Washington organization holds meetings the first Wednesday of each month.
By: Mark Moffa
WASHINGTON Rose May is more active at 71 years old than many folks half that age.
She enjoys in-line skating, ice skating, walking, and is learning to ski. She also takes pleasure in her time with the township Women’s Club.
The club, which meets monthly, is in its 28th year.
Ms. May, who has lived in the township for 31 years, joined the club two years ago.
"I’m glad that I did because I really did meet a lot of nice people," she said. "It’s a good way for people in the township to get to know more of their neighbors."
Ms. May, a retired administrative assistant for the state judiciary, takes pictures at the club’s events.
Meetings normally are held the first Wednesday of every month at the township’s branch of the Mercer County Library, behind the municipal building off Robbinsville-Allentown Road near Route 130.
"We try to have a program for each meeting," said Cheryl Evans, the club’s president.
Ms. Evans, who has lived in the township for nearly five years, joined the club four years ago. She has been president for two years.
At the club’s next meeting, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, a Feng Shui consultant, Kathleen McCabe, will give a demonstration.
According to the Feng Shui Society, Feng Shui is the practice of living harmoniously with the energy of the surrounding environment. The technique, which developed in the Far East, leads to the art of placement, not only of buildings, but of everything within them.
"It’s actually a way of decorating or designing things in your home that makes you at peace with the earth," Ms. Evans said.
Programs offered in the past included arts and crafts, flower arranging, antique appraisals, interior decorating, self-defense training, and "mind aerobics."
The organization does several charitable projects each year.
The club makes fruit baskets for residents at Project Freedom, an area of housing designed for handicapped individuals. Club members also play bingo with seniors from the Arcadia Nursing Home once a year. This year’s senior bingo will be held March 14.
Three scholarships are presented to Washington Township students each year from the Women’s Club two to eighth-graders and one to a graduating high school senior. The awards are called the Lorraine Schwartz Memorial Awards, after the former mayor and school board member who also was active with the Women’s Club.
The group also collects money and goods for other organizations and causes, such as the fight against leukemia and the township’s food pantry. They also help with the township’s annual Tomm May Run, held in memory of Ms. May’s son, who was killed in a car accident 13 years ago.
The Women’s Club is open to any area resident at least 18 years old. The group currently has 30 members, with an average of 15-20 people showing up at a meeting. Current members range in age from the 20s to the 80s.
"We could use a lot more (members)," Ms. May said. "It’s a club that has young women as well as older women."
Although some senior citizens do belong to the club, most of the members are of working age, Ms. May said. The township does have its own Seniors Club.
"We’d like to encourage people to come out and join the club," Ms. Evans said.
Anyone interested in joining can attend the next meeting Wednesday or call Ms. Evans at 208-9192.
Attending a meeting does not obligate an individual to join the club.