Ten will join ranks of Outstanding Women of Stanislaus. One was a noted songwriter
Ten past or present residents will receive Outstanding Women of Stanislaus County awards in an online ceremony Saturday, March 20.
The county Commission for Women announced its honorees for the 42nd annual event. They include two students, seven other current residents, and a musician-songwriter who died in 1996.
COVID-19 canceled the usual live awards brunch. Saturday’s version will happen over Zoom starting at 10 a.m. Registration is free at www.stanislauswomen.net. Participants also can purchase brunch food and drink in advance from Greens on Tenth, a past venue for the event.
The organizers provided these details on the recipients:
Debbie Avila: The Oakdale native manages community engagement and membership for Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. She worked to expand scouting to girls in low-income neighborhoods and provide virtual programming during the pandemic. Avila is president of Mujeres Latinas and serves with Murals in Motown, Modesto Neighborhoods Inc. and the Multicultural Community Advisory Committee for Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock.
Erica Ayala: The Patterson native created a nonprofit group, Invest In Me, that offers girls and women workshops on self-empowerment, leadership and civic engagement. She directs an annual Youth Empowerment Conference, guiding middle and high school students toward possible careers. Ayala serves with Communities for a New California, focused on voter registration and advocacy, and the Stanislaus Latino Giving Circle. She works as a project facilitator in juvenile dependency for the San Joaquin County Office of Education.
Stella Beratlis: She works as a librarian at Modesto Junior College and volunteers in causes involving poetry and women’s issues. She is a founding member of Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and was the city’s poet laureate for four years. Beratlis has led poetry workshops and book clubs and is now helping create a youth poet laureate position. She was president of the Friends of the Modesto Library for three years and also volunteers with the League of Women Voters.
Anne Britton: She volunteers in literacy efforts with the personal motto of “more books in the hands of more kids.” She has been a Friends of the Modesto Library board member for 16 years, serving at various times as president and other posts. Britton coordinates book fairs and has volunteered at the children’s desk for 18 years. She recently joined the new Imagination Library of Stanislaus Council through the county Office of Education. It provides books for kids from birth to age 5.
Debbie Johnson: She is founder and CEO of Without Permission, which fights sex trafficking in the county. She has rescued hundreds of teen and young adult victims, mostly women. Without Permission has trained more than 60,000 people, including students, churches and civic groups. It also works with law enforcement and social service agencies. A restoration center provides a safe location for recovering survivors.
Linda Scheller: The retired teacher is a founding board member of the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and has promoted that literary form with the county library. She is working to connect the center with the local NAACP, providing a video showcase for students. Scheller has performed with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Prospect Theater Project. She has two programs on KCBP Community Radio, part of the Modesto Peace/Life Center.
Savannah Williams: She played college and semi-pro basketball and went on to advocate for girls and women in sports, and for Black students in various endeavors. She is on the board of the nonprofit She Became, which promotes young women leaders, and director of her own SavWill Foundation. Williams created the Central Valley Hoopsource basketball tournament and chairs the NAACP Black Graduates Recognition Ceremony in Modesto City Schools.
Two students will receive Outstanding Young Women awards:
Allison Blomenkamp: The senior at Turlock Christian High School did an internship with Legacy Health Endowment, where she analyzed data on why rural women get inferior medical and mental health care. She also founded a nonprofit group to raise money against trafficking. She takes part in Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship, where she placed second in a national competition and in the top 10 globally. She plans to advocate for social change as a student at Washington University in St. Louis.
Zoe Cheyenne Hayes: The college student interned with California Rural Legal Assistance and later took charge of other interns, interviewing clients and completing court paperwork. Hayes advocates for LGBTQ+ students through the Safe Schools Initiative. They helped organize MoPride’s Pride in the Park and chairs the LGBTQ+ Democrats of Stanislaus County. Hayes graduated from MJC and is studying philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, with plans to become a lawyer.
The commission will honor the late Hazel Houser Spencer with a Woman of History award. The Modesto resident was a country and gospel musician and songwriter whose hits included “Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus” and “My Baby’s Gone.” The latter was first recorded by the Louvin Brothers and later by Glen Campbell and many others.
In her hometown, Houser sang and wrote songs for the late Chester Smith, a musician and radio broadcaster. He helped her get a publishing contract with Capitol Records in the 1950s.
Fellow award winner Stella Beratlis nominated Houser and wrote about her at length in Modesto View magazine this month.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 7:17 AM.
