FOLLANSBEE — Members of the Ohio Valley Business and Professional Women’s Club are gearing up for what has become one their biggest annual fundraising events.

This year’s Wine and Shoe Extravaganza will be held May 1 at the St. Francis Centre, 805 Lee Ave., Follansbee.

Doors for the evening will open at 5 p.m., with the event starting at 6 p.m. Everyone who attends will receive a ballot to vote for the club’s woman of the year. They also will be able to vote on the best shoes, with the winners of the shoe parade receiving prizes, organizers explained.

“What I love about this event is the celebration of outstanding area women who deserve to be recognized for their business sense, their community work behind the scenes and their compassion to help others,” said Phyllis Riccadonna, one of the co-chairs “Every year we hold the event to raise funds for our scholarships, which are given to area students.”

An addition, she said, will be a celebration of every woman who has been nominated for or was selected as woman of the year.

The evening will include a silent auction, a purse auction and 50-50 drawing. Celebrity servers will be on hand, as well.

“I’m truly excited to celebrate the five outstanding business and professional women who have been nominated for the award,” said Jeannine Sawon, event co-chair. “Each nominee exemplifies leadership, dedication and service within our community. I am also honored to serve as co-chair alongside Phyllis, whose many years of hard work have been instrumental in shaping our organization into what it is today.

“This event plays a vital role in supporting our scholarship program, which helps young women begin and advance their professional careers,” she added.

Last year, Riccadonna said, the club was able to award five $1,000 scholarships.

Tickets for the event cost $40 each, and sponsorships are available.

“We invite the community to join us for an evening of celebration and purpose, and to consider becoming involved with our organization — every contribution helps further a meaningful and impactful cause,” Sawon added.

Nominees for woman of the year include:

• Julie Decker: A Steubenville native, Decker graduated from the former Jefferson Union High School and continued her education at the former Jefferson Technical College and Bethany College before earning her law degree from Ohio Northern University.

After law school, she served as an assistant Ohio attorney general, with a focus on matters involving victims of crime, fraud, tax debt and the mental health department. Decker then moved into private practice in Scottsdale, Ariz., before returning to the Ohio Valley, where she now focuses on estate planning and probate.

She remains actively involved in the community — and has been a member of the Pleasant Hill Fire Department Auxiliary, the Kiwanis Club (where she was a member of the Ohio board of directors) and Refuge for Women (where she was a member of the board of directors.)

• Laurie Labishak: The market director of marketing and communications for Trinity Health System, Labishak, a Brilliant resident, has dedicated eight years to advancing the mission of compassionate, faith-based health care. She also serves as the interim director of philanthropy at Trinity. She considers her greatest professional success to an unwavering commitment to forward momentum.

She serves on the board of Urban Mission Ministries, Historic Fort Steuben and the Wheeling Symphony and is an ordained Christian minister. Her passion for service is matched by a lifelong dedication to music and the arts — she is the founder of the Honky Talk Sweethearts, a regional female trio that has performed in the Ohio Valley and along the East Coast since 2012. As a solo artist, she has produced two CDs.

Labishak was named the 2022 American Heart Association Woman of Impact and received the 2023 Lifeline of Ohio Public Relations Champion Award for advancing awareness of the life-saving importance of organ donations.

• Holly Lewis: A Navy veteran from the Gulf War era from Smithfield, she maintained and repaired the computer systems that supported the Navy’s undersea surveillance network while serving her country.

A Follansbee resident, Lewis holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has an MBA, and retired from McKesson after a 20-plus-year career where she played a key role in the creation and launch of EnterpriseRx, a management platform used in more the 4,500 pharmacies.

Today, she is the chief executive officer of MH Lewis Enterprises and a systemic team coach. She works with executives and leadership teams to help build scalable, resilient organizations. Lewis also is a certified hypnotist accredited by the International Association of Counselors and Therapists. She dedicates more than 500 hours each year to volunteer leadership and veteran services. Lewis is adjutant for Stevens-Christian Memorial Post 557 in Wintersville, second vice commander for Ohio American Legion and vice chair of the National American Legion Media and Communications Commission.

• Tiffany Luckino: A 1993 graduate of Catholic Central High School and a 1997 graduate of the Ohio Valley Hospital School of Nursing, Luckino spent 30 years working in the cardiac step-down unit and emergency department at Trinity Health System.

From there, she went to work at her family’s business, Cedar One Realty, working as the administrator for the realty department and is now the transaction coordinator for the real estate division. In those roles, she noticed that the area had the need for a pest control service, which led her to become the owner of GoGo Pest Control, a woman-owned and operated business that has been voted No. 1 by readers of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. That honor came after the business had only been open for one year.

The Wintersville resident said working in the family businesses allows her to spend more time with her husband, Joe Luckino; her oldest daughter, Leigha Giampolo; and their two younger children, Santino and Lola Luckino.

• Mariella Pittera: Born and raised in Acirreale, Sicily, she married Camillo Pittera in 1970 and moved to Steubenville that year, working making wigs at Mold-a-Wig.

In 1997, the Pitteras opened their first business, the Pittera Seafood Mart in downtown Steubenville, Unfortunately, the market caught fire in 1981 and was a total loss. From there, they moved into pizza, with their first shop opening in 1984 in Bridgeport. The business moved to Mingo Junction in 1989 and has settled into its current location on Hollywood Boulevard in Steubenville in 2017. Pittera, 77, has been in the pizza business for 42 years. She and Camillo work in the shop Mondays through Fridays, with the help of her children and grandchildren.

She is always willing to donate food to those in need, especially to the Friendship Room. She is a member of Holy Family Church; the Italian American Cultural Club, where she served as president; has volunteered countless hours; and works with the children’s group Giovani di Oggi e di Domani, teaching Italian songs and dance.

Pittera and her husband will celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary in August. They have three children — Sam, Valerie and Sara — and seven grandchildren.