CAPE MAY POINT – When members of the Cape May Point Civic Club gather for their monthly meeting on June 13, they will have a busy agenda, indeed. Members will focus on the installation of officers for the coming year and fine-tuning plans for the Annual Bazaar – this year to be held Saturday, July 6, at the Cape May Point Science Center. The Club will also celebrate its 70th anniversary, a significant milestone for both its members and the community.
In May 1954, local resident Elma Makin gathered with nine women friends proposing that they form a Cape May Point service organization. Its goal would be to add to the beauty of the community and to promote civic pride. Their first project was to landscape and plant shrubs and flowers at the Cape Avenue entrance to the Point. They funded the effort by holding a Food Sale at the Cape May Point Firehouse.
By the end of the first year, the Club had 20 members; now membership is at 50 and includes full and part-time residents, retirees, and those still in the workforce.
That first food sale, along with fund-raising covered dish suppers and card parties, ultimately grew into the Club’s popular Annual Bazaar, now in its 68th year. The Bazaar raises funds for local charities and brings the community together with most people volunteering or attending.
Projects reflect the times in which they are initiated. In 1956, the Club purchased a pair of swans for Lake Lily, with records humorously noting that perhaps “their silence and decorum” might set an example for the noisy ducks and geese who populated the lake!
In the last 24 years alone, the Club has distributed more than $320,000 to the community. The Club contributes to the Borough’s Volunteer Fire Company, to community beautification and environmental efforts, and to various local charities, such as Volunteers in Medicine, Coalition Against Rape and Abuse, Cape May Food Closet, Family Promise and Habitat for Humanity. In
1984, the Club also established an educational award for a graduating Cape May Point senior pursuing higher education.
The anniversary committee will provide a brief presentation about the Club’s history and a reading of “The Power of Ten,” a poem written by Jay Friedman in honor of the Club’s 50th anniversary. This verse sums up the essence of the Club’s spirit:
This Club’s a part of this town’s soul, and of each of ours as well.
As we constantly move forward, but on cherished memories dwell
Of sisters who’ve preceded us, mindful that we’re their sequel,
For tending to our Borough’s needs, this Club’s without an equal.
The Civic Club meets at noon on the second Thursday of the month, March – June and September – December at the CMP Firehouse. Monthly meetings typically include a guest speaker or on occasion a visit to a local point of interest. The Club participates in local holiday celebrations of holidays, holding an Easter egg hunt and selling decorations for the 4th of July. Recently, members heard a presentation about efforts to preserve Lake Lily and one about the wide spectrum of programs available at the Cape May County Library.
