International Women’s Day will be celebrated Saturday, March 8 at the Hotel Pattee from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by a $10 soup and salad lunch after the program.
No reservations needed. Doors will open at 9:15 a.m. Free will donations will be accepted to support Perry’s annual IWD celebration.
“Wear purple to show your support,” said an organizer of the adopted color of International Women’s Day (IWD). “Let’s honor the past, embrace the present, and accelerate action for a more equitable future.”
IWD was first officially celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Every March 8, millions of people around the world continue to celebrate the achievements of women and to advocate for gender equality.
In Perry, this annual celebration began in 2018 with Carol Cavanaugh’s vision to bring the community together to honor the many ways in which women contribute to society, as she explains in a 2023 letter to the editor in ThePerryNews.com.
This year’s IWD theme — “Accelerate action” — recalls memories of World War II, when Rosie the Riveter with her rolled-up sleeve and flexed bicep became an iconic image of women’s capability to contribute to the war effort. With men entering the military, women filled critical jobs in factories and shipyards, riveting, welding and producing materials of war. When given the opportunity, women demonstrated their competence and value in the workplace — a timeless truth.
The “We Can Do It!” poster of Rosie has continued to be an inspiration—encouraging girls and women to pursue their dreams, challenge barriers and work for a more equitable future. The flexed-bicep pose has been adopted as the symbol for IWD’s 2025 accelerate action theme–inspiring and propelling us to challenge inequalities and expedite change utilizing effective strategies to advance gender equality.
We all have a role to play in making gender equality a reality. Here are ways you can make a difference, as suggested by IWD:
- Provide access to quality education and training for women and girls.
- Support women-owned businesses.
- Support women-focused charities and organizations dedicated to women’s rights, education, healthcare and safety.
- Promote the creative and artistic talent of women and girls.
- Celebrate women’s contributions in business, education, government and the community.
- Mentor young girls and women supporting their pursuits into leadership, business, education and STEM.
- Promote women and girls in sports, increasing their participation and achievements.
- Call out gender bias and challenge stereotypes.
- Include men in discussions about gender equality. Allyship is key in achieving positive change.
- Advocate for policy change by writing to local or national leaders to support legislation that addresses gender inequality.
- Work toward ensuring your workplace is free from discrimination and harassment.
Educate yourself, stay engaged, and be part of the change. You can support local women and girls at the event by donating feminine hygiene products to the Perry High School and the Perry Emergency Food Pantry. Your generosity can help ensure that women and girls in our community have access to these essentials.
As former professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe said, “Every person has a responsibility to be a participant in this society and make it a better place for everybody, in whatever capacity they can.”
The announcers for the 2025 IWD are Perry High School seniors Olivia Christensen and Mylah Meis. This year’s speakers represent a diversity of experiences and perspectives:
Dr. Kären Mason will give the keynote address. Mason is the founding curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives in the University of Iowa Libraries, and she came to Iowa in 1992 to establish the archives and gather the history of Iowa women. Over the next 28 years, she oversaw its growth into a nationally recognized repository especially attentive to preserving the voices of those left out of the archival and historical record, including African American, rural, Latina and Jewish women. She was the curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives until her retirement in 2020.
Mason earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan. Her involvement with women’s history dates to the late 1970s, when she worked on the groundbreaking Women’s History Sources Survey at the University of Minnesota and co-authored a Women’s History Tour of the Twin Cities. She is a native Minnesotan but claims Iowa roots by way of three grandparents who grew up in Iowa before heading north. She lives in Iowa City with her husband, Matt Schaefer.
Mason was honored with the University of Iowa’s Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff in 2018, the Jean Y. Jew Women’s Rights Award in 2021 and with the Midwest Archives Conference’s Distinguished Service Award in 2020 and the Emeritus Award in 2024.
Heidi Stoffel is a native Iowan. She grew up in Dubuque, attended the University of Iowa and moved to Des Moines after college. She is founder and executive director of Aspire Academy, a dyslexia learning center in Urbandale. Stoffel’s son has dyslexia, and she was driven to create change in her community because in 2008 there was only one dyslexia tutor in the Des Moines metro, with a population 650,000 at that time.
Stoffel is a founding member of Decoding Dyslexia Iowa, and she helped pass three dyslexia laws in Iowa and has tutored more than 100 students in the Wilson Program. Before her career in dyslexia, she worked in advertising for 15 years and taught at Drake University and Grand View University. She has a master’s in business administration and a bachelor of science degree in sociology.
Saily Bah, 12, is the author and illustrator of “Rise Above: How to Turn a Negative Situation into a Positive One,” published in 2024. Bah started doing art at 3 years old and enjoys sketching, painting and digital art. She also likes to sing and spend time with family and friends.
Bah experienced an act of racism at school that left her sad and confused. After processing the experience with her parents, she decided to write a speech to educate her classmates on why it’s wrong and hurtful to treat people the way she was treated. After receiving such positive feedback about her speech, she decided to illustrate her thoughts and turn the speech into a book. Her aim is to empower others to rise above negative situations and provide teaching moments on how to overcome and find one’s voice.
Lori Rausch Seeley of Perry is an athlete, coach, retired physical education teacher and a passionate promoter of girls and women in sports. She was born and raised in Perry and dedicated 40 years to teaching PE and coaching in the Perry Community School District.
Rausch Seeley pitched for the inaugural University of South Dakota softball team in 1978 and saw at first hand the inequalities in treatment of women and men in college athletics. She later teamed up with fellow PE teacher Marjean Roberts Gries at the Perry Elementary School, where they instructed 265 students a day in the gym, always promoting fun and fitness.
Along with raising two sons, Nic Seeley and Kane Seeley, Rausch Seeley coached little league baseball, youth flag football, basketball, track and helped with Perry swim team and the Junior Jay wrestling program. She also served on the original board that brought a padded youth football program to Perry, and she still encourages adults — whether parents, grandparents, teachers or coaches, mentors or neighbors — to motivate young girls to follow their dreams, lace up their shoes and try sports.
“Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” – Serena Williams
“I don’t get my inspiration from books or a painting. I get it from the women I meet.” — Caroline Herrera
