Meet our New President: Virginia Spencer— a woman who truly represents the motto, “Girl Scouts builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.”
Incoming president, Virginia Spencer, joined EWPB in 1997. When asked what attracted her, she replied, “Since we are all busy women and have a limited amount of volunteer time, I felt EWPB was the most worthwhile organization for me. I was in tune with the “Mission” and “Vision Statement.” Many of my friends were already members and I wanted to meet other women in the community and make new friends. I especially enjoyed all the events and the WILA luncheons. My circle of friendship has widened. I’ve learned about the various professions of our members and the community involvement our members have is just staggering to me. ”
“My theme for the year is Honor the Past, Seize the Day, Dream for Tomorrow.”
This is Virginia’s personal motto for living her life and she wants to share it with the members of EWPB. In the coming year, she would like to “touch” members more often through
communication by e-mail and phone calls. “I want to have a wonderful fun filled year with the members being very inclusive.”
The nominating committee felt that Virginia would be a terrific president and would do a good job.
“I feel that EWPB has so many wonderful things to offer and I hope to contribute to our causes.”
Our incoming president had found wonderful camaraderie and a spirit of giving among members.
“The members are always willing to help each other. EW have always turned out and supported the charities I have been involved with the past few years like the Girl Scout luncheon. I have been on the Girl Scout Board for about 9 years and helped to start the luncheon 5 years ago.”
Virginia has always done community events even as a child while earning her badges in Girl Scouts. Her school years were full of volunteer activities. In fact, she met her husband, Perry, at a meeting while a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. As an adult volunteer, she is a past president of Junior Women’s Club of the North Palm Beaches. The organization founded the Nelle Smith Home for Girls, the Auxiliary at Gardens Medical Center, the jogging trail on Burns Road, and the North Palm Beach Library and made many other contributions to the community when the North County area was small and growing.
In 2006, Virginia received the Community Involvement Award from the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, an organization with more than 10,000 members. Virginia is the general manager of Illustrated Properties and has responsibilities for agents in 23 offices.
“In 2007, my company, Illustrated Properties which has around 500 agents, started the Virginia Spencer Award. It is given annually to someone in the company who shows exemplary community volunteer and charity work. I felt very proud and humbled that they named this award after me. I have also worked with several of our agents to establish Illustrated Properties Charities. It is still only two years young but we are working hard to increase our funds.” The organization has a Charity Newsletter which comes out once a month to recognize the contributions of the company and its agents/staff in the community.
In her spare time, Virginia and her husband, Perry, like to play golf and take trips around Florida and to North Carolina. They also canoe and kayak and have explored many rivers in Florida and North Carolina.
“We also bicycle on the weekends. My favorite trip is along the Intracoastal waterway in Palm Beach to the Palm Beach Inlet. I also enjoy working with the flowers and orchids around our home as well as a good book and activities with our two daughters.”
EWPB is grateful that Virginia contributes so much of herself to our organization. Her varied interests and causes, both professional and personal, make her a dynamic leader and an inspiration.