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Editor's Note: A brief history of the
Safety Harbor Women's Civic Club was shared with visitors at the
club's 75th Anniversary Open House, held Friday, Jan. 26. The
history follows:
by P. Eileen Bukowski, President
Women's Civic Club of Safety Harbor
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of
the Women's Civic Club of Safety Harbor, which was organized Oct.
26, 1931, we pay tribute to those forthright women whose hard work
and dedication provided for the betterment of our community.
The club was an outgrowth of The Women's
Civic Association, whose meeting place was The Safety Harbor
Community House. The name was changed in February 1932. It was at
this February meeting (with just 13 members present), that
decisions were made to: get a city clean-up/beautification project
started; to see about planting palms on Bayshore Drive; and, help
The Epworth League buy some books. The club voted to pay half for
these books, or $1.25. Also a decision was made to pay $2 per month
for two streetlights along Main Street. Other projects approved at
this time were payment of $50 for a roof over the end of the Safety
Harbor Dock, and $12 for nails to repair the dock. Money would be
raised for these projects through fish fries, card parties,
luncheons, bazaars, etc.
Those of our time think of the Women's
Civic Club as synonymous with the library, as this became the
club's main objective in October 1938. With the aid of the W.P.A.
program, books were obtained on an exchange basis, 50 at a time,
from Jacksonville. It was quite a struggle to buy books, pay a
librarian and get volunteers to help to keep the library open, but
they did. By this time, 1946, the library had outgrown its space at
the Community Center and was looking for more room. As luck would
have it, Dr. Salem Baranoff came to town, heard of the club's
situation, and offered to help. He donated two lots on the corner
of Fifth Avenue and Second Street North to build a library and the
club's future club house. The women's club sold bonds, held
bazaars, tea parties, card parties, sold raffles
— anything to raise money to build the library and club
house.
Dr. Baranoff, who owned the Spa,
influenced many Spa guests to donate money also. Finally in
November of 1949 the library was built and dedicated. I will not go
into the details of the club's sponsorship of the library, since
the information can be found today in the document "History of the
Library," found in several items written by earlier members of the
club. Briefly though, in 1977 club members came to realize they
could no longer adequately finance the library, as the city had
grown from 2,500 people to 5,000. Club members started looking at
the possibility of the city supporting the library. Finally, in
July 1978, the library was deeded over to the city, with the
agreement that the club would continue to operate the library under
city supervision with city financing of $8,000 per year.
Once the library was well established
following WWII, the women decided to build their own club house on
the other lot They never stopped raising money by any means
possible to accomplish this.
It was reported that by 1955, the club
house was built, even though not completely furnished. At this time
the name was changed to ‘Women's Civic Club of Safety
Harbor, lnc." The organization was then incorporated with the State
of Florida. In 1960 bonds were retired and both buildings were free
of indebtedness. We understand, that at that time, President Betsy
Brown, burned the mortgages in a frying pan.
Over the next 25 years the club continued
to support these two institutions by putting on multitudes of card
parties, public dinners and the like, prepared under difficult
circumstances, often without adequate equipment, without pay or
very little monetary reward. The club continued its dedication to
contributing personal/financial support to community/civic
projects. These women lived up to The Club "Collect," let us be
"large in word, in thought, in deed," and when differences do
occur, remember to say "it is the little things that create the
differences, that in the large things of life we are as one."
In 1990, the club approached the city
about buying the Women ‘s Club Building, as it was no longer
feasible for the women to have their own club house. Most of the
members were senior citizens and the club was not attracting
younger members. The women were no longer doing large fund raising
projects, and without these, the yearly dues would not cover all of
the operating expenses. This was a huge decision to make .Even
though they were financially sound at the time, the "hand writing
was on the wall." The building and land was sold to the city in
1991 for $50,000, with the stipulation that the city would provide
meeting accommodations for the Women's Club as long as they needed
them.
Since that time, and to this day, the
Women's Club has continued to meet monthly, the second Friday,
from October through April. The club continues to provide
charitable donations, funding of scholarships and respond to other
community needs as they arise.
This brief overview does not do justice to
those forthright women who had the courage and ambition to shoulder
such undertakings as, starting a library, building their own club
house, plus many contributions, both physical and monetary, for the
betterment of the community of Safety Harbor.
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