League of Women Voters Honors 5

Five women who blazed trails in county politics will be honored Saturday as the First Women in Orange County by the county’s League of Women Voters.

The honorees:

* Marian Bergeson, the first woman from the county elected to the state Legislature (in 1978).

* Jan Mittermeier, the first woman appointed county chief executive officer (in 1995).

* Kathleen E. O’Leary, the first woman to serve as presiding judge of the Orange County Superior Court.

* Loretta Sanchez, the first woman elected to Congress from the county (elected to the 46th District seat in 1996).

* Harriett M. Wieder, the first woman elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors (in 1979) in the board’s 105-year history.

The event will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first Women’s Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1848. The convention began the drive that gave women the right to vote 50 years later under the 19th Amendment.

Today, the League of Women Voters wants to finish the goals of that first convention and encourage women to get involved in politics, according to Jean Askham, president of the Orange County chapter.

The league is adopting the slogan of “50/50 in 2020,” seeking an equal number of women in all legislative bodies by the year 2020, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

The awards luncheon Saturday begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Atrium Hotel, 18700 MacArthur Blvd. Tickets are $45. Reservations and information: (714) 777-1241.