While Republicans who want her job are gathering in Vancouver, Sen. Patty Murray is holding a fundraiser today in Seattle with a special guest and prizes.

It's her annual "Golden Tennis Shoe" Awards, which Murray gives to people she believes make a difference in state residents' lives. One of the awards goes to Kitara McClure of Spokane, for her at-risk teen drop-in center at Northtown Mall called PONY TALES, (which is an acronym for a really long name that''s inside the blog.) McClure is also the multicultural director at Spokane Community College.

The special guest is Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Other shoe winners include Marcelas Owens, a Seattle youngster whose mom died after losing medical insurance who became sort of a poster child during the health care reform debate.

The award's name, of course, comes from the oft-repeated story of how Murray got into politics after being told by some recalcitrant officeholder that he wasn't going to support an issue and she couldn't do anything about it because she was "just a mom in tennis shoes."

PONY TALES stands for Positive Outreach Navigating Youth Teaching Adolescents Leadership & Entrepreneurial Spirit.

Gotta wonder how long it took someone to come up with that acronym....

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