International Women's Day will take on extra significance in Estevan this year thanks to the local chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women and a former first lady of the Energy City.
The University Women will be celebrating the life and legacy of Ida Petterson, the first female mayor of a Saskatchewan city who took on that role in 1970.
Since March 30 would have been Ida's 100th birthday, the special evening will be celebrated at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum with her daughter Susie Ross, now of Regina, invited to be the guest speaker. The activities begin at 7:30.
Women of Estevan and area who have served on city and municipal councils will be honoured guests along with previous winners of the Ida Petterson Memorial Award for Outstanding Entrepreneur presented by the SaskPower/Quota/Lions Club Women of Today committee. The Petterson Award was first presented in 1991.
"Some of these women who served on councils have amazing records of over 20 years of service," said Evelyn Johnson, one of the organizers of the program, referring to the females who have served on councils as well as within the local business community.
Petterson began her business career with a small grocery store that blossomed into a successful operation. It was later converted into a laundromat, which is still in operation to this day. She also sold insurance and was one of the top salespeople in the province.
She first turned her attention to local politics in 1960, being easily elected as the city's first female councillor. During her seven years in that position, she managed to persuade her fellow councillors to locate the Estevan Public Library in the former Jewish Synagogue which is now the Drewitz School of Dance. She also was fully behind the founding of the regional library system and she and her husband, Knute, worked diligently behind the scenes to help ensure that the Estevan Regional Nursing Home became a reality.
Petterson had her first and only experience with political defeat in 1967 when she decided to run for the mayor's chair in the civic election. But her second attempt to gain the leading administrative post in the Energy City was overwhelmingly successful in 1970. She immediately set to work by putting her offfice's support behind the construction of a new city hall for Estevan as well as a new curling rink. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum came to life during her administration and there was an ambitious upgrading of the city's water and sewer systems.
Petterson was instrumental in a series of negotiations and discussions that ultimately led to the siting and construction of the Estevan Shoppers Mall and it is duly noted that Estevan became the first provincial city to have its own flag during her time in office.
Her friends, however, said her proudest achievement was the fact that when her term expired, she left the city with a small surplus, something that previous administrations had been unable to accomplish. They said she had inherited deficits in practically all civic departments when she first took office, and those were wiped out during her years in the mayor's position.
Petterson was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1978 and in 1992 she received the Order of Merit, Saskatchewan's highest honour.
Now, the University Women note, there are many women in Estevan and area who have followed in her footsteps and they, along with Ida, are to be honoured on March 30.
The local organizers said they gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Saskatchewan government's Status of Women Office in making this event possible.
