The Tapestry of Women’s Society in Cochrane will be celebrating 20 years of women sharing ideas for empowerment, enlightenment and education at its annual conference.
This year’s event will be held Saturday, Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cochrane RancheHouse and will feature a variety of female speakers and performers.
“The idea of the conference is to identify barriers that women face because of equity relating to race, age, ethnicity, culture, religion and those kinds of things,” said Carol Patenaude, who has been chair of the Tapestry of Women’s Society for five years. “It is trying to get together women to share ideas and to help other women within the community engage in a meaningful way.”
Patenaude said that the Tapestry of Women’s Society began after the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women that was held in Beijing, China. She explained that a local woman had attended the conference and brought the idea back to Cochrane. They started a chapter for women in Cochrane and surrounding areas.
Patenaude said the day would begin with a special piping entrance from Susan Flowers of Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). She said that award-winning Cree-Metis a cappella trio Asani from Edmonton would be performing, Sarah Biley author of Be Perfect or Be Happy would be talking about women aligning themselves with their authentic selves, Bryson LaBoissiere (whose speaker name is Moss Woman) would be discussing strategies for mental and emotional vigor and Judy Atkinson would be hosting a drum circle.
Tickets are $40 and include breakfast and lunch. Patenaude said there would also be various vendors at the conference as well. Tickets are available by calling FCSS at 403-851-2250.
