The Portage & District Chamber of Commerce hosted its International Women's Day event at the William Glesby Centre two nights ago. They were soldout with 150 women in attendance. The event saw speakers present to the group of women. Chamber of Commerce executive director Cindy McDonald outlines the theme for the night.

"The theme for this year is 'Each For Equal' and that basically means equality for women in all areas," says McDonald. "Our speakers this year go along great with that theme. We have Jennifer Wikdahl who is a red seal carpenter, she builds houses. So, she is really in a male-dominated field."

McDonald describes the other speaker they had in the building.

"Leah Hextall who is a broadcaster," says McDonald. "She called her first NHL game,(making her) one of the first females in Canada to ever do that, on the weekend. So, it's a real celebration of equality for women."

International Women's Day took place on March 8th and, while it was a few days past, this was Portage's way to celebrate that day. McDonald notes it is very important for women to get together and honor how far they have come along.

When speaking with McDonald prior to the event, she described what people should be looking forward to.

"They should be expecting to hear some amazing stories about women who have overcome a lot of obstacles to be where they are," says McDonald. "We hope that it's going to motivate them, inspire them, and we hope they're going to have a lot of fun."

McDonald adds she was very happy to have a full house for this event.