Stars celebrate female empowerment during ‘Women’s Day’ at Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, CT (WFSB) - Many powerful women in the state celebrated female empowerment at the Travelers Championship on Thursday.

The real stars of the show were the hundreds of women who attended.

Mary Kate Morrissey, who portrayed Elphaba in the Broadway smash “Wicked”, sang the hit song “Defying Gravity”.

UConn women’s basketball stars Azzi Fudd and Ashlynn Shade, along with assistant coach Chris Dailey, shared stories from their time on the championship court.

Broadcasting icon, Hoda Kotb, was the keynote speaker. She delivered a speech about her career and decision to adopt two children, Hope and Hailey, while she was in her 50s.

Kotb’s overall message was that women can do anything they set their minds to.

“The way I sort of see life is like it’s chapters in a book. First I had my local news chapter, then my today chapter, and now I’m in my best chapter, my mom chapter,” said Kotb.

People said being around so many other powerful women was truly inspiring.

“Events like this are incredible. If you were inside it was an incredibly full house tickets sold out in minutes such a great community event and networking event for a lot of women in the community,” said Lisa Morgan with Travelers.

Many attendees agreed with Morgan.

“The world is changing in a positive way and I’m happy to live in Connecticut where we see a lot more of that positive change than we see in many other places in the country,” added Fran Pastore.

“I think it’s so important to come together, women across all sectors and ages to be together and connect and celebrate,” said Brenda Thickett.

“I think it’s great that we are having each others’ backs and holding each other up and pushing each other forward,” explained Hazel-Ann Rose.

Women’s Day has sold out within minutes each year.