As an early member, I was tremendously inspired and exhilarated by Penny’s vision and leadership, and how much fun and how creative it was being in WOW. I will never forget the excitement of performing at the first Viva la Gong—so soon after we had just started—hilarious! And that was just the start!
So, when Penny left, I found that I felt an inexplicably strong desire to help keep WOW going. There were ‘hairy’ moments and exhausting, confusing times over the years on the MC—I was a ‘Fido’* and then was Vice Chair and at other times Secretary for quite a few years. Yet I always felt empowered, amazed and joyful to work beside other women with diverse skills, all of us choosing to devote so much time to WOW as a mission. Extraordinary indeed. I wish WOW women the best for the next 20 years. VIVA WOW!
*The Fidos was the name for the early management committee. The name was part of an extended joke or pun. The term “Old Dogs and New Tricks” came from a WOW meeting on how to differentiate between classes for new women learning circus and the more established members’ classes. It took on a life of its own as women claimed it with pride. There was a double pun in being an old dog who could still learn new tricks too.