On February 10, 1983, a vote was taken to officially organize the GFWC - Candia Junior Woman’s Club. The first slate of Officers included: President (and Founder): Deborah Gengras; Vice President: Joanne McLaughlin; Secretary: Gale Stanley; Treasurer: Marlene Ferguson. The CJWC became part of the New Hampshire Federation of Junior Women’s Clubs on May 19, 1983. Projects during the first year included the making and placing of street signs in the town; a book drive for the Library; providing games for the children at the CVFD 4th of July Celebration; planting flowers in the town’s planters; and making cookies for Special Olympics.

It was during the second year (1983-84) that several on-going projects and associations were established. This is when the Annual Community Christmas Tree Lighting and Carol Singing began. The first High School Scholarship was given to a Candia senior. CJWC became associated with the Candia Chemical People (drug awareness group) and worked jointly on several projects for several years. The first “Meet the Candidates Night” was held. This project was established and continues so that candidates for town and school offices can express their views, and the townspeople can have opportunity to ask pertinent questions.

The next two years (1984-86), under the leadership of Gale Stanley, President, other areas were explored and new projects presented. This was an adjustment period for the Club - most of the original leadership moved from the community at that time, and the new leadership was met with new challenges because of this. The successes that resulted during this period were sponsoring the Bloodmobile, St. Jude Bike-A-Thon, giving the Baby-sitting Course, holding a CPR Course, adopting a family at Christmas, teacher appreciation of Moore School staff, and the school census to aid in the planning of the Long Range Planning Committee at Moore School.

From 1986-90, the Candia Juniors were under the leadership of Barbara Desautels, President. The initial adjustments were over, membership increased, and the Club permanence and procedure had become part of the Club. The Candia Juniors had become an accepted and ‘expected’ part of the Candia community. During this period, members were becoming increasingly more integrated and active with the State Junior organization. Some of the events and projects conducted during this administration (some which were new - others had become annual events): Easter Bunny Breakfast; children’s game booths at Candia Old Home Day; working at the New Horizon Shelter; the Moore School fluoride program; adopting a child from Haiti; providing refreshments at Town Meeting; and establishing a permanent endowment fund for the CJWC Annual Scholarship. The State Junior Project was David’s House located in Hanover, NH. We raised money for this project as well as adopting the ‘pig room’ at Christmas to supply a small artificial tree totally decorated with pig ornaments. It was during this administration that the Club undertook the task of starting the Juniorette Club of Candia. Linda Frenier became the Advisor of this group which held several events of their own as well as joining with the Juniors on several occasions.

Muriel Belcourt served as President from 1990-92. Members were given much TLC during this administration by the Membership Chairman, Debbie Gosselin. Members were remembered on their birthdays and one member was highlighted at each monthly meeting. Craft classes for members and several social times were also held. One special social event was ‘Husband Appreciation Night’. Several new activities and projects were undertaken - selling daffodils for the American Cancer Society, supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association at a booth at the Hopkinton Fair, participating in a statewide fund-raiser - the Decorators’ Show House. Several projects were done in conjunction with Candia’s Welfare Administrator such as tutoring young adults for their GED, providing needed food and clothes and helping with senior citizens. It was at this time that the Club voted to assume management of the Community Food Pantry. Two members served on the GFWC-NH Juniors Executive Committee - Gale Stanley as Director of Junior Clubs and Linda Frenier as Corresponding Secretary.

Linda Frenier and Karen Burnham served as Co-Presidents during the 1992-94 administration. The first major activity was to host the GFWC-NH Juniors Fall Rally (1992). Wellness was the theme of this statewide meeting. The Bylaws were reviewed and revised to be in agreement with current practices of the Club. The Community Food Pantry became a major and on-going function of the Club. The management of the Candia Junior Woman’s Club Scholarship was given to the newly formed Candia Chapter of Dollars for Scholars. Many projects such as the Christmas wreath sale, the Innisbrook Wrap sale, sponsoring the Bloodmobile, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, caring for the Candia community flower planters, and teacher appreciation were now well established and annual events. A highlight of this administration was the 10 year anniversary of the Candia Juniors.

1994-96 Denise Lazott and Priscilla Wheeler served as Co-Presidents during this term . This is when the Adopt-A-Highway Program began. It was the club’s responsibility to clean a 2-mile stretch of Rt. 27 & 43 four times per year. The Playground Action Committee (PAC) was in full swing. This was the club’s Community Improvement Project of designing, building, and funding a new playground at Moore Park. Started by the Juniors, this eventually became an all-town project with many individuals, organizations, and businesses getting involved. Terri Schaefer was named the Outstanding Junior Clubwoman for the year. The Candia Juniorettes were disbanded in 1995 because several members graduated from high school and a new membership drive was not successful. GFWC celebrated its 100 year anniversary by having a week-long convention/party in New York City – where the organization began 100 years earlier.

1996-97 Denise Lazott served as President during this year. The first Party of Parties was held as a fundraiser for the club. Vendors such as Tupperware, Shaklee, Avon, etc. were asked to rent table space in the school gym. A couple of the new projects for this year had an international theme to them. The club supported one of the Candia Teachers on an educational trip to Belize by providing $50 in school supplies for her to take with her. It was learned that these children have no educational supplies. The other project was Operation Smile – a project where dentists and plastic surgeons volunteer their services to third world countries to help the children with facial problems such as cleft lip. The club made and filled “Smile Bags” with items such as small toys, coloring books and crayons, hygiene products, etc.

1997-98 Denise Lazott and Tammy Lade served as Co-Presidents during this year. The actual renovations of the Moore Park Playground were made in the fall of this year. This was the culmination of a couple years worth of planning and fundraising. The GFWC Project, Libraries 2000, was started at this time. The club decided to address the book and educational supplies needs of each grade at the Candia Moore School beginning with the upper grades. A set of encyclopedias was donated to the 7th and 8th grade classrooms. A special memory during this year was Mr. And Mrs. Claus (member Connie Lofgren and her husband) playing Santa at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting. The club also donated funds for them to purchase cases of candy canes for them to hand out during the Christmas season as they went from place to place to play Mr. And Mrs. Santa Claus.

1998-99 Tammy Lade and Rita Geokjian served as Co-Presidents during this year. As a new and innovative tool to increase membership, Rita designed and distributed club business cards to each member. These contained pertinent information about the club meetings along with each member’s name. The decision was made to design and have a sign made to welcome people to Candia as they enter town from Exit #3. The club voted to begin work on this as their Community Improvement Project. A scholarship committee was selected to work on scholarship needs. As a result of the work of this committee a Continuing Education Scholarship was started that was designed to be given to a Candia woman returning to school after a period of 3 or more years being away from formal education. Plans began during the spring to purchase the Candia Monopoly Game as a fundraiser. Ongoing projects throughout the year included the Babysitting Course, Old Home Day, the Food Pantry, Highway Clean-up, Chocolate Extravaganza, the Bloodmobile, Christmas Tree Lighting, and Spouse Appreciation Night.

1999-2000 Co-Presidents during this year were Rita Goekjian and Beth Chalbeck. Spaces were sold on the Candia Monopoly Game Board so that the game board could then be designed. These were ready for us to sell during the holiday season. Because we were dealing with so many agencies, it took all year to get the needed approvals to design and make the Candia Welcome sign. A very sad event this year was the death of one of our members, Connie Lofgren. As a tribute to her, we renamed our Continuing Education Scholarship in her memory. It is now known as the Connie Lofgren Continuing Education Scholarship. The GFWC Annual Convention was held in Boston, MA so 2 members were able to attend this event seeing that it was so close to our area. Our year ended with a very well attended Spouse Appreciation Pool Party.

2000-01 Serving as Co-Presidents this year were Beth Chalbeck and Rhonda Thyng. One of the first major decisions was to take over the advisorship of the Manchester Juniorettes. After many years of talking about it, the club members finally put on their dancing shoes and sponsored ballroom dancing for club members and Candia residents. After many months in the planning stages, the Candia Welcome sign became a reality. Seeing the need to keep the club’s growing number of bulky items, the club purchased a storage shed that was installed at the home of the Goekjians. The club gathered beanie babies, coloring books, and other small toys to send to the Operation Smile headquarters. A very successful Membership Tea was held at the local Bed & Breakfast to help recruit new members. The process to transfer the control of the Food Pantry funds to the Candia Welfare Dept. and to move the Food Pantry to the Town Office Building got underway. Two social events ended the club year with most of the members attending a dinner theater and several members and their spouses attending a Nashua Pride Game complete with cookout before the game.

2001-2002 Leadership again for this year were Co-Presidents Rhonda Thyng and Beth Chalbeck. The club year started early this year with several projects that happened even before the first meeting. Several members held with the 100-year celebration of the Fitts Museum in the summer; backpacks and school supplies were purchased for several children in town; and a Shorty’s Fair Share Night was held to raise funds for Candia Old Home Days. The club participated with the local police to conduct a car seat safety check. Lunch was provided by the club. The club became actively involved with Envision Candia. This was a forum for community members to express their ideas regarding needs and direction for the town of Candia. This became the last year for a long-time fundraiser – the club would no longer sell Christmas Wreaths. The club took on the much-needed task of chairing the Candia Old Home Days. Meetings, separate from regular club meetings, were held monthly. A major change for the club took place with the changing of the club’s name to the Candia Community Woman’s Club to better reflect the club’s focus. The web site was updated with current information and with the name change. Involvement with the Tam Bin Center for the Protection of Children in Vietnam began at this time. The year ended with members voting to continue the Back to School giving project that began in the fall of this year. A giving tree, similar to the Christmas Giving Tree, will be set up for Candia residents to purchase clothes and school items for designated children in Candia. Compiled by Gale Stanley ~ March, 2003 ~