2023 Holiday Issue

Woman’s Club Helps Those in Hopatcong and Beyond
26
Story by BONNIE-LYNN NADZEIKA
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
On a sunny weekday morning in October,
the Elba Point Beach Club was buzzing
with voices as members of the Hopatcong
Woman’s Club gathered for its monthly
meeting. Coffee and water in hand, 17 of the
group’s 38 members settled down on seats
around U-shaped tables as the meeting began.
A reading from the Collect for Clubwomen—
the group’s pledge—kicked things off and saw
members recite the following: “Grant that
we may realize that it is the little things that
create differences, that in the big things in life
we are one.” Members then said the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Whatever your image of a women’s club
meeting that follows might be, it is unlikely
to encompass all of the activities of this
industrious group. This is not just a group
of women meeting for lunch and coffee—
although that is the congenial part of the
meeting.
This is a group that supports a wide variety
of causes in the immediate Hopatcong area
and beyond.
First up for discussion was the club’s ongoing
collection for veterans at the Lyons VA
Medical Center. Everything from toiletries to
shoes to art supplies was on the list handed
to each member who would then shop for the
needed items.
Co-President Pat Beach went on to report
that 25 holiday stockings were already on
their way to active servicemen and women
around the world ensuring they would arrive
in time for the holidays. Filled with small
gifts collected by members, the stockings
are the first of several outreach projects the
Hopatcong Woman’s Club is a part of for the
holiday season.
The club members also discussed the
ongoing help to area Head Start preschoolers
from low-income families by providing toys
and much-needed clothing as holiday gifts.
Siblings who are not in the Head Start program
also receive a toy or gift card, depending on
their age.
During the meeting, members also voted
to purchase two wreaths for
the Wreaths Across America
program, which takes place
in December and sees fresh
wreaths placed on the graves
of veterans.
Members also discussed
making ornaments to
decorate an artificial tree
that would be available for
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Holiday 2023
auction—along with other decorated trees
and wreaths—during a New Jersey State
Federation of Women’s Clubs event. The
NJSFWC’s open house in November would
serve as a fundraiser for the state umbrella
organization.
Member Diane Ottman and Co-President
Ellen Buongiorno shared prototypes of
ornaments. Using a combination of yarn, toilet
paper rolls and ping pong balls, they each
created different gnome ornaments.
Currently, there are 164 clubs in New
Jersey, which are divided into 15 districts.
The Hopatcong club is part of the Highlands
District.
According to club historian and member
Marcy Thompson, the Lakeland Woman’s
Club and the Lake Hopatcong Women’s Club
consolidated to form the Hopatcong Woman’s
Club in 1957. A year later, the group joined the
New Jersey State Federation of Woman’s Clubs.
“It is the largest volunteer women’s service
organization in the state,” said Thompson.
But it’s not all work for the local club.
In September, the Hopatcong Woman’s Club
held a celebratory luncheon in honor of their
65th anniversary and one of their own—Pat
Hofmann, who has been a member for 60
years.
“I remember when we went to state
conventions, and the women wore long
dresses and gloves,” said Hofmann, who was
also honored by the Borough of Hopatcong
with a proclamation making September 22,
2023, Pat Hofmann Day.
Hofmann worked for many years at
Hopatcong High School. She was so active in
so many community efforts, one not-to-benamed
principal said to her: “Will you please
get out of my life?”
One of her proudest accomplishments, she
said, was serving as club chairperson for the
NJSFWC’s autism
project for two
years. In that role,
she organized a
volleyball marathon
with proceeds going
to autism research.
“I didn’t know then
that I would have a
grandson with autism,” she said, “but I guess I
was being prepared. He’s doing very well.”
At the September event, Thompson
summarized some of the donations the club
has made over the years in support of the
Hopatcong community and beyond.
In the early 2000s, funds were donated to
help purchase a “jaws of life” device for the
borough’s first responders.
In 1986, the club donated to the restoration
of the Statue of Liberty. In 1998, a clock was
gifted to Hopatcong Borough to commemorate
the borough’s 100th anniversary. The club also
helped purchase a fire truck for the New York
City Fire Department to replace one lost
on September 11; donated to the Kentucky
Federation of Women’s Clubs to help with
flood recovery and donated to the Mississippi
Federation of Women’s Clubs for tornado
relief.
Recently, the club has helped Ukraine by
supporting UNICEF.
The group also does its part to help students.
During the October meeting, member Linda
Kalata discussed the Hopatcong High School
student whom the club will sponsor for the
Girls’ Career Institute. This three-day college
preparatory program for young women takes
Top to bottom, clockwise: Pat Beach reads a thank you note at the October
meeting. Members of the Hopatcong Woman’s Club each hold an item to be
donated to Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services. Sheryl
Hoer looks at a gnome ornament made from yarn.