By Rachel Knight
The Prenatal Clinic of Bryan College Station will continue its tradition of celebrating women who make a difference in the Brazos Valley on April 28 during the 24th annual You’re the Tops Luncheon.
In 1985, Gardner Osborn and Anne Hazen took a bold step to fill a void they saw in the Brazos Valley community, according to Lynn Clary Yeager, The Prenatal Clinic director. While at a church function, Osborn heard that Bryan College Station’s poor had worse living conditions than third world countries. Upon her own inspection, Osborn found the information she heard at church to be true. She decided to start a prenatal clinic for expecting mothers without healthcare as a result of her research.
The Prenatal Clinic provides health care from conception to post-delivery for both mothers and their babies free of charge. Today, 12 percent of the babies born in Bryan are born at the Prenatal Clinic. The annual You’re the Tops Luncheon raises about 15 percent of the clinic’s annual budget, according to Yeager.
“We have a huge number of women in this community who lead exceptional lives,” Yeager says. “Some of them are really extraordinary, but really and truly most of them are just everyday people doing everyday things, but finding a passion and believing in whatever their passion is.”
You’re the Tops honorees are nominated by the community and selected anonymously by a You’re the Tops Luncheon committee. Since the luncheon began, 277 women have been honored at the event. This year 11 women will be honored at the luncheon.
“Each year, we run the gamut,” Yeager says. “There are no two women out there alike. Some of them dabble in the same thing, but each one of them are so unique.”
Yeager says there is always at least one honoree at the You’re the Tops Luncheon who surprises everyone in the room when it is her turn to speak. Yeager refers to these women as sleepers, and says this year’s sleeper story is one for the record books.
“This year we have one lady who was involved in 1977 in a very serious terrorist hostage situation,” Yeager says.
In addition to learning more about the women who impact the Brazos Valley community, Yeager says the luncheon renews faith and hope for the future.
“It makes you appreciate the community in which you live,” Yeager says. “It makes you realize that there is good in humanity. It makes you recognize that everybody can do something.”
Upwards of 600 people are expected to attend the You’re the Tops Luncheon this year at the Hilton Hotel. The luncheon starts at 11:30am and ends at 1:30pm. Reservations are $50 per person and can be made online at www.bcsprenatal.org.
Honoring Outstanding Women
Beverly Brown Brown is a 1974 graduate of Bryan High School. She earned an education degree from Texas A&M University and graduated cum laude in three years. After teaching for a year in the Bryan public school system, she left to pursue her dream of becoming a flight attendant. She volunteered to organize a Southwest flight for Futures for Children and hosted several dozen Native American children on a trip to Washington, D.C. Counted among her many volunteer efforts is immediate past president of the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, volunteer for Meals on Wheels, the Aggieland Humane Society, and Twin City Mission.
Sharon Camp Camp graduated from Southwestern University, and earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of Texas, with certification as an educational diagnostician. As the wife of a career military officer, she taught students with a variety of special needs in six states and the Department of Defense Schools in Panama. Camp worked as an education diagnostician in three Texas school districts before moving to College Station where she served several elementary schools in Bryan ISD. Since her retirement, she has maintained an extensive volunteer career. In addition to being a surrogate parent in school meetings for special needs students, she volunteered in preschool classrooms at Carver serving children with special needs.
JoAnn Davis Davis earned a bachelor of arts from the University of North Texas in 1967. As a military wife, she traveled the country and taught elementary children while her husband served in Vietnam. Davis returned to B/CS in 1972. Some of her activities upon her return include A&M Newcomers Club, Brazos County A&M Mothers’ Club, Brazos Valley Panhellenic Association, BCS Women’s Club, and more. Davis was an active supporter of her husband’s career as President of the Texas A&M Foundation and Interim President of Texas A&M.
Brenda Grays A native of Austin, Grays has lived in the Brazos Valley for 18 years with her husband, Lorenzo, their cattle, and two horses Cocoa and Hershey. She has two daughters and is the proud grandmother of six grandkids. Grays has served on the Brazos Valley Food Bank Board of Directors since 2013. During her tenure she has served as secretary and vice president. Now as president she has a real sense of urgency that no one should ever go hungry.
Sharon Brown-Hickle Brown-Hickle grew up in Bryan, graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School. She graduated from Texas A&M University with honors, and was named Outstanding Student in Sociology her senior year. Brown-Hickle began her professional career in 1984 with Richard S. Smith & Associates. She later earned her Chartered Life Underwriter professional designation. She currently serves on the CHI St. Joseph Community Board, and previously served on the boards of the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, Briarcrest Country Club, and more.
Jeanne Mitchell Mitchell graduated with a bachelor of arts in English and a minor in speech from Syracuse University. She earned a master of arts in speech and theatre arts from Teachers College, Columbia University. After 10 years of teaching high school English and theatre arts, she volunteered at PACER, a parent advocacy nonprofit, in Minneapolis. In 1989, her family moved to Bryan. Mitchell joined Friends of the Bryan-College Station Library. She has dedicated 28 years to volunteering at local libraries.
Mary Jo Prince While earning her journalism and broadcasting degree at Texas A&M University, Prince was an Aggie Club student volunteer and a Fish Camp counselor. After college, she volunteered with the Houston American Cancer Society’s “Bear Bryant College Coach of the Year Award” program and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Upon returning to Aggieland in 1995, Prince began her extensive public service. She’s served in leadership roles for Scotty’s House, the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Baron’s Ball, and more.
Pattie Sears Sears was born in Orange, a small Southeast Texas town, in 1948. Her 47-year professional career included working for the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., Texas A&M University, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. During her time with the CVB, Sears served on many boards. She also served as Board President and Treasurer for the 17 Texas Regional State Tourism Council. While her daughter was in school, Sears was an active PTO member and became a soccer coach when soccer was first introduced in the College Station Parks Dept.
Nancy Plankey-Videla Plankey-Videla was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1967. Instilled with the values of service for others and the importance of participating in grassroots efforts for justice, she chose to combine a career in academia with community activism. In 1985, she went to Loyola Marymount University, where she worked in campus ministry. In 2004, she began her academic career in the Department of Sociology at Texas A&M University. As a proud Latina, she sought to mentor students of color, who like her were not always made to feel welcome in the halls of academia.
Kathy Waskom Waskom grew up on the south side of Dallas. In 1989, while in school at Texas A&M University, Kathy met her husband Jeff. In 1997, Kathy and Jeff became parents and decided that Aggieland was the only place to raise their children. Some of her volunteer service hours have included the Bryan ISD Rezoning committees, Bryan ISD PTO committee, Project Graduation committees, volunteer Parent Reading Partner, and a member of the Mean Green Family at UNT. Waskom also volunteers with Pride Community Center’s Modern Family committee; Stuff the Bus committee; and more.
Ellan Neblett Wilson Wilson worked within the Bryan College Station community for more than 40 years. She attended Paul Quinn and Prairie View A&M University to pursue a degree in elementary education. Wilson worked at Bryan Independent School District for thirty years. In addition, she worked at College Station Independent School District for ten years. She was active in working with the community’s youth. Wilson volunteered and dedicated numerous hours of her time to the North Bryan Community Center, African American Museum, West Union Missionary Baptist Church, North Bryan Community Center Bethune Women’s Club, and more. She passed away on October 22, 2017.
