I had occasion to attend the Ann Bancroft Awards ceremony last week. What a fantastic occasion that was. The ceremony was held at Orchestra Hall. Belinda Jensen emceed (she’s tall!). Jackie Joyner Kersee gave a fantastic keynote speech.

The four annual Ann Bancroft Awards go to four Minnesotans who encourage and support the achievements of girls and women. Of this year’s winners, I particularly enjoyed Rosalie Wahl, the first woman to sit on the Minnesota Supreme Court. She’s a feisty one.

The Foundation also gives Dare to Dream mini-grants to girls age 10 through grade 10. They showed some video of some of this year’s recipients and I was amazed by how smart and ambitious and well-spoken these girls were.

Funny story….

I didn’t get to see the beginning of the ceremony. I was there performing with the Twin Cities Women’s Choir, so we were backstage waiting to go on. At one point we were all lined up, waiting our turn. We had been repeatedly reminded to keep quiet because you can hear everything backstage. Then this lady shows up at the back of the line and is just talking away. Folks reacted to her in a very friendly manner, so I wondered if she was a former choir member or something. As she made her way up the line, there was this wave of response. I didn’t think much more of it. We went on, did our thing, and then I went to sit in the back of the hall to watch the rest of the show. It wasn’t until she walked up on stage that I realized that the chatterbox that was hanging out with us backstage was Ann Bancroft.

I’m an idiot.

Related posts:

1. Twin Cities Women’s Choir Open Rehearsals
2. 14th Annual Women’s Art Festival at Midtown Y
3. Recognize your favorite local band for the MMA’s
4. Twin Cities Women’s Choir Winter Concert and Open Rehearsals
5. 2 Free Tix to Saturday Night Holiday Band/Choir Show