Youth Bureau Celebrates Women of Peekskill

On Thursday evening some of Peekskill’s most notable and accomplished women sat with family and friends at round banquet tables inside the Youth Bureau. The Bureau’s Executive Director Valerie Swan and her dedicated youth members produced an evening to commemorate six of Peekskill’s extraordinary women in honor of Women’s History month, which ends this Thursday.

The Bureau also honored Keynote Speaker Dr. Sitembile Efia Sales, who has just returned from studying medicine in Cuba and is a Peekskill resident and member of the Youth Bureau. Dr. Sales explained that Cubans take Women's History Month very seriously, and actually congratulate women on March 8, International Women's Day. She quoted many famous women activists and ended with a quote from Helen Keller: "Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult taks, but you will succeed if you persever; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."

The honorees were Marella Gilchrest (Wonderful Woman Award), Maxine O'Connor (Outstanding Woman Award), Valerie D. Moore (Marvelous Woman Award), Ayanna Davis (Futuristic Woman Award), Rev. Jeanette Phillips (Phenomenal Woman Award) and Leslie Masson (Extraordinary Woman Award).

Click through the photos to read about the honorees and the evening.