Women can learn about tools for better living on Saturday, April 6, when Bluffton University’s Women’s Council hosts the fourth annual R&R for Women conference.

Bluffton alumnae and a current student will be among the presenters during the conference, titled “Staying Strong: What’s in your toolbox?” Hours are 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Centennial Hall—site of the morning sessions—and the new Sommer Center for Health and Fitness Education, where the afternoon session will be held. Lunch will be in Marbeck Center.

Registration for the conference is available online, at http://tickets.bluffton.edu, or by calling Joyce Schumacher at 419-358-3456; the deadline is March 29. Cost to attend is $45 per person, or $40 per person in a group of three or more, with $15 of each fee going to the women’s council.

Comprised of alumnae and friends of the university, the council supports female students in part through its annual Professional Enrichment Grants for Women, which help recipients gain professional experience in an anticipated career.
Morning sessions will begin after registration at 9:15 a.m. They are:

• “Tools for Life,” a 9:30 a.m. discussion of building stronger physical, mental and spiritual health with Susan McCain, a 1992 Bluffton alumna. McCain has taught mind-body classes in the Lima, Ohio, area since 1995 and completed a master’s degree in integral yoga therapy from Antioch McGregor University in 2007.

• “Toolbox Blitz,” from 10-11 a.m., with nutrition information from Barbara Stettler, associate professor emeritus of family and consumer sciences at Bluffton, and Liz Brinkman, a 1997 Bluffton graduate and a registered dietitian in home health-care and primary-care settings in Phoenix, Ariz.; frugal-living tips from Stephanie Wysong, owner of Stephanie’s Savings LLC in Lima; and hints for happier cleaning from Debbie Baumgartner, who left an office manager position six years ago to clean houses with her husband.
Following a snack break from 11-11:30 a.m. will be:

• “Stories that Inspire,” as told by Julianne Frankhouser, a registered nurse and director of Guiding Light, a program for pregnant teenagers in Lima; Tamara Al-Sammarraie, a native of Iraq who became a refugee and is now a Bluffton student; and Marlene Yant, a Bluffton High School graduate and currently a mortgage lender for First Federal Bank.

Lunch will be served in The Commons in Marbeck at 12:30 p.m. Afterward, until 2:15 p.m., visitors may shop at the university bookstore or guest vendors’ booths and take a walk outside or around the indoor track in the Sommer Center.

The final session, from 2:15-3 p.m. in the Sommer Center, will feature personal trainer Jim Steffen of Findlay, Ohio, discussing “Tools to Stay Fit.”