Local women have day out

The fourth annual Woman’s Day Out at Greyhound Arena on Saturday wasn’t all rosy, although there were plenty of roses, along with lavender and lace, and spa and beauty products.

The daylong event, sponsored by the Portales Woman’s Club, drew about 140 area women together under one roof. There, the women could choose from one of five classes offered during four different sessions on topics which included preventative health care for women, quick and easy cooking tips, gardening for dummies, skin care, achieving your dreams, floral design, getting organized and more.

The event offered educational and fun information for women of all ages.

Roxana Drake of Clovis attended the event with her mother, Evelyn Drake of Portales and said, “”I think it’s good when women get together to share their interests and knowledge.”

For instance, Roxana Drake said she learned things she did not know before from Cristy Walsh of Walsh Wellness in a session on cardiovascular fitness and nutrition. “I learned how levels of cholesterol have gone way down, how we need to have lower cholesterol levels,’ she said. “People in the medical field are also learning that while we need at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, it doesn’t have to be all at once.

It can be 10 minutes here and there.”

Evelyn Drake added, “They talked in the session about how you can make routine housework into a workout.”

In a session titled, “You Can Achieve Your Dream,” Pam Atherton of 98.3 radio, talked to women about how to get legal advice on issues ranging from taxes to divorce. To one woman participant who was in the process of going through a divorce, she said, “Just keep moving forward, one step at a time.”

Rebecca Garcia attended the Woman’s Day Out with a friend and said she really enjoyed it.

“As my first time coming, I loved the idea of the different workshops available. Many booths had prizes and door prizes were also given away,” Garcia said. “I am glad I came. I hope to come again next year.”

Vending booths were set up in the Greyhound Arena lobby, with vendors peddling everything feminine, from cosmetics and candles to vitamins and hand-made jewelry.

“Where there is women, there is jewelry; and where there is jewelry there is women,” Cara Benson of Jewelry by Cricket said. “This has worked out pretty well today. We had a couple of women come here today who came without jewelry on and then left with some on. I guess they kind of treated themselves,” she said.