For the first time in years, an organized celebration of International Women's Day is taking place in 100 Mile House.
International Women's Day takes place on Saturday, March 8 this year and celebrates the historical and ongoing work of the women's rights movement and the achievements of women around the world. It's been around in some form for over 100 years since 1911 and this year will be marked in 100 Mile House by the 2025 IWD 100 Mile Celebration at the 100 Mile Community Hall on March 8.
The event is being organized by a committee of local women in the private and public sectors. All of them answered a call put out in the simplymastery by Sheila Dick last month asking for help in organizing a community event.
"I feel like I always want to jump in with both feet and then say 'uh-oh what did I do'," Dick laughed. "We're getting ready now for our first women's gathering (for International Women's Day) since the women's centre closed (in 2019)."
While she is now retired Dick, a member of the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation, said she spent most of her professional career helping and supporting women at the Canadian Mental Health Association in Williams Lake and the White Feather Family Centre in Canim Lake. Last year she was disappointed when she realized there was no formal celebration of International Women's Day scheduled for March 8. This year after talking with her friend and fellow organizer Demian Pettman, she decided to put out a call in the newspaper and see what they could put together.
Dick was happy with the response, noting that several local women and community groups reached out to help organize the event. So far the planning group includes Coun. Donna Barnett and Mayor Maureen Pinkney from the District of 100 Mile House, members of the Canadian Mental Health Association South Cariboo Branch and Jess Fraser the executive director of the Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre.
"To me it feels a bit haphazard but it's coming together really well considering we've only been planning for three weeks," Dick said. "We're really grateful to the District of 100 Mile House for contributing money to the venue. Our band, Canim Lake, is also contributing money through the wellness centre. We started out with no budget at all and so far we have $2,000 and I'm hoping for a little more."
For this inaugural event, Dick said she and the other organizers are starting relatively small. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature food, drumming and traditional songs from Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation members and information tables set up with lists of local resources women can access.
A personal focus for Dick is raising awareness about violence against women, noting during her time at CMHA she worked to help domestic violence survivors with personal development and job readiness. She also promotes the re-establishment of the traditional role of leadership that women played within First Nations communities.
As a result, during the celebration, Dick said women will be given a chance to speak about the issues and challenges they face in everyday life. She also plans to have a few elders from Tsq̓éscen̓ speak about their own experiences and challenges.
"We want to share a lot of care and build a safe environment for people who want to come listen to our stories and hopefully get some hope from it," Dick remarked. "What I'm hoping we can do with the speakers is show resilience. Part of it is going to be joyful, accepting and safe but my thought has also been to be honest we need to talk about the missing and murdered women and violence in relationships. I'll do a little on that and hopefully be gentle enough not to open up any trauma. We don't want people leaving our event feeling badly."
Dick said those who attend are also welcome to wear purple, a colour now closely tied to the day. She remarked it represents justice, dignity and the strength of women.
Based on how this year goes, Dick said she and the other organizers will make adjustments for next year. She knows already she'd like to get the community's youth more involved and is open to more suggestions from any who attend.
"We'll be very happy with however many people who are there because we believe whoever is supposed to be there, will be there," Dick said. "We're going to give a voice to women's experiences and talk a lot about how resilient we are, how supportive we are and how we can take the next step."
