For their final meeting of the year on Oct. 23, the Pike County Republican Women will be hosting a special guest, Alabama First Lady Dianne Bentley.

The meeting is being held at 11:30 a.m. at The Studio on Walnut St. and is open to the public, but reservations must be made by contacting the PCRW by Oct. 21.

Rachel Lee, vice president of PCRW, said her group was honored to have such a notable speaker come to Pike County.

“We like to have a high profile speaker for our last meeting of the year,” Lee said. “We thought that the First Lady would be a good choice, and she hadn’t been down to Pike County as First Lady.”

Lee also said the process of getting in touch with Bentley was straightforward. “We called her assistant, and they said she had an open date on Oct. 23, and we booked her,” Lee said.

Lee said the focus of the Bentley’s talk will be on what it is to be the First Lady of Alabama. Her words will also likely focus on her two main projects, supporting foster care and raising awareness for domestic violence.

“She partnered with Verizon Wireless to create the HopeLine,” Lee said. “She is collecting used telephones, and we will be helping her with that.”

The HopeLine program provides telephones to victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Oftentimes, a personal cell phone is the only means a victim has of contacting emergency authorities during a domestic violence episode.

Bentley is also a strong advocate for supporting foster care in Alabama.

It is an issue that hits close to home for the Bentley family. The Bentleys have four sons, two of whom are adopted.

Lee described Bentley as an all-around good person. “I think she has a good story to tell,” Lee said. “She said that if she can be remembered, she hopes people will remember her stand for Christ. I think that’s important.”

Les also said the First Lady’s presence at a monthly meeting shows the strength of the PCRW organization. “I think that it shows we’re well-respected and do a lot of good in the community,” Lee said. “It shows that the state views us in a positive way.”

Reservations for the meting can be made by calling Rachel Lee at 566-7580 or Ginny Ham at 674-1468.