The Sedona Women’s slogan is “Making A Difference.” And for over two decades, the organization has done just that. This nonprofit of about 275 members helps the local community in many ways. The group offers scholarships to women who wish to continue their educations and further their careers. The Sedona Women also has helped preserve and add to the beauty of Sedona with Oak Creek Clean Up project and Art in the Roundabouts. They’ve volunteered with and completed community service projects for St. Andrews Episcopal Church, local veterans, Cottonwood’s Old Town Mission, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Rainbow Acres and the Sedona Winds Retirement Community. On April 14, you can join in virtually to celebrate the nonprofit’s landmark 20th anniversary. We spoke with President Rosemary Anderson to learn more about The Sedona Women, the upcoming virtual celebration and how she feels the organization has helped the community. Visit thesedonawomen.com for more information.
“Women Supporting Women” by Mary Helsaple
SEDONA MONTHLY: What do you want people to know about The Sedona Women?
ROSEMARY ANDERSON: First and foremost, we are a very social group. That’s how we started. We make lasting lifetime friendships within this group. We have socials. Our meetings are very social. We take trips together. So that was our beginning, and that is why a lot of members join us. There’s three prongs: there’s the social aspect, which some members find very important. Then there is the community aspect, which is why a lot of other women join us. We’re everywhere in the community. We get involved in all kinds of things. And that’s what first attracted me to the organization was the scholarships for women returning to the workforce or returning to their education. That was important to me … There’s one more prong: We are non-political. And we’re not a professional organization meaning that you may not promote your business at The Sedona Women meetings and events.
When did you first join the organization?
I was a therapeutic massage therapist, and I had a client, and she said, “You need to join The Sedona Women.” So we went to a meeting, and I was totally intimidated. I thought, as many other women thought, “This is not a group for me” … Then I thought, “Well, how many women friends do you have?” Because I’m pretty busy. I don’t make a lot of friends. So I thought, I’ll make time for this organization for a year and see how it goes. So I’m a big one on commitment. I follow through. So even though there were a couple of times where I still felt that impostor syndrome,
it pretty soon went away as I persisted in making friends and going to events, and just standing around and talking to women, or listening and noticing what the group was doing … The more I stayed, the more it seemed like an incredibly valuable organization in the community. It’s an amazing group of women. It truly is.
Why commit to being president?
The quality of the women, the effervescence of meetings. When we get together, the way women will help each other and reach out to each other. I love that. And at the same time, it’s a fabulous
vehicle for giving something back to our community, taking some steps to try and protect our community where we can. We don’t take on highly divisive issues. That’s another one of our little things. But just to do something that’s a little bit good. Sedona runs on volunteers. So I thought this is a wonderful organization. They do all the heavy lifting, and they just provide you with these wonderful opportunities to be as involved as you choose to be.
What are you most looking forward to about this celebration of your 20th anniversary?
I think we desperately need some celebration time right now, a time to plaster a smile on your face, and just enjoy what we’ve done, who we are and where are we going. That’s what makes it for me.
What will the online anniversary celebration be like?
We want to have some of the founding board members. We are definitely going to acknowledge all our past presidents that are still alive and in the area. And on Zoom, we can acknowledge those who aren’t even in the area now. That’ll be pretty special. And we’re going to run a massive slideshow of things that we’ve done because we do have significant photographic archives.
Why do you think your organization has lasted so long?
Because of the variety of things we do. I really do. And even socially, we have our meetings, then we’ll have several socials a year. We have a new member lunch every year to welcome our new members and tell them about committees. We have our little trips. And quite often we’ll have three trips a year. For the holidays, a shopping trip and Christmas lights somewhere down in the Valley. That’s been a popular one. So we do so many different things. What attracted me, I can be in this organization as much or as little as I want. And there’s a huge variety to choose from that has already been researched and laid out beautifully for me. I think that attracts women. Also, the size of the group. I mean, it does endure. And I think women are attracted to it because they know they’re going to make some friends. There’s going to be somebody there that they’re going to like. And women that are new to the area, you can learn so much. I mean, goodness, we just have a trove of experience and knowledge of Sedona in our membership. So it’s a really good place for people new to the community to come. And then sometimes, I think women just realize, “This organization is doing a lot of good things. I want to be part of it, or I want to support them financially. I’m not going to be terribly active, but I will certainly continue to support them financially with my dues. And with a donation for scholarships, or whatever it might be.” Our members are incredibly varied … they come from all walks of life in so many different backgrounds. That’s one thing that I’ve always loved is to hear someone’s story.
Anything you want to say about your organization that you haven’t mentioned already?
Don’t be fooled by those people that would say, “Oh, it’s just a bunch of women with nothing better to do with their time.” That’s just so not who we are. Give us a chance. We would love to have any woman, any color, creed. We don’t make exceptions. If you are from the area and you are interested in the area, and you would like to meet other women and do things useful things with other women, come on aboard. We would love to have you. So I would just say that.
What do you feel like you’ve done for the community?
Especially in COVID, it gives women a place to express themselves. A place to give. A place to put themselves forward for a good cause. We do a little bit of helping all across the board, and I think that’s also one of our strengths. We’ve been instrumental in starting our sister organizations like the Coalition Against Human Trafficking – Northern Arizona, The Giving Angels, SedonaKind. So all those things were started by The Sedona Women, and they have huge, huge outreach in the community.
