NOW has a birthday and hope for future
By CLAIRE KNAPP , Staff Writer,
Chester Observer Tribune 08/28/2003
WASHINGTON TWP. - Elayne Nord, Eileen Carberry, Mavra Stark, Linda Bonk are all celebrating a birthday over how far they've come but still aware of how far they have to go.
The four are all members of the Morris County chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The group is celebrating three decades of activism this year
"We celebrate all we have accomplished, and we look forward to all that remains to be done," said Mavra Stark of Montville, president of the Morris County chapter.
Nord, 76, of Turtle Back Road in the township, has been a member of various chapters of the national organization for 30 years, first joining a chapter in Passaic County, and then joining the Morris County chapter when she moved to Washington Township about 20 years ago.
Now retired, Nord had a long career as a psychiatric social worker, working primarily in schools and veterans hospitals.
"I think I was born a feminist," Nord said on Aug. 11. "My father was a very equal-minded person. He had interests all over the place, and he encouraged us to achieve."
Nord said she would like to be more active in the local NOW chapter but she has also been very active in the Normandy Chorale that is sponsored by her church.
She said she strongly supports the goals of NOW as it pertains to the issues of equal pay for equal work, getting more women into politics, and in general, making sure women have the same opportunities as men.
"A lot of young women today do not have a good understanding of how far we've come," said Nord. "Based primarily on the NOW movement, they enjoy far more career opportunities than women did only 30 years ago. But there is still a lot of work to be done. I was on a Wal-Mart picket line about a year ago, and will probably be on the next one."
Wal-Mart Targeted
NOW has been targeting Wal-Mart as a retail chain that they say is unfair to its women employees.
Stark said on Aug. 8 that her group is gearing up to picket Wal-Mart stores in the area once again.
"We'll just have two or three people at a time, one day each week," said Stark. "The national NOW organization has urged all chapters to picket because of how Wal-Mart treats their women employees. Women are paid less than men regardless of how good a worker they are. There are also an insufficient number of women in management, there have been cases of sexual harassment, and some people are made to clock out early but then return to work."
Stark said the Morris County chapter of NOW has about 300 members.
"There were originally two chapters in Morris County, Lakeland NOW and Morristown NOW," said Stark. "They later merged to form one, county-wide group."
Among the Morris County chapter's accomplishments in furthering opportunities for women, Stark said they have had their own cable television show, which provides a forum on women's issues.
The show has been on the air since 1994, and appears on Cablevision, Patriot TV, formerly RCN of New Jersey, three stations in the Philadelphia area, and in Bennington, Vt., Stark said.
Eileen Carberry, of Carson Road in Mount Olive Township, is another Morris County NOW chapter member who easily recalls how much progress has been made during the past 30 years.
Now 70, she recently celebrated her 48th wedding anniversary, Carberry is the mother of eight children. She is a semi-retired lawyer, who specializes in family law.
"I think I was a charter member of the national organization in the 1960's," said Carberry. "It was a long time ago."
Carberry said she NOW has succeeded in turning the whole culture upside down.
"The current generation doesn't realize how much as changed," said Carberry. "When I started there were very few women working as lawyers, doctors, or any of the other high-paying professions."
During her own career as an attorney, Carberry said she can recall too many instances where she felt even the judge before whom she was appearing in court showed a biased viewpoint against female lawyers.
Linda Bonk of East Springtown Road in the township, is another strong supporter of the NOW movement, although she has not been as active in the organization as she might have liked due to family obligations.
"I first joined a NOW chapter when I lived in Monmouth County between 1981 and 1984," said Bonk on Aug. 11. "Then I belonged to the Westfield Area chapter while we lived in Union County and joined the Morris County chapter when we moved to Washington Township in 1992."
Bonk said having two teenage daughters and other commitments has limited the time she has to give the NOW organization.
"I did do some picketing several years ago at a Morristown clinic that was using a very biased video presentation," said Bonk.
Bonk said one of the reasons she originally joined NOW was its advocacy of a woman's right to choose whether or not to have a child.
Children and their needs have been an important focus of Bonk's life. A homemaker, she has spent many years as a foster parent and has worked on issues such as parental leave through NOW.
"It was great progress when the law was enacted," said Bonk "But it needs to be improved. Family leave is now available, but without pay. If you cannot afford to take off from work without pay, you still can't do it regardless of whether the law is in place or not."
The Morris County Chapter of NOW will be celebrating its birthday with a concert featuring "The Folk Divas," which include folk artists Elaine Silver and Mindy Simmons. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship on Normandy Heights Road in Morristown. Tickets cost $25 and include the concert and a dessert buffet.
For more information about the concert or about Morris County NOW, call Stark at (973) 316-1661 or Susan Waldman at (973) 895-2218.
©Recorder Newspapers 2003 |
