Area women celebrated at Zonta Club's achievement luncheon

Nancy Hunter Stiegemeyer said she was shocked when she learned the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau was honoring her with its 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award during the club's 11th annual Women of Achievement Luncheon on Friday.

While she's lost most of her sight, Stiegemeyer, 88, a retired library trustee, hasn't lost her sense of humor or energy.

"[The award] was just sort of dropped on me," she said, excitedly. "I guess that's what they give you when you live long enough and haven't died."

Stiegemeyer served for years in library trustees organizations at the state and national level, and she said her love of libraries continues to this day.

"They seemed to center in on the fact that I was a public library trustee," she said, referring to her qualifications. "I just like the idea of books and libraries and so forth."

Casey Crowell, club president, explained what the club looks for in a candidate for a lifetime-achievement award.

"Someone who has excelled in their career over a number of years," she said. "Someone who has offered that example of excellence, and someone who has advanced the status of women."

She said Stiegemeyer always has been a passionate worker and deserves the honor.

The Celebration Award winner Friday night was Erin Rae Fluegge. An assistant professor at Southeast Missouri State University's Harrison College of Business, Fluegge was crowned Mrs. Missouri in 2014.

Crowell said having a Celebration Award winner from Cape Girardeau is an unusual and welcome surprise.

Lynne Karnes

"For the Celebration Award, it doesn't matter the nominee's age or level of experience; it's someone who exemplifies everything we promote within our club," she said. "[Fluegge] truly believes in empowering women."

The Women of Achievement Award went to local first-grade teacher Lynne Karnes.

"Well, I wasn't expecting it at all. I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest," she said. "I was honored to be nominated, and I was really just enjoying being there."

She said she knows nearly all of the other women who were nominated.

Nancy Stiegemeyer

"I have [some of] their kids in my class," she said. "They're all wonderful people on a personal level."

Karnes' record of accomplishments is long, and she said she's probably most proud of her Teacher of the Year award in 2008.

"I enjoy being able to interact with kids," she said. "In first grade, they learn so many things for the first time. Everything in first grade is just magical."

Unlike the Lifetime and Celebration awards, Zonta's Women of Achievement Award is not chosen by the Cape Girardeau membership. To maintain impartiality, Crowell said, they send their finalized list of nominees to another Zonta club in Missouri.

Erin Rae Fluegge

In addition to Karnes, this year's Woman of Achievement Award nominees included Dr. Olivia Aranha, hematologist/oncologist at Saint Francis Medical Center; Dr. Christy Fowler, optometrist and co-owner of Regional Eyecare Center in Cape Girardeau; Dr. Ann Seabaugh Kinsey, veterinarian and owner of LaCroix Pet Hospital in Cape Girardeau; Detective Sgt. Della Moore of the Bollinger County Sheriff's Office; and Penny Williams, recreation division manager for the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department.

With 440 men and women attending, this year's luncheon was among the largest in the Cape chapter's history.

"I think each year we grow, and we learn from others," Crowell said. "Safe House For Women, Crisis Age International, Mending Hearts for Women ... there are so many organizations out there that so many people know so little about, and if we can provide a platform to educate others, then we all win as a community."

tgraef@semissourian.com

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