Zonta awards

Friday the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau held its annual Women of Achievement Luncheon. The event was an opportunity to honor local members and raise money for service projects and scholarships.

This year's award honorees:

* Betty Hearnes, recipient of the 2011 Celebration Award, is a former first lady of the state and wife of the late Missouri governor Warren Hearnes. Hearnes served as state representative for the 160th District in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1979 to 1988. Today she serves as vice chairwoman of the Southeast Missouri Autism Center and as a board member for the Bootheel Counseling Center.

* Marcia Southard-Ritter was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Among the titles Ritter has held: nurse, hospital administrator, community volunteer, city council member and missionary, just to name a few. In 2005 Ritter put her compassion and education to good use as a volunteer in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. Humbled by the award, Ritter was quick to recognize her late husband Dr. C. John Ritter in her acceptance remarks. The couple participated in many volunteer medical trips to Third World countries.

* Mary Burton-Hitt was the recipient of the 2011 Zonta Woman of Achievement Award. Burton-Hitt, the SoutheastHEALTH Foundation executive director, has served in various capacities with the Red Cross and is involved with several committees and organizations focused on emergency preparedness and mitigation. Other nominees for the award were Reno Anderson, Ellen Dillon, Sara Edgerton, Barbara Kohlfeld, Deborah Oliver and Rhonda Weller-Stilson.

If you missed the lunch this year, you missed an event filled with inspiring stories of local women. From the scholarship recipients to the award winners and nominees to the many other women in attendance, we're fortunate to have these ladies in our community.