

Both district and area awards were presented over the weekend; the local Zonta Club received an award for its monthly club newsletter.

The club will be participating with the Le Roy Historical Society on Oct. 6th when an open house will be held at the former Donald Woodward Airport on Asbury Road in Le Roy on Sunday afternoon.

The club raises funds for their service projects and scholarship fund through several events during the year.

The next one will be the annual Holiday Festival over the weekend of Nov. 10 and 11 at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel. As usual, Santa Claus will be present for photos with children, and more than 150 crafters and vendors have signed up to participate.

The club has set March 7 for its annual Lucky Number Luncheon.

Zonta’s Mission & Vision  

Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. Zonta International envisions a world in which women's rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential.

In such a world, women have access to all resources and are represented in decision making positions on an equal basis with men. In such a world, no woman lives in fear of violence.

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