Women's Club of Farmingdale Donates Bench on Main Street

June 5, 2017

WOMEN’S CLUB OF FARMINGDALE DONTATES BENCH ON MAIN STREET

Main Street, in the Village of Farmingdale, has many fine restaurants and shops and several times a year is the location for street fairs, parades and summer music festivals. With this in mind, the Women’s Club of Farmingdale (WCF) Community Improvement Committee, headed by Chair Helen Norjen and Co-Chair Ellen Pence, decided that adding a place to sit and enjoy everything the community has to offer would enhance the local environment. For several years, monies raised from fundraising programs was put aside to purchase a beautiful wrought iron park bench located on the east side of Main Street between Conklin Street and the Farmingdale Fire House. When Mayor Ekstrand and the Board of Trustees approved this venture, they also voted to match the donation and so Main Street now has two beautiful park benches facing each other and forming a cozy niche.

In April, under the direction of Ways & Means Ingrid Hernandez and Co-Chair Valerie Thieke, the WCF held a Fashion Show fundraiser at Bethpage Country Club. Models worked the “cat walk” showcasing fashions from Chico’s Tanger Outlet in Deer Park. “Super Model” members included: Ann Ciuffo, Rosemary Emigholz, Lynda Leone, Cheryl Parisi, and Lorraine Stanton.

At the April General Federation of Women’s Clubs, NYS (GFWC-NYS) Convention, WCF President Tina Diamond was very proud to accept over a dozen awards for her club, including awards for Public Issues & Community Service: Republic Airport Issues, card writing and costs for Adopt-A-Battalion, sewing labels/quilts/veterans; Educational Programs for Outreach: Back to School Backpacks; Special Project for Mother’s Day: purses/toiletries/Madonna Heights; Women’s History & Resource Center: Farmingdale Library WCF Memorabilia Display Case; Special Project Critically Ill Children: St. Jude’s Walk; Signature Project Santa Bags & Pocketbooks: Madonna Heights; Fundraising totaling approximately $11,000; Membership: 5 new members in 2017; Communications & Identity: promoting club activities; Long Island Federation of Women’s Clubs (LIFWC) Educational Community Service: Founder’s Day Celebration and Special Project: John Thiessen Toy Drive.

In addition, individual member awards went to Dolores Cianciabella, the Karen Cuzzi NYS Clubwoman of the Year Award; Judy Masino 1^st Place Craft Contest (Knitting), Cathy Sewell 1^st Place President’s Scrapbook; Joann Krapp 1^st Place Watercolor Painting and Linda Akers Certificate of Participation Clubwoman: Poetry, “A Golf Poem.”

Submitted by Maria Ortolani

Photo #1: Dedication of Park Bench: Sitting on Bench: CIP Chair Helen Norjen and WCF President Tina Diamond; Back Row: Ingrid Hernandez, Lynn Cahill, Valerie Thieke, Maryanne Seales, Rosemary Emigholz, Judy Vilas, Lorraine Stanton, Maria Ortolani and Cheryl Parisi

Photo #2: Fashion Show Models: Rosemary Emigholz, Cheryl Parisi, Lorraine Stanton, Lynda Leone and Ann Ciuffo