Tolland Junior Women's Club Celebrates 45 Years of Community Service

A montage of photographs highlighting 45 years of fun and fundraisers lined the walls at The Lodge at Crandall Park making it easy to see the many good works the Tolland Junior Women's Club has accomplished in its lifetime.

But it was the testimony from the recipients of a broad range of community nonprofits and organizations thanking the club for its donations that truly told the story of the group's prolific generosity.

From a center for battered women, to an organization that collects and assembles care packages for both foster care children and soldiers serving overseas, to an organization in its infancy that plans to build an all-accessible playground for children of varying needs at Cross Farms Recreation Area, the TJWC has repeatedly stepped up and offered its support.

The club kept with this tradition at its Annual Donations Meeting and 45th Anniversary Celebration Wednesday evening when members handed out $22,000 in donations to 58 organizations and two high school scholarship recipients.

"Over 187 Tolland households came to us for fuel assistance, some who didn't meet the strict state guidelines [for state assistance]," said Tolland Youth Services Coordinator Nancy Dunn, who accepted donations on behalf of Tolland Youth Services, the Tri-Town Fuel Bank and the Tolland Food Bank. "There is a tremendous need in Tolland, and we appreciate your help," she said.

Arts of Tolland Board Member MaryAnn Delaney Tuttle, who accepted a donation on the nonprofit's behalf, said Arts of Tolland provides monthly art shows and musical concerts, showcases a student art show in the spring, and in general supports local artists. She said she expects the junior women’s club donation to fund historically significant lighting in the Arts of Tolland building on the Town Green.

Teri Gerry, co-director of the Hicks Stearns Museum, said the museum will put the donation toward a portable handicap ramp for the museum.

Pieter Nijssen, Executive Director of the Tri-Town Emergency Shelter described the shelter as a place of refuge and safety for its residents, offering a period of stabilization in their lives. Nijssen said the Tri-Town Shelter served 297 people in the past year alone, including 29 children, and that the demographics of the residents have been rapidly changing.

"Last year 27 percent of our adult residents completed some college and 63 percent never used public assistance in the past," Nijssen said.

Because of the growing need for family services, Nijssen said the donation from the TJWC will be put into a dedicated account for the purchase of backpacks and school supplies for the coming school year.

Mary Kay Della Camera accepted a donation on behalf of the Friends of Tolland Music, an organization that supports music programs in the school and helps fund programs not supported by the budget. She said the donation will be used to purchase priority items on a wish list submitted by the music teachers.

In accepting a donation for the Tolland Historical Society, David White, the organization's president, noted that the historical society has been in town nearly as long as the Tolland Junior Women's Club. It was then that Carolyn Kolwicz, a founding member of the TJWC, pointed out that the historical society was actually established by the club.

In fact, the TJWC, one of 41 Junior Women's Clubs in the State, also was responsible for establishing the Friends of Tolland Library and the first Explorer Post in town, as well as initiating eye and ear screening in the schools and the first SafetyTown program, according to Betty-Lou Griffin, Chairwoman of the 45th Anniversary Committee.

"The Junior Women's Club has had their hand in so many things, before turning them over to others to continue on," she said.

"We've won numerous awards at the state level for our innovative programs," she said, adding that the efforts came to fruition at the 2011 Connecticut Junior Women's Spring Conference when they were awarded the Angela Hamilton Leadership Award for outstanding organizational leadership and personal leadership development.

Several attendees received Superlative Awards in recognition of the collective years of service over a 45-year time span of its many members.

Carolyn Kolwicz was recognized as the group’s earliest club member in attendance, as Linda Domingos was acknowledged as its newest member. Suzanne (Ganzer) Baker was recognized for travelling the furthest to attend the celebration. Jeanne Salois was recognized as a past TJWC president who also served on the Connecticut Junior Women's Club board, and Patty Nabors was recognized as the CJWC District Representative.

"Once you get Juniors in your blood, it stays," said Griffin.