A toast to women

By Owen Sinclair

Mar 7, 2025

Curie, Earhart, Carson - these are names of just a handful of the women whose perseverance changed the world.

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It was in recognition of trailblazers such as these that about 90 local women packed a function room at Sporties Barooga for International Women’s Day on Friday, March 7.

Berrigan Shire Council Manager of Economic Development, Tourism and Libraries Merran Socha said it was a chance to celebrate the achievement of women around the world through the ages.

“International Women’s Day is a celebration of how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go,” she said.

“We’re all so busy with our lives, and getting on with what we have to do and want to do, but it’s nice to have an event like this that makes you stop, pause and reflect for a little while on the achievements of so many women in our community.”

This year’s guest speaker was none other than the eminent Dr Alice Gorman, who grew up in Berrigan Shire.

Dr Gorman is a pioneer in the field of space archaeology, and is an associate professor at Flinders University.

She’s also the author of the award-winning book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future, published in 2019, and was a founding author of the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon.

Dr Gorman went to school in Savernake with Berrigan Shire Council librarian Jenny Congdon, who helped facilitate the event.

The lunch was well-represented by a broad range of ages and walks of life.