Manning honored among Girl Scouts Women of Distinction

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press

The Girl Scouts of Central Texas honored five women and one workplace at the 26th annual Women of Distinction dinner Thursday evening at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center. 
Copperas Cove’s Joan Manning was recognized for her work serving on the CCISD Board of Trustees for 22 years, 18 of which she has been the Board President, as well as on the National Council for Impacted Schools, vice president of the board of Hope Pregnancy Center, chair of Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign; treasurer, church moderator and council member at Eastside Baptist Church. She also helps her husband and son run Manning Homes.
Her piece of advice for girls was to be their best selves. On being one of the recipients, Manning said it was a great honor but still a shock. 
“I’m not a woman of distinction, I’m just an old housewife doing her thing,” Manning said in her introductory video. 
When accepting her award, Manning revealed she hadn’t prepared a speech. She shared an emotional thank you to her family, including her brother and sister-in-law who came all the way from Spokane, Washington, to support her. 
After the event, Manning said that it was a “super honor’ to be recognized with the other Women of Distinction. 
“I never feel like I’m deserving but people say that I am, I guess because I do a lot of volunteer work,” Manning said. “I do a lot of things in Copperas Cove and I love everything I do. I don’t do it unless I love it.”
Erika Holland, Chief Development Officer for GSCTX, explained that the honorees exemplify what Girl Scouts is all about. 
“We focus on building girls with confidence and encouraging character and really kind of building up their leadership skills because right now more than any time before we need more female leaders,” Holland said. “Today’s Girl Scout- it just keeps on evolving and our main focus will always be to build girls with courage, confidence and character and to build our leaders, with leadership skills. We have found that they thrive in a girl led, girl friendly environment.”
One of the two girl speakers of the evening was Copperas Cove’s S.C. Lee Junior High School student, Lorelei Paddock, who is a Cadette Girl Scout in Troop 6226 and a member of the Girl Advisory Board 
Paddock shared with the audience that Girl Scouts is about more than just cookies and camping. Girls learn skills, such as “the courage and confidence to become a leader,” Paddock said.
Through Girl Scouts and selling cookies every year, Paddock and her fellow Girl Scouts raised enough money to travel to Disney World and have plans to go back with their Service Unit, she said. 
Paddock shared that in addition to Girl Scouts, she is also involved in band, choir, student council and band council among other activities and academics.
“If someone asked me if I wanted to give up Girl Scouts, I would immediately say no,” Paddock said. “With Girl Scouts I am able to do what my other activities don’t allow me to. In Girl Scouts, I learn new skills, investigate new topics, do things to improve my world and the people in it and have a fun way of doing it with other girls my age.”
Paddock said that she wanted people to see that Girl Scouts is more than cookies and camping, but a place where girls can earn badges for skills, make friends and have more opportunities. 
“We are the future leaders and we’re ready to change the world,” Paddock said. 
Thursday’s event also served as a fundraiser for the GSCTX, with individual tickets priced at $50 and sponsorship packages available. Guests could also text a code to a number and donate during the event. 
More than 350 people, including local Girl Scouts, friends and family of honorees and event sponsors attended the event which was emceed by KWTX-TV reporter Chelsea Edwards. The six honorees were nominated and then selected via a planning committee for their volunteer work and contributions to their communities. The GSCTX encompasses 46 counties in Central Texas, with nearly 17,000 girls and more than 12,000 adult volunteers. Past honorees have included CCISD as the 2017 Workplace of Distinction and former CCISD superintendent Dr. Rose Cameron was recognized in 2012. 
The first ever Rising Star honoree was Miranda Lugo, the former president of the Boys & Girls Club of America Professional Association and the former Director of Enrichment at the Belton Christian Youth Center. She is currently the Program Manager at Wilson Recreation Center in Temple. As a Girl Scout Alumna, Lugo said being selected as the Rising Star honoree was the best honor of her life besides being a mother to her daughter. Lugo added that juggling family, school, work and volunteerism is worth it in the end because it allows her to make her mark. 
The next Woman of Distinction honoree was Marilyn Krumnow, who has been the administrative assistant for the superintendent at Temple ISD for 20 years and was also honored for her 42 years of working for TISD. Krumnow has also volunteered with Catholic Life Insurance Branch 31 and is a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church Parish Council and Altar Society. 
In her introductory video, Krumnow shared what advice she would give to a group of Girl Scouts. 
“I would like to tell them to support each other and lift each other up but follow your dreams. If you fall, stand back up and try again,” Krumnow said. 
Krumnow added that she was very humbled by the award, calling it the biggest honor she had ever received. 
After accepting her award, she encouraged the Girl Scouts in the audience to pursue their dreams. 
“You have everything at your fingertips, the world at your fingertips,” Krumnow said. “Keep the faith.”
Also recognized was Beverly Luedke of Rosebud, who has volunteered with Temple ISD, United Way, Rotary International, Altrusa Club and the Rotary Club of Temple South and received several awards for her volunteer work. 
“I just want to be a light for someone else,” Luedke said in her introductory video. She encouraged girls to not let failure stop them from achieving anything.
Vickie Mitchell of Clifton has served on the board of the Economic Development Corporation of Bosque County, as docent at the Bosque Museum and volunteer coordinator for its annual Sporting Clay Shoot, volunteer at Bosque Arts Center and Art Council, plus taken on lead volunteer roles for two festivals in Bosque County as well as being an active member of her church, and Rock Bottom Outreach, an organization to help those with addiction.
Mitchell greeted the crowd and called the ceremony a “Girl Scout evening”. 
“It makes me wonder why any girl would want to be a Boy Scout,” Mitchell said, to cheers and applause. 
The 2018 Workplace of Distinction was Workforce Solutions of Central Texas. They were recognized as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly, the company, which has a 75 percent female team, connects employers with qualified job applicants. They provide services such as financial assistance with skills training, employee recruitment/prescreening, online resume/skills posting, employee/employer database search and job matching and childcare and transportation assistance among others. 
During the ceremony, the GSCTX launched their campaign to raise $50,000 for a new roof and windows for the Killeen Service Center on Lake Rd, which houses meetings for troops who have nowhere else to meet. By the end of the evening, $4,630 had been raised. 
Girl Scout Troops 6250 and 6170 carried the American and Texas flags for the Presentation of Colors and the Pledge of Allegiance. Girls from Troop 525 made up the Girl Scout Harp Ensemble, which was the dinner entertainment.