{"id":81974,"date":"2016-11-19T09:54:34","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T14:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=81974"},"modified":"2016-11-21T08:47:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T13:47:31","slug":"yw-celebrates-centennial-honors-retiring-travel-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/11\/19\/yw-celebrates-centennial-honors-retiring-travel-director\/","title":{"rendered":"YW celebrates centennial, honors Owens"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

The YWCA of Van Wert County celebrated its centennial in style during a gala held Friday evening at the YWCA.<\/p>\n

\"YWCA
YWCA of Van Wert County Executive Director Kimberly Laudick (in blue) greets those who attended Friday’s gala celebrating the organization’s 100th anniversary.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

YWCA Executive Director Kimberly Laudick emceed the \u201cToast to the YWCA\u201d event, which was held in conjunction with the YW\u2019s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser. In addition to honoring the vision of philanthropist George Marsh in creating the YWCA in 1916, the optional black-tie event featured heavy hors d\u2019oeuvres, wine and beer tastings, and entertainment by The Brat Pack musical group.<\/p>\n

Because the gala coincided with the YWCA\u2019s annual Festival of Trees event, a number of Christmas trees and other holiday decorative items were auctioned off to help fund the many activities of the YWCA.<\/p>\n

Also honored at the gala was Jean Owens, who is retiring as the head of the YWCA\u2019s popular travel program after 45 years of volunteering her time for that program and other YWCA activities.<\/p>\n

Owens, who received a standing ovation from those attending, said later Friday night that coordinating the program had been very rewarding for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a wonderful life for me,\u201d Owens said, noting that she took over the then-fledgling program in 1971. \u201cThey had done a couple of one-day trips, and went to a World\u2019s Fair one time before that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YWCA
YWCA Executive Director Kim Laudick (right) poses with longtime YW travel program director, Jean Owens.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Owens said she started with several one-day trips, but then began developing what would become the current program, which includes trips to events and cities all over the United States — and the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to see a lot of great places,\u201d Owens added. \u201cWe\u2019ve been as far as Australia, as well as most of the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the most rewarding part of the program, she said, is those people who come up to her later and tell her how much they enjoyed the trips. Owens said the one-day Mystery Trips are especially popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a joy to take people on the trips,\u201d Owens said, noting that, while she has enjoyed all of the destinations, probably her favorite place to visit was Wales — and that was before she learned that she is part Welsh. \u201cIt\u2019s just a beautiful country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laudick also thanked gala sponsors for their financial support. Sponsors include the following:<\/p>\n

Diamond Sponsors \u2013 Statewide Ford Lincoln and Vancrest Health Care Centers<\/p>\n

Ruby Sponsors \u2013 Ohio Rubber Floors Inc. and Woodforest National Bank<\/p>\n

Emerald Sponsors \u2013 Alexander & Bebout Inc., Citizens National Bank, Evanston Recycling Solutions, The Kenn-Feld Group, Laudick\u2019s Jewelry, National Door & Trim, and Van Wert County Hospital<\/p>\n

Black Label Sponsors \u2013 Niswonger Foundation and Van Wert Propane Inc.<\/p>\n

Contributors \u2013 Alspach-Gearhart Funeral Home & Crematory, Brewed Expressions Caf\u00e9 & Drive-Thru, Edwards Jones-Trevor Webster, Laurie\u2019s Naturescapes, Sisters Bridal Boutique, Straley Realty & Auctioneers, Summer Sealers, Taylor\u2019s Floor Covering, Trisco Systems Inc., Van Wert Glass Company LLC, Main Street Van Wert, Vantage Career Center, and Willow Bend Country Club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor The YWCA of Van Wert County celebrated its centennial in style during a gala held Friday evening at the YWCA. YWCA Executive Director Kimberly Laudick emceed the \u201cToast to the YWCA\u201d event, which was held in conjunction with the YW\u2019s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser. In addition to honoring the vision of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 09:32:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}