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IN MEMORY OF DOLORES “DEE” ROSALIA FREDERICO ELDRIDGE
September 16, 1928-July 24, 2018
Twenty years ago, I walked in to my first BPW meeting. Dee was one of the first members to greet me. From then on, I found great pleasure in working with her and, sometimes, just talking on the phone about our mutual disgust with anti-woman actions and our mutual determination to keep on fighting misogyny. And we laughed a lot too!
Her story is hers, but it is also every woman’s. Dee was born Dolores Rosalia Frederico; when she was just a toddler, her father was killed in a mine blast in the small mining town of Hiawatha, Utah. Her mother took her and her infant brother to Grand Junction, Colorado to live with Dee’s grandparents until 1941 when they moved to Grass Valley. Dee graduated from high school in 1946, intending to go to college and then law school. Her plans were tragically derailed when her mother was partially paralyzed in a car accident, leaving Dee to give up her dreams to care for her mother.
But, Dee was a woman of action. She determined to pursue another dream; of becoming a successful businesswoman. After marrying a Grass Valley native and having four children, she soon became the manager of the local Montgomery Ward. Through dint of hard work, she was eventually promoted to trainer and auditor for stores throughout California and Nevada, for which position she traveled extensively. After her retirement, she developed her own business and became a skilled seamstress.
But it was her involvement with BPW that truly defined her. From 1970 until 2007 she held over 13 major leadership positions and in 1995, she was elected to BPW’s highest state position as President of California State BPW
Business & Professional Women of Nevada County owes Dee Eldridge a great debt of gratitude for her 40 years of work on behalf of BPW and her enduring and tenacious support for women’s rights and equality. She is missed.
by Lynn Wenzel
For the benefit of our newest members and especially for our scholarship recipients tonight, I would like to say a few words about Dee Eldridge, for whom our women helping women scholarship is named. Lynn has written a beautiful tribute to Dee in this month's Slant and rather than repeat her words, I'd like to add some personal recollections about Dee.
More than a decade ago, I sat in Dee's kitchen in her home on Bawden Avenue, as a member of our scholarship committee. Up to this point our scholarships had been awarded to high school students who were high achievers, going on to colleges where they would undoubtedly do great things. But that afternoon at Dee's house, we had other plans. We discussed at that meeting and several to follow how we might be able to help women in our communities who were going back to school to study for their degrees after a hiatus that often-included motherhood or full-time jobs to help support their families. We decided that we wanted to create scholarships for women 25 years old and older, generally called “re-entry students.”
Dee, who had been a guiding light of the early scholarship program for high school students fully supported this new scholarship concept and we made the change permanent. During the first years of transition, we found ourselves touched and impressed by the women who received our scholarship awards, women who were often struggling to work and attend college, to care for babies and to raise teenagers. Single moms, and wives who needed to become the majority income-earners in their families.
Because of her support and love for this program, we named our re-entry scholarships the Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship Program and since then we have given thousands of dollars to deserving young and not so young women who are working unbelievably hard to obtain their degrees - in nursing, in economics, in teaching, in math, and a host of other fields.
Dee Eldridge has served as a leader and strong supporter of this program. That day, sitting in her kitchen, helping to architect our new scholarship program, she had no idea it would one day be named to honor her. Her service and loyalty to Business and Professional women stretches over many decades, and her commitment to assisting women in reaching their academic goals is one of the reasons we stand here tonight to award two more Delores “Dee” Eldridge scholarships. Thank you, Dee for all you did for our BPW. We'll miss you.
by Judy McCarrick
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A Letter to BPW Members
Dee Eldridge left a generous bequest in her trust for BPW. In December BPWNC received the following letter from her daughter, Linda Toy:
My mother, Dolores R. Eldridge was a member of BPW for many years and held local and state offices along with many other positions within the club. She was instrumental in creating the scholarship fund that rewarded student for writing essays that honored admirable women.
Dolores passed away in late July of 2018 and several BPW members attended her services and a luncheon on the day she was buried. I thank them for their show of support and for being such good colleagues over the years. She was devoted to her friends in BPW, to the mission of the organization, and to the work she did for the membership.
One of her wishes was that her family could make a contribution to the BPW scholarship fund. To that end I have enclosed a check for $1,500 and hope that helps the fund. If for some reason that program is no longer in full effect, please place that amount in the state scholarship fund or some other related program that supports education. Thank you for the work you do and for the friendship you showed my mother during her lifetime and very long membership in BPW.
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From Our BPWNC President:
Happy New Year! Let’s hope that this new year brings us joy and a greater appreciation for life.
One thing that has been hard for many is a stress of our financial resources due to Covid 19 restrictions. We need to make the most of what we have and look at new ways to regenerate income. What is sure is that there are people who “want” to help you do that. There are opportunities everywhere but you must make a wise choice. It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of a windfall. You must find a vetted source to manage your funds. How can you protect yourself from getting scammed?
There are two things I can share with you that we do in our household. One is that we have blocked unknown numbers on our phone. Any unknown number, especially out of the area or toll free numbers (800/888), does not go through. I am answering my phone much less often that I did before we initiated this feature— Whew! The second thing is that we seek out to support organizations that we know about first hand or through Charity Navigator that details how the money is used by the specific organization.
There are many more ways that you can keep safe and I hope you will enjoy hearing our guest speaker Lucas Mijares from Edward Jones speak about this at our program meeting this month.
Moving Forward, Mary Sivila
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Thank you!
to our December donors to the Education Fund
Hal Madden
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WE JOINED THE CA WORK & FAMILY COALITION:
PAID LEAVE A PRIORITY
In 2020, we worked closely with the California Work & Family Coalition to pass a bill, SB 1383, which provides greater job protections for taking leave during the COVID pandemic. That is, 6 million more California workers can be assured of having a job to return to, after taking pregnancy leave or leave to care for an expanded group of family members – such as domestic partners, grandparents and in-laws.
To build on that success, our board agreed to formally join the WFC Coalition. We will be working with WFC on other needed expansions of leave this year, particularly better wage replacement and more inclusive policies.
This week, as the CA legislature is poised to convene, we joined in a WFC letter being sent to Governor Newsom and our state legislative leadership, urging them to take immediate action to expand emergency paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave protections so that workers aren’t forced to choose between going to work sick with COVID-19 or losing their jobs. Protections and pay afforded workers under federal and state leave laws (mainly the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act and California’s AB 1867) expired on January 1 – at a time when COVID-19 cases in our state now number over 2.6 million, increasing by nearly 50,000 people on January 8th alone.
The letter reads in part, “On January 1, 2021, millions of workers across the state lost access to paid sick days. In December, President Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief bill, which includes funding for employers to provide Paid Sick Days and Paid Family and Medical Leave, but notably excluded the right for workers to actually take the paid time off when they need it. As a result, many workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 or believe they have COVID-19 will have to choose between staying home, losing their pay, and risking being fired, or going to work and potentially infecting their coworkers and community. Workers will be forced to face this impossible choice at the same moment that COVID-19 cases are surging across the country and hospitals across the state have reached 0% ICU capacity.”
The WFC will be working on related budget and policy proposals this year. We look forward to working with our coalition partnership on such proposals. We will strive to keep you, our members, informed of the positions and actions we take on legislation, not only regarding leave, but other priority issues affecting working women and women generally.
Elaine L. Sierra
Advocacy Chair
esierra65@comcast.net
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C00KIES FOR A CAUSE
A FUNDRAISER IN APRIL
EMILYS CATERING AND CAKES
IS THE COOKIES
BPW SCHOLARSHIP FUND
IS THE CAUSE
DETAILS TO FOLLOW IN FEBRUARY
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Club Business
Now that we have more home time help get the word out. Please send names and email addresses of your friends and family to Phyllis porzalli@att.net. to join the growing list of friends of BPWNC. They will receive our monthly newsletter which will inform them of all the good stuff happening with our organization. No need to be living in Nevada County
Thank you
~ Membership, Deb Armanino 415-786-1160
*** Please add Phyllis Orzalli e-mail (porzalli@att.net) to your address book to ensure it does not go to junk!
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Business and Professional Women of Nevada County
is to support and promote equity for women in all aspects of their lives.
Objectives
~To promote personal and professional development for working women.
~To advocate on National, State, and Local legislative issues of importance
to working women.
~To support the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
~To promote the education of our members and the community in matters of women's equality as it relates to economics, employment, health, education, housing, civil rights, and other issues of equal opportunity.
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Interested in joining our dynamic group of women?
Want to take on a lead role in our organization?
We need active members who have time and interest
in being a board member: president, vice president, secretary,
treasurer or program committee.
For only a few hours a month you can guide future endeavors of our great group. Please contact Mary Sivila at 530-346-7192 or email her at marysivila@yahoo.com to discuss the great possibilities!
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Upcoming BPW Zoom Programs
February
Local writers Judee Rae and Lynn Wenzel give a perspective about writing
March
Women's History Month - Dr. Mona Siegel: Peace on Our Terms
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