Discussions of Presidents, past and present, Jersey City politics, and the good work of the Alliance Community HealthCare. Inc. were all on the table at the Shore Casino Thursday afternoon as Kathleen Sweeney hosted other members of the Odd Volumes Club where she has been a member for decades for their annual Play Day.
Nor is this your ordinary Women’s Club or Ladies Day Out. Rather, it is a gathering of professional, educated, and benevolent women who meet monthly as members. Including the one meeting a year when it’s simply a Play Day with conversation, laughter, remembrance and praise for those who preceded them.
The club has been meeting for 136 years since Odd Volumes was organized by eight women in Jersey City who wanted to ensure that intellectual pursuit was a part of their lives, a bold move before women even had the right to vote.
Even the club’s name speaks of the intellectual level of discussions at the meetings. Odd Volumes came from two societies of the same name, one in London, the other in Boston, Both of those organizations in the 18th century concentrated on the study of rare and classical works, either by promoting literary and artistic tastes in Boston or as a dining club for book lovers in London.
In the beginning, Jersey City’s Odd Volumes met every two weeks in the homes of members, first limited to the first eight members, then growing to 25 through their constitution and bylaws, and then amended to raise it to the 35 members today, all of whom are members by invitation only.
Annually, a series of subjects are selected for each meeting, members are assigned to do their research and make their reports providing new insights on particular people or places for all members. Their topics range from not only US Presidents, which was one month’s topic to, being more specific another month and concentrating on Accidental Presidents, those who accepted their fate and stepped up to the moment, like Truman, Ford, John Tyler and Theodore Roosevelt. Another month the topics may be All About Jazz, or Women’s Work, or American landmarks, or New Jersey Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The latest topic, before the annual Play Day, was Famous Women when each of the members had to select a famous woman, do her research and present it at the meeting. For Sweeny, she chose Mother Theresa.
The meetings were held at the former Casino in the Park in Jersey City, so the women at the Shore Casino this week, many for the first time, made comparisons between the two facilities owned by Kathleen and Bernie Sweeney, likening the location on the Bay to the Park facility’s view of a lake, and noting similarities between the interior of both buildings.
Marilyn Cintron, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Community Health Care, and another leading member of the Alliance team were present as guests of the meeting and spoke on how the Alliance is designed to help all in need. Founded in Jersey City in 1963, Alliance Community Healthcare was founded to provide women and families of Jersey City access to safe, legal birth control and family planning. Today it provides a comprehensive list of care services to more than 19,000 patients, handling more than 58,000 outpatient visits annually for health, dental, family, needs of all kinds, using the latest advancements in healthcare technology and service expansions.
Current president of Odd Volumes is Ann McGovern, an outspoken, decisive and ardent follower of not only the political scene in Jersey City but concentration on the needs of the city and designs ways they can be met. Other members present at the Play Day at the Casino included other professionals in a variety of fields, Carol Mori, Diane Lynch, Vera Taylor, Jean-Marie Ake, Kathleen Mazzouccolo and Sweeney. Guests, all of whom have a connection to Jersey City, now live in Hudson, Monmouth and Union counties.
The Rev. Jarlath Quinn, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes parish, attended the luncheon to speak with the women and offer grace and congratulations for their intensity, intellectual pursuits and generosity to those in need.
The club paused for several moments of memories and prayers for the late Joyce Adams, the former club president who died two years ago but whose leadership and generosity are recognized as outstanding contributions both during and after her lifetime. Members cited a variety of occasions and incidents where Adams’ kindness and thoughtfulness has had positive impacts in numerous areas, both in business and in family life.
Regarding their activities beyond their intellectual pursuits, a former president early in the 20th century had defined service as being “the shortest distance from where we are to where we want to be,” a tenant that today’s members still hold true.
At the most recent meeting at the Shore Casino, when Sweeney was referred to as a member who is “generous to a fault,” Ake responded, when speaking of the good deeds of Sweeney and other members of Odd Volumes, “it’s just like love. You can’t love to a fault, so you can’t be too generous either. You can’t spread too much love.”
