Rebecca Gosselin Photography
From left, 2008’s Pulse Awardees Karen Collins, Suzanne Brangham and Barbara Nobles. Seated is Carolyn Stone, honorary chair of the Carolyn J. Stone Center for Women’s Health & Wellness.
Three local women were recently honored by the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation for their community involvement, volunteerism and philanthropy.
The 2008 Pulse Awards recipients are:
Karen Collins, who currently chairs the Community Advisory Board for the Carolyn J. Stone Center for Women’s Health and Wellness, is a leader of women in the most literal sense. Though her company, Going Places! she has fostered walking, hiking and trekking for women all across North and South America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Collins is a supporter of the California State Trails Commission and the Sonoma County Parks Commission and serves on the boards of the Sonoma Ecology Center, the Yosemite National Institutes and the Bay Area Ridge Trail. She co-founded the Sonoma Overlook Trail and serves on the City of Sonoma’s Environmental Advisory Commission. A survivor of breast cancer, she is grateful for the care she received at the Sonoma Valley Hospital through Drs. Elboim and Ahern.
Suzanne Brangham, who has devoted her artistic and business talents to making beautiful places more beautiful. After living in beautiful places all across the country, Brangham retired to Sonoma where she began another career renovating the General’s Daughter restaurant, creating the award-winning Ramekins cooking school, then developing historic MacArthur Place into a spa and conference center complete with the award-winning steak house, Saddles. She serves on many professional and non-profit boards.
Barbara Nobles moved to Sonoma in the third grade, attending grammar school in what is now the Sonoma Community Center. Her community service includes fundraising for the Santa Rosa chapter of the American Cancer Society and Soroptimist International of Sonoma Valley, where she served at both club and district level. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Sonoma Chamber of Commerce. Nobles has long been a member of the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and has worked tirelessly to make all their events beautiful through her dedication of time, energy, artistic talent and generosity. She was successfully treated several years ago for malignant melanoma and has suffered no recurrence.
The awards were given May 8 at a springtime luncheon at the Sonoma Golf Club.
