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Victoria retirement community residents model alongside women of history

Sunrise Victoria residents posed alongside photos of their female role models

When the women of Sunrise of Victoria retirement community celebrated International Women’s Day earlier this month, they were determined not only to learn about influential women in history but to mirror them too.

Activities coordinator June Aquino had each resident match themselves with a woman based off shared similarities and then staged a photoshoot so residents could look just like their female role model.

Sunrise of Victoria retirement community resident Lorraine Travis poses next to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Courtesy of Sunrise of Victoria)

Trying to capture the photos was a bit of a funny process, resident Lorraine Travis said with a chuckle. Choosing to mirror a low-lit photo of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Travis said she was taken up into someone’s office where all the lights had to be turned off to achieve the same affect.

She chose Ginsburg for her honesty and passion.

“I think she was an amazingly brilliant person and I think she was honest, which is something we all try to be but very often aren’t,” Travis said. Like Ginsburg, Travis was also a proponent for gender equality. She was the second woman ever named principal at Lansdowne Middle School.

“Believe in yourself and don’t take any nonsense from anybody,” Travis said.

READ ALSO: B.C. pitcher becomes first woman in college baseball league’s history

Sunrise of Victoria retirement community resident Mini Alexander poses next to Michelle Obama. (Courtesy of Sunrise of Victoria)

Fellow resident Mini Alexander also emphasized the importance of women staying true to themselves.

“I think that women can do anything,” she said. “We can be as good as any man, but maybe better organized.”

Alexander paired herself with Michelle Obama because of her intelligence, honesty and confidence.

“I’m sure anybody you ask would like to be like her,” she said. “We women have to stick together and be supportive of each other.”

Other residents matched themselves with Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, J. K. Rowling, Yoko Ono and Betty White. Together, they are the Sunrise Strong Women.

READ ALSO: Female-owned welding business is a Victoria trailblazer


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About the Author: Jane Skrypnek

I'm a provincial reporter for Black Press Media after starting as a community reporter in Greater Victoria.
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