WHY ALL THE FUSS? -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
In July 2015 the North Shore Towers Wom-en's
Club was formed. As the brainchild
of Bobbie Gould and Claire Levitan, 17
women attended the first meeting, which
was held in the Coleridge Lounge. There
was lengthy discussion on what the goals of
the new organization would be. A mission
statement was developed which read:
"The purpose of the Women's Club is to
promote friendship and learning through
common women's interest, and sponsoring
social, educational and volunteer activities
for the North Shore Towers membership.
The Women's Club is an apolitical club
and will not involve itself in any manner
whatsoever with the politics of the North
Shore Towers cooperative. Some events are
planned for women only, others for women
with husbands, significant others or invited
guests."
The first general meeting of the club was
held on July 16, 2015, with guest speaker
Fred Chernow discussing "Good Sleep
Habits to Insure Better Memory." The first
trip the club organized was to the Nassau
County Museum. We were off and running!
Under the leadership of Bobby Gould,
who was elected president, membership
grew very quickly. This was attributed to a
very hard working Steering Committee led
by Bobby Gould; the excellent organization-al
skills of Chickie Kaufman, Membership
Chair; the programming talents of Gloria
Beck; and the contributions of many others
that gave the club an immediate positive
profile. We now have a membership of over
300 women!
Through the five years, monthly meetings
for members have been held mainly in the
Lower Card Room. Gloria Beck and the pro-gram
committee have brought us an array
of lecturers from constitutional professors,
speakers on presidents’ wives, queens, and
many other meetings on important topics
that relate to women. All programs are very
well attended.
Social activities are also an important part
of the club's focus. Festive evenings with
music and dancing and our planned lunches
in selected restaurants are also very popular.
There's always a sellout crowd.
Women's Club South is a factor in the
continuity of club activities for our snowbird
sisters. Bobbie Gould, a winter Floridian,
organizes meetings at restaurants and muse-ums.
In her absence, the first Towers based
acting president was Julie Weissman. The
current acting co-presidents during the winter
months are Gloria Beck and Chickie Kaufman
who keep things running on a very high level.
A popular monthly event by the Women's
Club has been the addition of the Cinema
Club. The formation of this was suggested by
Steering Committee member Carol Klinger.
A monthly selection of a film for review cur-rently
playing at the Towers Movie Theater is
discussed, with a trailer of the film shown by
the theater's manager. The reviews are pro-vided
by Vicki Mazel and Nurit Israeli and
are open to the entire Towers community. A
roundtable discussion at Buffy’s often follows
for participants who want to continue the
conversations. The theater manager and the
reviewers are also in attendance.
"Play Time" is another feature that has
been introduced to the club's membership.
Women's Club member Eleanor Ulrich leads
a group that meets on a regular basis reading
plays and discussing different perspectives
of drama. Workshops run by members with
special talents and education are also well
attended features of the club's activities.
Professionals Barbara Goldstein and Dr.
Nurit Israeli run very well attended programs
on relevant problems that have an effect on
our lives. The talented Chickie Kaufman and
Irene Frank have held several crafts programs
on tie dying and other creative fun things that
our members have shown an interest in. The
"Lunch Bunch," headed by Eva Kessner and
Chickie Kaufman, meets monthly to promote
greater camaraderie for all. Something for
everyone!
So...Happy Birthday to us. We're five years
old and still growing. During this difficult
time, it's nice to see Women's Club members
walking together outside (social distance per-mitting),
and sitting on the lawns in small
groups sharing conversations. Friendships
formed, we are familiar with each other and
it's nice to know we are not alone. We do look
forward to resuming normal activities like
meetings and movies and whatever pleasures
we shared before the pandemic.
Thanks to all the Steering Committee
members who have worked hard over the
past five years to create the activities and
good times we have to look back on now.
In the meantime, keep reading the Women's
Club page in the newspapers. We will keep
reporting on our membership and issues of
the day.
Chicks
Watching Flix
What are our members watching on Netflix?
Here are some responses:
Grace and Frankie - Comedy series about
two women (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin)
after their husbands reveal their secret.
Shtisel - Award winning Israeli TV show
about an ultraorthodox Jewish family and how
they handle their beliefs and family issues in
contrast with the outside world.
Hollywood - In post-war Hollywood, actors
and filmmakers go to any extreme to get ahead.
Shows the underbelly of Hollywood glamour
and the price paid for the silver screen.
The Spy - True story of an Israeli clerk who
becomes a secret Mossad agent. Stars Sasha
Baron Cohen in a non-comedic role. He gets
high marks for his portrayal.
Versace - Explores murder of Gianni
Versace. Different story lines for the different
characters.
Outlander- Four-star TV drama series. A
former World War Two nurse is transported
back to Scotland in 1743.
Interesection - Turkish drama that spot-lights
modern day Turkey. (One Woman's
Club viewer binged on this show for many
episodes).
Unorthodox - Based on a true story of con-flict
of young Israeli girl who cannot conform
to the orthodoxy rules she was born into.
So that's it for now, dear friends. There will
be more features in next month’s column of
relevant information to women's interests and
issues. Stay tuned and remember to wear your
masks and keep socially distanced.
September 2020 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 31