April 2025 - President's Message

With the departure of the snowbirds, hopefully the roads will become more passable this summer. This is our trade-off for hotter temperatures.

I want to thank Jammie Wolfe, our speaker at our March meeting from the Englewood Fire Department. In a male dominated occupation, Jammie has shown to have the “right stuff” physically and mentally to be past battalion chief in Nokomis and an Instructor for the fire department. Her story and attitude are an inspiration to all.

We will not have a regular monthly meeting in April. Our next event is our Meet and Greet on Tuesday, April 22nd at Artur’s Restaurant from 5:30PM to 7:30 PM. We will have heavy appetizers and soft drinks, which will be complimentary. A cash bar will be available for our guests and members. We are asking our members to come up with at least 5 names and emails so that we can share our Flyer for the event. Meggen Urka has volunteered to send out emails inviting people that you want to invite. Her email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Meggen, a new member, has volunteered to help grow our membership. As mentioned, this is an all-hands-on deck event. We will have raffles and some networking fun.

If we are able to have at least 40 people attend, and we obtain 5 to 10 new members, this will make us all very happy.

To register, the invitees can use our website, Facebook page or call Sue Hogrefe - 941-350-2894.

I hope to see all our members and lots of guests at the Meet and Greet.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sue Hogrefe, President of BPWEV

2025 BPW Adult Learner Scholarships

Christine Davis Memorial Scholarship

For those of us who never knew her, I’d like to take a moment to introduce the lady our scholarship awards are named after.

Christine Davis was a BPW member for over 50 years, first in New York State and later in Florida.  Her energy to promote BPW was astounding. She served in every office the organization had to offer, short of State or National President. She served on many committees and especially enjoyed being chair of the scholarship committee until ill health required her to resign from too many obligations. Her beautiful smile, her eagerness to be always willing to help and her efficient handling of any task she elected to do or help with, will not be forgotten by the BPWEV members, but will be missed.

The Christine Davis Memorial Scholarships will preserve the love and devotion she championed to achieve equality for all women.

Public Policy Platform 2023-2024

At the BPW Florida State Conference in June, 2023, the Proposed Public Policy was presented and approved. The new Public Policy for 2023 – 2024 is below:

Introduction:

Since the inception of BPW/FL in 1919, BPW/FL has always supported women’s rights. BPW/FL continues to support the ERA as a basic foundation of our Public Policy Platform, even as we understand that passing the ERA grows more difficult with the passage of time. BPW/FL firmly believes that equality of rights under the law should not be abridged or denied by the United States or by any state on account of sex, and the rights of women require constant vigilance.

Item 1: Economic Equity, Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency

BPW/FL supports public policies that:

• ensure pay equity and equal employment opportunities for all women
• promote opportunities for women-owned businesses
• promote affordable, quality dependent care
• promote Social Security and retirement reform options benefiting women
• guarantee a workplace free from harassment and discrimination

Item 2: Health Care

BPW/Fl supports public policies that:

• support the expansion of affordable care, including Medicaid, in Florida
• support funding and initiatives the cover women’s health care needs
• ensure women’s access to all health care and family planning needs, including full access to all forms of reproductive health services, education, and prescriptions

Item 3: Voting Right and Access

BPW/FL supports public policies that:

• promote free and fair elections
• are aimed at expanding voters’ access to the polls
• are designed to protect the right of all American citizens to vote in fairly drawn legislative districts