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Afternoon tea features women in history
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FAST FACTS

• WHAT: Manteca Federated Women’s 4th annual Scholarship Tea, “Celebrating Women in History”
• WHEN: Sunday, April 19, from 1 to 3 p.m.
• WHERE: Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane.
• TICKETS: $25 adults, $10 children 12 and under
• MORE INFORMATION: (209) 823-2494
Guests encouraged to “dress” for tea as their favorite “woman in history.”

There will be a gathering of famous women in history on Sunday, April 19, at the Manteca Senior Center. And the public is invited to come and rub elbows, maybe even chat with them in between sips of tea or sampling scones and finger sandwiches.

Expected to be there are Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Margaret Tobin Brown who is more popularly known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” Cleopatra, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth and perhaps even Queen Victoria.

Those are some of the women who will be impersonated at the fourth annual Scholarship Tea sponsored by the Manteca Federated Women’s Club. The theme this year is “Celebrating Women in History,” which explains the visual entertainment that will be presented.

Proceeds from this lively afternoon gathering – it will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. – will go to the club’s scholarship fund. The group awards nine scholarships – eight for academics and one for the arts – each school year to graduating high school seniors in the area. Each student selected receives a $500 scholarship from the club. The awards are traditionally presented during a luncheon meeting with the students as special guests.

Admission to the afternoon tea is $25 each for adults and $10 each for children age 12 and under.

Federated Women member Teresa Sutton said guests are encouraged to “dress” as their favorite “woman in history.” Those who wish to “show off” their costumes will even have an opportunity to do that on the runway while Manteca thespian and director Dorothy Mulvihill as the emcee will read a “bio card” on the “woman in history” being portrayed by the guest.

“We’re a bunch of little girls; we like to have fun,” Sutton said about the perennially exciting event.

“I think a lot of it stems from our Federated Women reading group which does performances each year” under the same women-in-history theme, she said.

“This year, we’re doing daring women.”

Their annual performances have been such a hit they have been invited to do the presentations at the Manteca Historical Museum and at the San Joaquin County Historical Museum at Micke Grove.

The reading group, called Epsilon Sigma Omicron or ESO as the members simply calls it, is comprised of Federated Women who meet every month. Sutton describes it as an “honorary sorority reading program” with members reading materials and books from a reading list.

“Once a year, the members pick a female character and perform it for our club,” Sutton said.

The setting for the afternoon tea will include elaborately decorated tables, with the scones provided by the  Silver Teapot in downtown Manteca. For ticket reservations, call 823-2494. The Manteca Senior Center is located at 295 Cherry Lane off Center Street.