BUENA PARK : 105th Year Marked by Woman’s Club

Donna Bagley and Helen Gagne joined the Buena Park Woman’s Club for two simple reasons: to help their community and make new friends.

Bagley, 82, became a member of the club, the oldest civic organization in the city, in 1949. “I was lonely when I moved here,” she said. “My husband thought I should join as a way of meeting new people in town. It’s opened so many doors. I’ve met so many people.”

Gagne, 80, said she decided to get involved with the group in 1969 because “people were so friendly. You would always feel comfortable when you would go to the Woman’s Club.”

Bagley and Gagne say they’ll never give up their association with the club.

“The club is therapy. It keeps your mind busy,” said Gagne, the club’s president.

Bagley, who has served nine times as president, said she remained a member because “I realized that the women had a lot of influence.”

Indeed, throughout the club’s 105 years, the club’s members have been busy trying to make a difference in their community.

Members last week took a trip “Down Memory Lane” during a birthday celebration held at the clubhouse, built in 1931 at Beach Boulevard and 11th Street. About 120 people attended the luncheon, including past members, other women’s club members and city officials, said Bagley, who chaired the event.

In the last century, the women have made their mark in Buena Park: They started the library district; they organized a parks district; they put together a volunteer fire department--in effect until 1953--and served as the dispatchers; and they helped install the city’s first street lights in 1910.

“The men couldn’t see any sense in (the street lights),” recalled Bagley, who added that the club paid $1 a month in electric costs for each of the six lights.

But in 1915, when the street lights failed for a few days, “the men decided they couldn’t do without them,” and the Chamber of Commerce took over the contract with the Edison Co., she said.

Bagley said the club, the oldest member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in the state, had its beginnings in 1889 when some women gathered to sew clothes for a family whose home burned in a fire.

The women continued to meet, paying dues of 5 cents a month. Today, dues are $25 a year. In 1924, the club members bought a Methodist church--organ and all--and began meeting there, Bagley said. Seven years later, the current clubhouse was built.

Bagley said the club today is able to give away a few thousand dollars a year to charities because of the income it makes from renting out the clubhouse.

The club has 20 members, but membership has dropped compared to past years, when more than 80 women were involved. “Membership has gone down because so many younger people are working,” Gagne said.

Bagley said the club plans to start an evening group to get more working women involved--and to keep the club going.