American Association of University Women
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Tryon branch nears 30-year milestone
Beth Laughridge, Shirley Elliot, Gayle Lane, Lillie McCain, Carolyn Hicks, Becky Collins, Cathy Brettman, Jo Myers and Priscilla Yeager (not pictured: Judy Irving) make up the board of the Tryon Area branch of the American Association of University Women.
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL O’HEARN
W
hen the American Association of University Women convenes for their first annual meeting in the fall of 2017, the organization’s local branch will have a milestone 30-year anniversary to celebrate. Founded in 1987, the AAUW Tryon branch’s goal was to send girls from Polk County High School and Landrum High School to a sum-
mer college experience at Clemson University. Peggy Woodward, now a resident at Tryon Estates in Columbus, was instrumental in creating the Tryon branch with two of her friends, Patricia Fiol and Mary Huddleston. “Me and two of my other friends decided we needed a branch down here, as we were driving up to Hendersonville to a larger branch. We had to have 25 members to be sanctioned
by the national organization,” Woodward explained. “Tryon and the area have a lot of college-educated women so it wasn’t hard to find 25 members. We used to have 150 members at one point, but now it’s so hard for people to carve out time for another activity.” The organization’s mission is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, phiLIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS November 2016
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