Commission For Women's 25th Anniversary Gala Honors Three Local Women Of Note

ba/gala.pr 97-197 Contact: Judith Vaughan-Prather, 301-279-8301

COMMISSION FOR WOMEN'S
25TH ANNIVERSARY GALA
TO HONOR FIRST WIVES CLUB AUTHOR,
PLUS THREE LOCAL WOMEN OF NOTE For Immediate Release: June 6, 1997

The Montgomery County Commission for Women will celebrate its 25th anniversary
by honoring one nationally known and three local women of note at a gala to be held June 18
at Pooks Hill Marriott in Bethesda.
Olivia Goldsmith, author of The First Wives Club, which was made into a 1996 hit
movie, will be recognized with a "Woman of Distinction" Award. A former management
consultant, Goldsmith gave up a high-profile career to pursue her dream of writing a novel.
Despite initial rejections, The First Wives Club was finally accepted by a publisher and has
sold more than million copies in the United States. It has also been translated into 22
languages.
Three County women -- The Honorable Rosalyn Bell, retired circuit court judge;
Montgomery County Police Chief Carol Mehrling; and Human Relations Commission
Executive Director Odessa Shannon will receive the "Woman of Vision" Awards.
Judge Bell was the second woman to be appointed to the Maryland Court of Special
Appeals. She initiated establishment of the Spousal Abuse Task Force and the "You Be the
-more-

COMMISSION FOR WOMEN'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY GALA 2-2-2-2

Judge" conferences for female attorneys. In 1993, she was inducted into the Maryland
Women's Hall of Fame.
Mehrling is chief of the largest police force in the country to be headed by a woman.
She has been a police officer since 1971 and, while rising through the ranks, served in the
Youth, Narcotics and Patrol divisions, among others. She is the only woman to have
achieved the ranks of captain, major and chief in the County department.
Shannon is the first woman to serve as executive director of the Human relations
Commission and the first to be appointed as a special assistant to the County Executive. The
first African American woman to serve on the Montgomery County Board of Education, she
had a distinguished career in the federal government before entering public service at the
local level.
Also participating in the program are County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, County
Council President Marilyn J. Praisner, Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend,
Eighth District Representative Connie Morella, and Maryland Delegate Sharon Grosfeld.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a reception, followed by dinner and the program.
The Pooks Hill Marriott is located at 5151 Pooks Hill Road.
Sponsors of the anniversary celebration are the Calvert Group; Women's Bar
Association, Montgomery County Chapter; Lockheed Martin Corporation; The Adams
National Bank; the Law Offices of Fait and Malament; Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell and
Bank, Attorneys at Law; Gimel, Weiman, Ersek and Blomberg, P.A., Attorneys at Law; The
-more-
COMMISSION FOR WOMEN'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY GALA 3-3-3-3

Law Offices of Miller, Steinberg and Hessler; Oler & Landau, PC, Attorneys at Law; Giant
Food, Inc.; and Wendy Kahn.
Proceeds will benefit the Displaced Homemaker Tuition Assistance Program and other
services of the Commission's Counseling and Career Center in Rockville. Tickets are
available for $50 per person; a table of eight is $400. Checks, payable to the Montgomery
County Commission for Women, may be sent to the Commission at 255 North Washington
Street, 4th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850.
For more information, call 301-217-8301.

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