And Here's the Rest of the Story

Two days ago, I left you with the unfinished saga of the beginnings of a community service organization.  To refresh your memory, I am writing an article for a local magazine about this organization, Solon Civic Club.  I had already asked the co-presidents about its origin, and they did  not know.

So, thus my journey began.  I next spoke with a former president, Donna, and asked her, among other things, if she knew the history of Solon Civic Club.  She thought it might have split off from the Women's Club, but wasn't sure.  She referred me to Nancy.  Nancy thought it spun off from a men's club, but wasn't sure.  She referred me to a former president, Julie.  Julie thought it came from the Solon Jaycees, and she referred me to Debbie.

Debbie told me this story:  Once upon a time there was a Solon Jaycees, which was a community service organization for men.  To accommodate their wives a Solon Jaycee Wives club was created.  After a while this group noted that there were women who wanted to join who had no male counterpart in the Jaycees.  So given that and a desperate need for new members they became the Solon Jaycee Women.

More time passes - Some women (nationally) brought a lawsuit against the Jaycees.  These women wanted executive positions and the Jaycees were helping the men get these positions - meeting people, community service looked good on their resume, and the Jaycees were even promoting themselves as helping men get ahead.  So, the women felt that was unfair and discrimination.  The case went to the Supreme Court in 1984 and the Jaycees lost.  It appears that the national organization was prepared for this and within days of the ruling had merged the Jaycee and Jaycee Wives clubs.

The Solon Jaycee Women had become quite independent by now, and many of the women had no male counterparts in the Jaycees.  So, for them it was simply a matter of what their new name should be.  Thus in 1984 Solon Civic Club was born.  Some of the initiatives they support such as Lunch with Santa and Amblyopia (lazy eye) screening had already been going on for some time and are actually older than the name!  (But of course they have been done by the same women all along.)

I never would have guessed that was its genesis.  There was no animosity, nothing earth-shattering, but interesting how it all evolved none the less.  Just thought you would like to know.