YWCA Princeton celebrates its 2010 calendar featuring 12 woman and girls whose lives have been changed through its programs with a reception on Sunday, November 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. The women, celebrated in the new calendar entitled “Twelve Lives Changed,” each will speak about their stories. The event will be held at the YWCA Princeton, 59 Paul Robeson Place. Champagne and light fare will be served. A calendar will be given to all those that attend. Free.
Celebrities include Marie Alonzo Snyder of West Windsor, a member of the over 40 dance group; and the Kondetis, a Plainsboro family in the Plainsboro Aquatics Program.
“When my daughters started learning to swim, I watched them,” says Padmaja Kondeti, mother of three daughters. “The instructor encouraged me to learn swimming and now I’m comfortable swimming laps.”
Born and raised in India, she never learned how to swim. “Not many people swam when I lived there,” Padmaja says. She received her master’s degree in India. Her husband, Ramesh, did not swim either. They married in India and have been in the United States for close to 17 years. He works in computers for the Royal Bank of Canada in New York City. She has been a stay-at-home mom since the birth of their second daughter.
Their daughters include Pooja, 14, a freshman at High School North, who volunteers to teach swimming to younger children; Sreeja, 12, a seventh grade student at Community Middle School; and Teja, 10, a fifth grade student at Millstone River School.
“We started learning together at the YWCA located at High School North’s pool,” says Padmaja. “We swim in the summer and swim laps at least twice a week during the year. It is good exercise and feels good.”
Following the reception, the calendar will be for sale at the YWCA’s registration office, as well as in bookstores and other outlets.
Reception, Princeton YWCA, 50 Paul Robeson Place, Princeton. Sunday, November 8, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. “Twelve Lives Changed,” the 2010 calendar featuring the voices of 12 women and girls whose lives have been changed through the YWCA’s programs. Free. 609-497-2100.
