Enjoying High Tea with Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman (4th from left) and area Girl Scout leaders on April 14th.

As a female in the predominantly male field of politics, I think it is important to do what we can as women and mothers to encourage leadership in young women. My neighbor and colleague Beverly Sussman, Village President of Buffalo Grove shares this sentiment, and recently the two of us teamed up to host a Leadership Tea for local Girl Scouts. Last Thursday, fifteen girls from Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, and Arlington Heights joined us at Gerri’s Tea Room in Long Grove to enjoy a three course High Tea complete with finger sandwiches, pastries, and freshly baked scones with cream. As we were supping on our English Breakfast & Earl Grey blend, Gerri (who grew up in Ireland) provided us with some history on teatime customs and etiquette.

As we learned, the tradition of sharing tea is really more about the conversation than the food (although those scones were scrumptious!) To that end, Beverly and I engaged the girls in some conversation about our jobs as Village Presidents, and how our different leadership roles throughout life have lead us to the positions that we now hold. We talked about how women have unique contributions to make to this world, and encouraged the girls to rely on those strengths, say yes to opportunities in life, and not be afraid to “reach for the stars.” The idea was to enjoy a relaxing ladies afternoon together and hopefully provide some inspiration for the future.

The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana also blogged about this event. Click here to read more.

Gerri Gwarnicki (in green dress at right) explains the proper way to drink from a china tea cup.