Tammy Newland Is Rick Rackers “Woman of The Year”

Tickets are now on sale for Rick Rackers Auxiliary of Assistance League of Long Beach’s 2017 “Woman of the Year” luncheon honoring longtime philanthropist and realtor Tammy Newland. The event will take place on Friday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. at Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach. Tickets, which are available for purchase on or before Jan. 18 at allb.org, are $70 per person or $700 for a table of 10.

Rick Rackers “Woman of the Year” is a long-standing tradition dating back to 1955. Each year the organization seeks and receives dozens of nominations from various organizations and individuals throughout Greater Long Beach.  A committee reviews the applications and selects one individual to be honored as Rick Rackers Woman of the Year based on their breadth of philanthropic work and community leadership focused on improving the lives of youth and families in the greater Long Beach area.

“This is quite an honor,” said Newland, owner and operating principal of Keller Williams Realty Seal Beach. “I am humbled to be selected as Rick Rackers Woman of the Year knowing that I follow a distinguished list of women who have made an impact on our community through their volunteer work.”

The tradition typically includes a surprise visit to the nominee’s home by the Rick Rackers Nominating Committee to inform her that she has been selected to be the organization’s “Woman of the Year.” This year, Ms. Newland’s husband, Ken Shishido, helped to organize the surprise celebration along with the Assistance League of Long Beach President Vickie Sullos and the 2009 Woman of the Year Candice Stacy as well as Rick Rackers Chair Sheryl Pearl and Woman of the Year Chair Nancy Smith and Resource and Development Chair Katy Wade. The group toasted Newland with a glass of Champagne to congratulate her.

“Our Woman of the Year luncheon is one of my favorite events that we host,” said Sheryl Pearl, 2016-17 Rick Rackers chairman. “Past Woman of the Year honorees who attend the luncheon are introduced and seated on a dais together. Each is announced and escorted into the event by a current member of Rick Rackers. Then the afternoon gets underway with lunch and a presentation honoring our current Woman of the Year.”

Newland was nominated by many individuals, including past “Woman of the Year,” who all praised her for her decades of volunteerism while juggling a full-time career and family. Newland, who first volunteered with the Long Beach Police Department in 1986, has been active with several Long Beach non-profit organizations, including CAMEO Professional Auxiliary of Assistance League of Long Beach, National Women’s Advisory Council, Long Beach St. Mary Medical Center Foundation, Rotary International, and Junior League of Long Beach, just to name a few. She recently served as president of Steel Magnolias and is an alumnus of Leadership Long Beach.  Newland also serves on the National Association of REALTORS.

As “Woman of the Year” Newland joins an esteemed group of women including the Honorable Beverly O’Neill, former First Lady of California Gloria Deukmejian, Press-Telegram columnist Shirley Wild, Melva Miller, Beverly O’Neill, Mary Alice Braly, Annemarie Forster, Judy McNulty Black and Jean Bixby Smith, just to name a few.

Tickets for this year’s “Woman of the Year,” which are $70 per person or $700 for a table of 10, can be purchased by calling the Assistance League of Long Beach (ALLB) at (562) 627.5650 or online at allb.org. RSVPs will be accepted through Jan. 18. Tickets can be purchased with cash, check or credit card. The “Woman of the Year” event net proceeds benefit Operation School Bell, which helps to clothe 10,000 in-need Long Beach Unified School District students grades K-12 with backpacks, uniforms and school supplies.