During the 1990-1991 year PJWC continued the tradition of Art In The Park, again with record crowds. Raising over $14,000, PJWC was able to contribute $5,000 to Young At Art, buy playground equipment for Central Park, fund our annual art scholarship, and provide mirrors for the dance classes at Central Park. We also had a very successful Holiday Tour of Homes, raising $1,400 to fund our club. A new event, Super Saturday Sunday Spectacular, proved to be a big hit with the kids, featuring Ninja Turtles and the Little Mermaid. We all had a good time and raised $5000 in the process. Make-A-Wish was given a check for over $26,800, thanks to the magnificent Dinner Dance held at the Sheraton DCOTA. The evening sparkled with "Stardust" and was a huge success.
1991 -1992 has been another great year for Juniors with a record of more than 30 new members, bringing with them a spark of enthusiasm and many new ideas. Art In The Park marked its 25th Anniversary with huge success; a lovely watercolor by artist Diane Dance; another wonderful JC Penny - Junior Fashion Show, and record attendance! Proceeds helped to fund Young At Art; a shelter for the City of Plantation; the art scholarship; our annual academic scholarship, Beautification, and Support Services for 1992-1993.
This year's Dinner Dance "Crystal Ball" at DCOTA marked the event's 10th Anniversary with a fun night for all; Susan Lichtman as guest Hostess; Jerry Wayne Orchestra; and over $24,000 donated to MAW. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Inc. presented the first Bill & Betty Duncan Patron Award to Junior’s for our long-term commitment to the Foundation. Tour of Homes was once again a huge holiday success, and included a tour of our Historical Museum. And to top off the year, from September to September our Calendar was reborn and turned out to be as popular a tradition as ever!
1992-1993 showed us all that while our endeavors are not worldwide, we certainly do have an impact in helping people in our community and making it a better place to live. All totaled this year, we had profits of $89,000 of which $86,000 went back into our community. Art In The Park brought two special Pre-Art Show events hosted by Brasserie Max this year; a fashion show and a poster unveiling cocktail reception. The specially ordered weather for the show kept the crowds coming and enabled us to reach record profits of $24,700. Among the items funded by these profits were; landscaping of the south side of Broward Boulevard from East Acre to East Tropical, expansion space for Young At Art, an academic and art scholarship, new trees for the Helen B. Hoffman Library, replacing those destroyed during Hurricane Andrew, a special tree planted at Central Park in memory of Steve Flutie who was a true friend of Juniors, a handicapped accessible water fountain at Liberty Tree Park, and a record board for the Central Park Pool facility.
This year's Dinner Dance, "Sandcastles", to benefit MAW was spectacular. The evening sparkled with the enthusiasm of the 325 people who attended. A live auction was introduced for the first time. The smiles on Junior's faces that evening told the story of the success of this idea as people eagerly raised bids. When the evening, was over, we had raised over $60,000 for Make-A-Wish.
Some of the new things Juniors did this year were an information bulletin board at the General Meetings filled with news articles, pictures, and the Treasurer's reports, Adopt-A-Grandparent Program, and the planting, of trees at all Plantation Schools in honor of Arbor Week.
Giving and Sharing from the Heart is exactly what Junior’s did throughout the 1993 -1994 year. Our year began with a record number of Junior’s and their families attending the City's Labor Day 40th Birthday celebration. Here we kicked off the sales of our popular Community Calendar, put together by Ways and Means. Art In The Park arrived with the beautiful commemorative poster, "Peter's Summer Family Kitchen" and a colorful whimsical t-shirt. The Art Show was well attended and enjoyed by everyone. The Art Show Board voted to disburse profits to the city for new playground equipment at Liberty Tree Park, fund the first historical pillar to be built on Broward Boulevard, and as founding members, continue the support of Young At Art Children's Museum
Support Services collected food and gifts throughout the holidays, held the annual Christmas party for the children at the Ann Stork Center and even found time to go caroling at the Avenel Nursing Center. The Fine Arts Committee hosted our popular Holiday Tour of Homes. We visited six beautiful homes, bought raffle tickets and brought home Gingerbread cookies that were handmade, compliments of Fine Arts. Over $3,200 was raised on this project.
The Beautification Committee held the annual Unpollute Day in January and raised a record amount of over $1,200. Just as last year, we provided the trees that were planted at all the schools in Plantation during Arbor Week. We presented three scholarships this year, an academic one to a local high school student and two to ladies for the "Mature Woman's Scholarship." Picnic tables and benches were purchased for the Community Center. We purchased a VCR for Deicke and donated $75 for the Easter Seal Telethon and $200 for the City's Park and Recreation Jeopardy Contest.
In 1994 PJWC was one of only fifteen clubs chosen to participate in the 1000+ Club of the American Cancer Society, "Woman of the Year" luncheon. It was certainly an honor to have our accomplishments shared with more than 600 people.
The "Carnival Ball" was held in April to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Florida. It was an overwhelming success. This year, we held a Shopping, day at "Stein Mart" where 10% of the day's proceeds were donated to Juniors to add to our grand total for Make-A-Wish. Juniors had the pleasure of presenting a check in the amount of over $50,000 to Make-A-Wish.
Throughout the year our Contact Committee kept us informed with the newly designed newsletter and the monthly reminder calls. Our Social Committee held lovely socials such as the President's Reception, Halloween Costume Contest, the Holiday and Progressive Dinners. Publicity kept the community informed of all our activities, while at the same time designed a new Publicity brochure. Our Membership Committee was continuously recruiting prospective members and they ended our year with a fun family picnic.
1994-1995 proved to be another successful year for PJWC. With the formation of two new committees we were able to get new projects off the ground. First, the Networking Committee put together an informative book of our membership. They included information on careers, hobbies and families. Second, the Broward Boulevard Restoration Committee worked hard to raise funds and win approval of the city to build brick pillars at each of the historical streets along Broward Boulevard. The committee organized a garage sale at Deicke, which raised over $2,000. They also sold hundreds of bricks to residents and businesses.
Once again, we had beautiful weather and a great turnout for our 28th Annual Art In The Park. We raised over $15,000 and were able to give money to the city to be used for playground equipment at the Community Center, to Central Park Tennis Courts for score-cards, to the Young At Art building fund, to our own Broward Boulevard Restoration Project for a pillar, and to be used for an academic scholarship.
The 13th Annual Dinner Dance, "Moonlight and Magic" was a beautiful and memorable evening held at DCOTA. With tremendous support from the community, we were able to raise over $40,000 for Make-A-Wish. The Support Services Committee collected food for Thanksgiving baskets, clothing, for the clothing bank, and stuffed animals for the Anne Stork Center Easter party. They also donated over $300 to the Plantation Parks and Recreation Department to be used for summer camp scholarships.
1995-1996 brought the 29th Annual Art In The Park and another beautiful weekend that generated over $20,000. This allowed Junior’s to fund next year's Beautification and Support Services Committees, an academic scholarship, a pavilion at Sunset Park as well as a donation to Young At Art. Art In The Park also completed our financial commitment to the Broward Boulevard Pillar project. Our goal to complete the Broward Boulevard Pillars was realized. This multi-year project was a cooperative effort between the residents, the City and PJWC. It serves as a reminder of our commitment to our City for all to see and enjoy!
Activities during the year included participation in two parades and some hilarious meetings: September for the Committee signups and the October Halloween meeting. Our Thanksgiving Feast meeting was enjoyed by all. Some new activities included a night at a Comedy Club, an Italian dinner at the El Dorado Clubhouse and happy hour at Mai-Kai.
Tour of Homes had great weather, great homes and great profit for our Club. Unpollute had a new site at the Community Center. Support Services - our Committee of the Year - kept everyone "driving" with a Valentine visit to a hospital, Easter party at Ann Stork Center, delivery of 5 Thanksgiving baskets, and the most popular "Meals on Wheels" deliveries. "Tropical Dreams" brought an evening with Mai-Kai Dancers, parrots and one lucky winner of a jet-ski as well as a check for $34,500 presented to Make-A- Wish. Arbor Day in April wrapped up the year with the presentation to Juniors of a PLANT award at the ceremonies at City Hall, the donation of trees planted at local schools, and a lemon tree planted at City Hall.
We started 1997-1998 by helping un-pollute our community. And in February we had a luau instead of a progressive dinner, which made us feel like we were in a tropical paradise. Our "Ocean of Dreams" dinner dance in March raised $28,500 to help Make-A-Wish dreams come true. During Arbor Week we worked together with the City to educate children about trees and their value to our community. We were recognized at the PLANT awards as a group dedicated to beautifying our city. The City completed construction of a pavilion at Sunset Park, which was funded by Art In The Park 1995.
Several other committees worked hard throughout the year as well. Support Services had meals on wheels coordinated every month to bring food to shut-ins, collected clothing, for the Broward County clothing bank, Christmas caroled at nursing homes and brought valentines to a children's hospital ward. The Membership Committee hosted two orientations for new members to expose them to the club's many facets. Our Contact Committee kept us all informed of what was happening each month and Publicity recorded and shot the "Kodak" moments
Art in the Park brought a festive air to the fall and raised $14,000 to fund special projects - an academic scholarship, a video camera for the Plantation Dive Team, seed money for improvements at Deicke Auditorium, needed supplies for future Art In The Park use. At the November meeting we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and Support Services collected items for food baskets for the needy. The "snowy scene" for our Tour of Homes brought the holiday spirit to our hearts, and, our holiday dinner at La Piazza brought camaraderie and presents in many forms.
1998-1999 started off with a visit from "Uncle Sam." The Foundation was to be audited and thanks to all Junior’s efforts in keeping great notes and records, we came out smelling like a rose! September is always a busy month for the club with the President's Reception. General meeting started the new year events and preparations for Art In The Park. This year's Art In The Park raised $16,000 for our beautiful city. Part of the money raised went to complete the Pillar Project along Broward Blvd at the entrance to West Tropical Way.
Our October meeting was a "frightful" experience as all members dressed up in Halloween fun attire. We had the honor of a visit from "President Clinton' " his sidekick, "Monica Lewinsky" and her evil friend, "Linda Tripp' " Other friends attending were "Uncle Fester" "The Ugly Housewife" and a “Coconut-chested" Hula dancer.
November was a month to be thankful for. First, we had our annual Thanksgiving feast where every Junior brings a dish to share; we do the Pilgrims proud! Support Services collected over 3,000 canned good items for the Co-op Feeding program from their food drive. The Beautification Committee put the wheels in motion for the construction of the walls out in front of Deicke Auditorium. This project was a joint effort between the Juniors and The Plantation Woman's Club. It was a wonderful effort by both organizations working together.
The annual Tour of Homes was held on December 16, 1998. This community tradition raised more than $3,000 for the club. Our Beautification Committee held its annual Unpollute Day on January 23, 1999 and made $450 from the sale of trash/treasures. This committee then went on to the task of Arbor Day throughout the city; this event will blossom for years to come. April showers brought to us "An Affair of the Heart." The annual Make-A-Wish dinner dance was held on April 24, 1999 at the DCTOA. Through the generosity of all attending we raised over $33,000 for Make-A-Wish.
The year was coming to a fast close and so many things to wrap up. We granted a scholarship to a City of Plantation high school graduate. Support Services completed another successful year with meals-on-wheels, and food and clothing drives. Membership recruited and enrolled many new hard working members. Social kept us fed and happy with refreshments at meetings, events and parties. Contact did a great job of keeping us up-to-date and informed. Publicity, with their cameras always in hand, never let an incident go by that wasn't captured for our history books. And last, but not least, Ways and Means - through Herculean efforts, the calendar was completed and sold as always to our loyal fans here in our city.
The year 1999- 2000, our 40th Anniversary year, started with many new ideas for the club to raise money for the community and the club, and to enhance the work that Juniors do for our city. Beautification applied for a National Tree Trust Grant and we were approved. Ways and Means held a new Junk Hunt on September 18 and raised $1,007, and we all ate at Sweet Tomatoes in November where we received 20% of the dinner bills. We also decided to participate in the Millennium Quilt project sponsored by the Broward County Historical Commission and submitted a "pillar" patch in honor of our 40th Anniversary.
Art in the Park was a huge success and raised over $16,000 for the community. The Miami Herald sponsored a web site for the club and we all had fun contributing to it. Disbursements included scholarships, referee chairs for Veltri Tennis Center, playground equipment for Seminole Park, and a digital camera for the club to keep our web site current. Juniors were honored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation with a presentation of the Bill and Betty Duncan Award for the club's ongoing support of MAW. MAW also honored Cindy Calvert (a MAW board member emeritus) for her work on behalf of the organization.
The year 2000-2001 began with our Brick Dedication at Liberty Tree Park, Fine Arts hosted the Tour of Homes on December 15 and we made over $3,000 for the club. Response for bringing toys for the needy and teddy bears for the fire department was great and a very successful event. The Holiday dinner was at Caf6 de Paris on Las Olas and was wonderful. Support Services received $1,500 for money to help needy families at the holidays.
In January, Beautification added another dimension to Unpollute, called The Festival of Treasures, on January 29. It was very successful and a lot of fun. Juniors made over $5,000 for the day. We also had a Happy Hour at the Iguana Cantina at Riverfront on January 2 1. In February, we voted in Judy Ackerman for the Woman's Club "Woman of the Year" and our social, "Sports Night" was held at the new Volunteer Park.
The month of April started with "Fun on Fifth" at the Radisson Bahia Mar to benefit Make- A-Wish on April 1, 2000. We made over $16,000 this year. Support Services went to Plantation General Hospital with Easter baskets. Beautification started Secret Sisters and many joined in for two months of sneaking around" to give gifts and cards to their new friends. The club had a surplus of $10,000 this year and a project to widen the walkways at Liberty Tree Park with brick pavers was proposed and approved. The Art in the Park disbursements and the Liberty Tree brick walkway project were presented to the Plantation City Council on April 26. Both were very well received and the walkway project was approved. The Mayor also read a Proclamation in honor of Junior's 40th Anniversary.
The year ended with a 40th Anniversary Picnic/Groundbreaking Ceremony at Liberty Tree Park on June 11, 2000. Guests included Mayor Armstrong, Councilmen Ralph Merritt and Lee Hillier and Landscape Architect Jeff Siegel. Even though the weather was bleak, the clouds cleared away in time for our ceremony, food was plentiful (thanks to SunTrust), the music was great, and everyone had a wonderful time!
2001-2002 was a year of some changes as a club. Starting off the year we reformatted our directory, we went from small three ring binders to a flat bound letter size. That was our first big undertaking since it all had to be redone. Everyone seems to like the new format. The year started off with a wonderful President’s reception. Social did a fabulous job and the food was delicious. Our first meeting back sadly was September 19th, just days after our nation was rocked by the events of September 11th. With Art in the Park right around the corner we had to try and focus on the tasks ahead. For the first time juniors were taking on two New Ways and Means projects. The first was to take over the beverage concessions at Art in the Park, and a cookbook to be published for 2002 Art in the Park. Coca-Cola became an underwriter and gave us the trailers and we were in business. With so many workingwomen in our club it was a weekend project that netted us a wonderful profit and was a great place to put students for volunteer hours, as they didn’t handle money, they got payment in tickets! Yes tickets! We also changed to tickets this year so we could try to track our profits more accurately. There were a few kinks, but for next year we know what and what not to do. Art in the Park made record profits that year of $25,000, and we had a board meeting right after to discuss improvements since we had made so many changes. We purchased tents for the city for next year with some of the profits from Art in the Park and we were able to fulfill a majority of the city’s wish list.
Social hosted a wonderful Halloween party with a costume contest and D.J. The month of November we had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings for our General Meeting. Always a delicious feast for all to enjoy. Social was at it again only weeks later for our annual holiday dinner at the Doubletree Hotel top floor overlooking the ocean and the intra-coastal. It was a wonderful and very festive evening. Tour of Homes was the following week, and a beautiful evening it was. Coldwell Bankers underwrote the refreshments at the library. We had a lot of great raffle baskets and the club made $2,500 for our efforts.
February started with our annual Trash and Treasure fest, “Unpollute”. The community gets to clean up and we get to sell their discards for a profit for the club. What a great idea! We also separated and donated books and clothing to the library and clothing bank. Social had a wonderfully festive “Mardi Gras” party held at Pauline Bruns home. Authentic New Orleans cuisine was served and a Mardi gras king and queen were crowned. March had us going full steam toward Make-A-Wish, fast approaching. The dinner dance was held at the brand new Weston Diplomat. We raised over $24,000 and all had a wonderful time. Debbie Bond was named woman of the year at the luncheon on the same day. May brought us to the joint board dinner at my home. Kathleen made us some wonderful dishes from our soon to be released cookbook. May 15th was the installation held in Ft. Lauderdale, and my term was finished. Thank you for a great year.
The year 2002-2003 began with our participation in Plantation’s 4th of July Parade. We passed out candy with our phone number inviting women to “check us out.” October brought the 36th Art in the Park, which was a huge success, raising over $31,000. The beautiful leap frog children statue for Liberty Tree Park was unveiled, as well as our cookbook, “A Walk Down Fig Tree Lane” which sold out quickly and is now in its second print. In November our Thanksgiving feast was at Volunteer Park and everyone brought food. It was, indeed, a feast!
In December, Tour of Homes, hosted by the Fine Arts Committee, had a new twist with the evening ending at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club making the event a big success. Support Services collected toys and donated baskets of food for families for the holidays. The Social Committee did a splendid job hosting our holiday dinner at the Renaissance Hotel as well as several other fun social events throughout the year. Beautification Committee held Unpollute at the Community Center and raised several hundred dollars in January. Barbara Kettler was elected Woman of the Year in March and represented us at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club luncheon in April. Our Web page had its 100,000th hit this month. We had our first Casino Night in April for Make A Wish at DCOTA and it was both fun and successful – raising over $28,000. Support Services made Easter baskets for kids in the hospital. Clothes and food were collected throughout the year for the children’s shelter and other needy families.
In May, the joint board and installation dinner was at the Armadillo Café. Our Parliamentarian was very active this year and helped us review our By-Laws, and proposed a By-Law change adding an affiliate membership class. The City of Plantation celebrated its 50th birthday and PJWC did its part in the weeklong event by co-hosting the Nifty Fifty Sock Hop. PJWC put a scrapbook in the time capsule to be opened in 25 years.
Our 2003-2004, year began with our Annual Installation Dinner at Armadillo Café in September. We collected cell phones for the Plantation Police Department’s SAFE program. The cell phones are refurbished and given to needy senior citizens within our community. We honored our Art in the Park sponsors at Gatsby’s in October. Our theme “Celebrating Plantation’s 50th Year” coincided with the city’s birthday plans. Art in the Park was very successful despite rain. We raised well over twenty-three thousand dollars for various community projects. We funded our Support Services, Beatification and Scholarship funds. Several requests from Plantation High School’s reading, band, baseball, step dance team and exceptional student programs were granted. Within our community, we generously supported Easter Seals and 4Kids of South Florida. We made the purchase of a new child identification card system possible by matching the funds to our Plantation Police Crime Prevention Program. Lastly, we supported the various requests from our Park and Recreation programs as well as our local Library.
Our Social Services committee purchased items requested by our soldiers paying particular attention to the servicewoman needs. The items were shipped to Iraq prior to year-end. November brought our annual collection for Thanksgiving baskets, which were distributed to needy families in Plantation. In December our wonderful Social Committee arranged a spectacular Holiday Dinner at Josef’s. Our annual Tour of Homes hosted well over three hundred people and raised more than three thousand dollars. This was the Tour’s biggest year and everyone is looking forward to next year. The Social Services Committee in conjunction with Tour of Homes collected hundreds of toys to share with children who would otherwise miss out during the holidays.
In January 2004, we started the year collecting clothing for the “Dress for Success” program hosted by Atlantic Vocational School. In February, our members created dress and accessory combinations to give to the students. Our ladies took the time to suggest helpful interviewing tips to help prepare them for future interviews. During that month we began gathering information for our first Business Directory. We asked our members and their families along with our PJWC sponsors to share their contact information. The directory was distributed at the end of the year and will be incorporated into next year’s membership book. Our Support Services in conjunction with Stein Mart hosted a shopping morning dedicated exclusively to Juniors, their families and friends. Tickets were sold to enter before store hours and the proceeds were donated to Easter Seals and Plantation General Hospital.
We picked our Secret Sisters, which was fun to send little what-nots to our sisters each week. To round out the month we collected items for the “We Care” program sponsored by Sorof Jewish Community Center. In March, we elected Jane Zimmerman as our “Women of the Year” and reveled ourselves to our secret sisters. Angelic Accents sponsored a special shopping day for Junior’s and Sophia (the owner) gave back 20% of her day’s sales to Make A Wish. Our members made recipes from our cookbook to entice people’s attendance. Support Services collected Easter Basket items, which were created and delivered to Ann Stork Center for Pre-School children.
In April, we ended our year with a very successful 2nd Annual Casino Night raising over thirty three thousand for Make A Wish of South Florida. The money raised will grant at least seven wishes to children and their families, hopefully within our community. Support Services collected items for Sheridan House and we held our annual elections. We started a drawing at our general meeting to encourage attendance. Many Thanks to Sweet Impressions (Debbie Bond), Lisa Tepper (Mary Kay basket), Rena’s Flowers or Merritt (Lici Merritt), Benedetto Hair Studio (Laura Benedetto) for their generous support in making our raffles possible.
In May, we had our Installation Dinner at Jacaranda Country Club where Susie Phelps did her incredible magic once again by installing our board members. It was a terrific year with 16 new members joining our efforts and devotion for the betterment of our club, community, and country!
We started our 2004-2005 year in June collecting new toys (puzzles etc) for the children at our local Easter Seals facility. We took the summer off, but we found time to get together at Yolanda Henneken’s home for a summer fundraiser. In August, our social committee hosted the President Reception at Lydia Kurth’s home. Everyone had a wonderful time as we geared up for Art In The Park. In September, social services collected bike locks, baskets and chains for the Plantation Police Departments Outreach Bike Program for needy children in our community.
In October, we honored our Art In The Park sponsors at Gatsby’s and social services collected items for Halloween baskets, which were distributed at Plantation General Hospitals Pediatric floor in time for the holiday. We celebrated our Art In The Park theme “Art in the Heart of the Park” and raised over $18,000 for our community despite the weather conditions. In November, we treated ourselves to shopping sprees at Burdines/Macy’s and Barnes and Noble to raise money for our club. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast supported by our Social committee and collected various items for our annual Thanksgiving Baskets which were distributed to needy families in Plantation.
We started the holiday season with a new Tour of Homes. Over 400 people toured four homes and finished the evening at Ft. Lauderdale Country Club, where our own favorite MC, Mark Schumacher, raffled baskets. The money raised help to buy books for our local elementary schools. We collected toys and supplemented tour toy drive for needy children with the proceeds. We finished the year with our annual grab bag and holiday dinner at Macaroni Grill, which was planned by our social committee.
After returning in January, our Beautification committee was hard at work collecting items and selling tables for “Trash to Treasures”. We collected money and supplemented our purchase of phone card for the troops from our funds. The pre-paid cards were sent in time for our troops to call their loved ones on Valentines Days compliments of PJWC. The money raised from Trash to Treasuries will enable the kids from Plantation High Schools Art Club to do a tile mural for the Community Center. The project is expected to cost $1,000.00. Our continued support of their projects can be seen at Plantation High School and City Hall.
In March, Angelic Accents donated their sale proceeds from one day to Make A Wish on our behalf and we had another shopping day at Burdines. Social Services collected Easter items for baskets, which were donated to local kids in need. In April, our Social committee planned our Bowling Night. Make A Wish Casino Night was in full swing and our social service gals were busy collecting clothing for the second “Dress for Success” program hosted at Atlantic Vocational. Our Casino Night was very successful raising over 28 Thousand for Make A Wish. We voted Verlen Fox our “Woman of the Year”.
In April we supported Plantation High Schools Art Club event “Empty Bowls” to support Easter Seals. With our support, the kids were able to donate $1,800 and learn other ways to volunteer and support the kids who benefit from our local Easter Seals facility. Dress for Success was tremendous success with 100 kids teens/young adults benefiting from our work. Juniors offered helpful tips regarding dressing and interviewing for jobs in today’s marketplace. Our membership committee was very successful this year helping 10 new juniors come on board.
In May, we installed three complete boards and in June we ended our year with our PJ party. Its been a great years and many thanks to our membership sponsors this year Lisa Tepper, (Mary Kay baskets), Lisa Molina, for the cosmetic gift from Neiman Marcus Bal Harbour, Rena’s Flowers of Merritt and Benedetto Hair Salon for our monthly meeting raffle.
We started 2005-2006 ready to go with full boards. Our Theme for the year was “Commitment”. Art in the Park chairs Jan Snyder and Janan Fernandes were on board and ready to go. We kicked off the year bagging groceries at Winn Dixie to raise money for “Charles Angels” our walk team for Easter Seals Walk With Me. We had our Artist Reception at Gatsby’s on October 10th. We asked our members to bring items to our September meeting to support Debbie Gonzalez church mission to Cuba, and then everything came to a halt with Hurricane Wilma arrival the end of October. For the first time in 39 years, Art in the Park was postponed and Due to the damage to our community Tour of Homes had to be cancelled. Many of our members suffer from the storm and it was a period of rebuilding. Art in the Park was postponed until December 10th and the 11. It was absolutely amazing how our club overcame the circumstances at hand and forged ahead with to make Art in the Park possible.
The Easter Seals walk was also postponed due to the storm until February.
We came together as one for our Thanksgiving Feast and shared storm related stories. Support Services did our annual Thanksgivings baskets and we moved into December with a well-needed Holiday party. We collected items for a single family that suffered a terrible tragedy during the storm. January started 2006 with bright hopes moving into Brick sales specials, and Trash to Treasures was around the corner. For the first time ever, Contact brought out newsletter to email in February. Casino Night planning was in full swing and our Woman of the Year Nominations were up for nominations. February brought Trash to Treasures to fruition on the 11th and we walked for Charlie the weekend before. In March, we welcome Kari’s little girl, celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, we bowled with Social (Lydia still holds our bad bowler distinction me a close 2nd) and had a fabulous time and Social was already working on our May event. Social Services were working on the Easter Baskets for our retirement home and everyone was very busy!
Wow! April came and Casino Night blew everyone away we presented a check to Make a Wisk for $42,660 an incredible accomplishment from our Casino Board. Hats off to Susie Phelps, Caeli Matthews and Pam Caglianone. Congratulations to our Woman of the Year, Caeli Matthews. In May we had fun doing pottery at our Social event and we installed our new board on May 15th. I am still the President for my 4th year and I am and always will be honored by my fellow members placing such faith and trust in me! Our next year starts with the theme of Momentum…Lastly I wan to thank Lisa Tepper for donating the raffle gifts each month.
The year 2006- 2007 started with our theme “Momentum” and finally moved the President’s Reception from Lydia’s to Deicke Auditorium due to weather. We started to plan for Art in the Park and Tour of Homes. Support Services provided backpacks to Plantation High School students. Beatification started our first “Beautiful Home” award. We honored two homeowners with this prestigious distinction.
Our theme for Art in the Park was “Art in the Heart of the Park”. The winning artist made a piece depicting all that we do as a club. In October Support Services delivered baskets to Plantation General Hospital for Halloween and in November Support Services delivered Holiday baskets to needy families in our community. We had our annual Thanksgiving Feast and Art in the Park raised $28,000.
Tour of Homes was a huge success. The money raised allows us to defer additional dollars to our community. Toys were collected and distributed to Children’s Home Society and Broward's Department of Children and Families. We were introduced to the needs from Broward County Sexual Assault unit and ways we can help the children who have been victimized. We had our Holiday Party at Cantina Laredo and collected even more toys for the community.
Make A Wish planning was underway with the theme “25 Years Ago, A Wish Started With A Dream”. Beautification hosted our first “Hidden Treasures” event and Support Services started to collect items for our local Nursing Home. In February we delivered Valentines baskets to all of the residence in the home. We were told of their other basic needs of slippers and housecoats and delivered items to the home for distribution.
We walked for Charlie in the 2nd Annual Easter Seals Walk and Support Services collected items for Easter Baskets. We attended the Plant Awards where our club was honored for our long-term efforts in helping to make Plantation “Greener” and participated in Arbor Week with local schools.
Make a Wish was great success dinner, dancing and casino. The event raised $32,000. We end the year awarding four scholarships and held our installation Dinner were Verlen Fox stepped into the shoes as our President. The event was held at East City Grill in Weston. Lastly we came together to help a local family with beds, furniture and food. Social had several events including pottery night, bowling, Dream Dinners and our fabulous PJ party. It was a great year!
