By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
TINTON FALLS — The oldest social women’s organization in the area is celebrating its 120th anniversary with a luncheon and a walk down memory lane accompanied to music from each era the organization has seen.
The Ariel Club will celebrate its anniversary on June 8 at the Deal Golf and Country Club.
“It is a rich history and to me the more that I look at the history of the nation, I realize that this club just kept going through all of it and it just amazes me,” said Dorothy Senner, chairwoman of the event. “I know that there have been other groups … but they don’t have the longevity that we have for this area.
“It is the oldest women’s organization in the area, which is an accomplishment.”
Woodrow Wilson was president when, in 1895, a group of 10 local women decided to form a club in response to the bicycle craze that swept the nation.
“They called themselves the Ariel Cycles Club to pursue their interest in cycling and outdoor activities,” said San Hardy, former president and member of the Ariel Club since 1970.
According to Senner, the women actually wanted to play golf, but times were different.
“Women in those days were not allowed on the course except to play the short course, which would be nine holes, and if they played a longer course, it would only be on Monday afternoons,” she said.
“Apparently these women were looking for something a little more active, and at the same time, there was a national bicycle craze … and with these women looking for something active to do, the bicycle was the answer.
“Of course in those days there weren’t many cars on the road, and there were plenty of opportunities for bike riding.”
When the craze started the die down, the women shortened the organization’s name to the Ariel Club and turned to other avenues to contribute to the community.
“They turned to literary pursuits and formed a reading club and that led to their interest in the newly constructed Asbury Park Library, which they raised money for to help its completion, and they also donated books and served as librarians as well as presented a large mahogany clock which the library has to this day,” Hardy said.
Senner said over time the club became a social avenue for the women, which remains true today.
“They really became a social hub and just kept going, and that is what is so amazing to me,” she said. “No matter what the nation’s history has been, the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, nothing has stopped these women and they just kept meeting and … here it is 120 years later.”
According to Senner, Ariel Club members were influential in forming the Saturday Club, which later became the Asbury Park Women’s Club.
During the wars, members combined work with their social activities in order to assist in the efforts, and when women joined the workforce, club members became active in their communities in medicine, education and business.
“We try to keep up the tradition of the club, which is a social club,” Hardy said. “Most of our members are active in other activities in civic affairs and charitable pursuits and education and in business.
“Most young women today are working, but back in the day when this club started, the ladies were not employed and so they found this club as something for them to do.”
Today, the Ariel Club consists of a membership of 60 women from areas such as Oceanport and Tinton Falls and includes daughters, granddaughters, great-granddaughters and daughter-in-laws of previous members.
The 120th anniversary luncheon will feature a visual narration of the history of the club, and mother-daughter vocalists, Lucile Hoffman and Lora Glick, will perform songs from 1895 to the present.
“We look forward to celebrating the Ariel Club’s proud heritage,” Senner said.
