3 Wyandotte Women Honored for Committment to Communty, Others

In addition to handing out 10 Woman of the Year awards, members of Women of Wyandotte presented three women with special commendations Saturday night at the Wyandotte Arts Center.

Rather than pinpointing certain women for having specific talents, WOW members opted instead to institute three special awards named after significant women in Wyandotte's history.

Ellen Van Alstyne was involved in a multitude of community events, including the Tuesday Study Club in which she was voted Ms. Loved Member.

Ella Bishop was a community organizer and volunteer.

Virginia Allan was a businesswoman, serving as the co-owner and executive vice president of Cahalan Drug Stores.

"All three women were strong leaders who we wanted to honor by having awards in their names," WOW Founder Sheri Sutherby-Fricke said.

The Van Alstyne Award was given to Maggie Molnar. The Bishop Award was presented to Andrea Fuller. The Allen Award was awarded to Shirley Prygoski.

"It was tough deciding which of our women to honor with these special awards as all of the women did so much," Sutherby-Fricke said. "They are all involved in community, family, education, health and spirituality, which is what WOW is all about."

Meet All of the Woman of the Year Honorees:

Andrea Fuller

Sarah Pettigrew

Alana Paluszewski

Maggie Molnar

Mary Gasiewski

Barbara Duran

Shirley Prygoski

Pamela Tuttle

Laura Kowalski

Leslie Bishop