Mary Kay Tokar and Mary Dunlap-Beales got the idea to form Bayonne’s new Women’s Club after their efforts to start a book reading club proved successful.
The inaugural meeting will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, at the Catholic War Veterans Post, 18 W. 23rd Street.
Beales, a member of the Bayonne Rotary Club, said she wanted to help form an organization that was “for women, by women, to help women.”
“We want to get the word out,” Tokar said. “There is strength in diversity.”
Tokar was a member of the now defunct Junior Women’s Club – a group that was dedicated to women under 40 years old, but which stopped in the early 1990s.
“We decided to try and start a women’s club.” – Mary Kay Tokar
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The new Bayonne Women’s Club is seeking women 18 to 100 plus who live or work in Bayonne and who want to be part of what is being described as a “dynamic, diverse, nonpartisan, nonsectarian” group of women dedicated to improving the Bayonne community.
Women’s clubs have a long history in the United States, going back to the post Civil War era as modern household advances allowed middle class women more time to engage in intellectual pursuits.
Like the newly formed Bayonne Women’s Club, many of the historic clubs started out as study clubs or reading circles, and then became more active in the social fabric of the communities in which they lived.
“I like the idea of women getting together to give back to the community,” Tokar said, hoping to get similar interaction amongst members as to what she got when she was a member of the Junior Women’s Club.
The book club, which has been meeting at Beale’s downtown Broadway office for about a year, became the breeding ground for this idea.
“We decided to try and start a women’s club,” Tokar said. “So far, it has been by word of mouth and on Facebook, and we already have 96 people on Facebook that have expressed interest.”
Beales said they are looking for a diverse membership that includes people from every walk of life, which would provide the club with knowledge and experience that can be brought to various projects the group might want to take on.
While the meeting on Jan. 27 will have a representative from the New Jersey Federation of Women’s Clubs, it will be up to the membership to decide if Bayonne will become part of that organization.
Tokar – who is familiar with the statewide organization – said it can provide the fledgling Bayonne club with resources. Beales is less convinced, but is willing to listen to what the speaker will have to say.
While the group will still need to work out the details of the organization, both women wanted to get it started first.
“There’s time to get our officers elected and our bi-laws developed,” Beales said.
Tokar is the nuts and bolts person, one of those people organizations like the women’s club needs to develop the details.
She was involved in the local Boy Scouts program for years and has office managing experience.
Getting a meeting place was a bit of a challenge, since no one knows exactly how many people will show up.
Some suggested the group approach one of the churches, but both women wanted this to be nonsectarian and were very pleased by the Veterans Post for renting them space at an economical price.
One of Beales’s goals is to find a way to set up a center where women can go to get help if they need it, including possibly a battered women’s center.
“I know that is something long term,” she said.
Both women have approached Mayor Mark Smith about the concept, and see this as the next step to the future.
“Many of my friends have moved out of town,” Beales said. “Most of my family is still here. We had to make a decision whether to stay or go. We decided to stay and make a commitment to this community.”
She said her generation is coming into the forefront as leaders in Bayonne, and that this is another step toward building a better community.
For more information, go to “Bayonnewomensclub” on Facebook, email them at bayonne.womensbluc@gmail.com, or call (201) 339-8803.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.