Zonta Club of Taichung celebrates Zonta’s 100th and shows support for ending child marriage with concert and parade

zontaintlLeave a comment

The Zonta Club of Taichung and Z Club of Taichung Hong Wen in Taiwan, District 31, celebrated Zonta’s 100th anniversary with a concert and a parade that supported the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign and Zonta’s actions to end child marriage.

The concert was successful and attracted many participants. After the intermission of the concert and with the guidance from the host, the 500 attendees—including citizens of Taichung City, students from Hong Wen High School and Zontians—shouted out “Zonta Says NO.” The audience’s awareness of the Zonta spirit and goal to end child marriage was elevated.

Members of the Z Club of Taichung Hong Wen led the way in the parade with a Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women banner.

Along with their fellow students from Hong Wen High School, Z club members wore blue “Zonta 100” T-shirts for the parade and shouted out the slogan “Zonta Says NO” along the way.

The parade successfully caught the attention of the public. The Zonta spirit and goal to end child marriage represented in the parade were widely spread.

Zonta Club of Bad Homburg honors Zonta’s centennial with exploration into women and literature from the past century

zontaintlLeave a comment

In 1919, women did not only begin to raise their voices in politics but also in literature. This development was the focus of a moderated reading, “Women and Literature,” organized by the Zonta Club of Bad Homburg in Germany, District 28, at the public library in Bad Homburg.

Eva Sigrist, founder of LiteraTouren and Birgitta Assheuer, well-known and gifted speaker, guided the audience through 100 years of literature written by German-speaking women. The messages of the authors were as versatile as their experiences, temperaments and personalities.

Sigrist and Assheuer presented, among others, poems of Ingeborg Bachmann and Hilde Domin, a letter from Mari-Luise Fleißner, as well as works from Jewish authors Else Lasker-Schüler, Irmgard Keun, Nelly Sachs and Ilse Aichinger.  They also presented authors from East Germany—Christa Reinig, Christa Wolf and Sarah Kirsch.

The reading ended  with poems of contemporary authors—Ulla Hahn, Barbara Köhler, Monika Rink and Nora Gomringer. After the reading there was the opportunity for discussion.

With this special anniversary event, the Zonta Club of Bad Homburg wanted to emphasize that Zonta encourages women to raise their voices and so strengthen their status in our society.

Zonta Club of Oil City-Franklin celebrates 100th birthday in local parade

zontaintlLeave a comment

The Zonta Club of Oil City-Franklin in USA, District 4, celebrated 100 years of Zonta during the Oil Heritage Parade on 27 July 27 in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

The club had a float and tried to get as many Zontians from all over District 4 to celebrate with them to walk or ride in the parade.

“It was a wonderful celebration for our 100 year anniversary,” says Rebekah Deal, the club’s secretary.

Zonta Club of Trenton/Mercer commemorates centennial with grant to benefit homeless women

zontaintlLeave a comment

To commemorate Zonta’s 100th anniversary, the Zonta Club of Trenton/Mercer in USA, District 3, raised US$10,000 and presented a grant to the Rescue Mission of Trenton on 20 June.  

The money was used to provide a new kitchen and counter tops for a home renovation provided by the Rescue Mission for local homeless women.

“Zonta Club of Trenton/Mercer’s mission of improving the status of women and children is so clearly focused on this grant as the kitchen in the home for formerly homeless women allows for four women to start anew,” stated Denise Erb, co-president of the Zonta Club of Trenton/ Mercer.

The Rescue Mission of Trenton serves the truly needy men and women who have no place to turn for shelter, food, and clothing. The mission provides a safe, clean, warm refuge for the homeless, the hungry, the transient and the addicted.

The new home for women is the first home dedicated to women by the Rescue Mission. The Zonta Club of Trenton/Mercer was the only non-governmental agency and non-profit supporting this project.

Photo: Denise Erb is pictured with the new residents of the Rsecue Mission home.

Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley honors Zonta’s centennial in 4th of July parade with international president-elect

zontaintlLeave a comment

The Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley started celebrating Zonta’s centennial anniversary at their local 4th of July Parade in Old Town Newhall.

Many of the club’s members walked in the parade together wearing Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women shirts. The club honored Zonta International President-Elect Sharon Langenbeck, who served as the parade’s Division 3 Marshall. She rode in a 1964 skylight blue Ford Mustang convertible. She was followed by a City of Santa Clarita Valley Trolley decorated with Zonta Says NO banners and occupied by Zontians waving to the crowd.

The club’s ongoing service efforts are demonstrated through numerous local projects and programs, through the Zonta International Strategies to End Violence against Women (ZISVAW) program and through Zonta’s partnerships with the United Nations and its agencies.

Their ongoing advocacy impact is built around Zonta International’s Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.

In 2016, the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley started the Red Dress Project during the 16 Days of Advocacy (November 25-December 10) in the fight against domestic violence. Seven red dresses are displayed around the community to symbolize seven women who have lost their lives, in one year, to domestic violence in Santa Clarita.

Click here to view more photos from the parade.

Check out how else the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley is honoring Zonta’s centennial at https://www.scvzonta.org/centennial-celebration.

Zonta Club of Beaudesert Area Inc celebrates centennial at race course

zontaintlLeave a comment

The Zonta Club of Beaudesert Area Inc in Australia, District 22, celebrated Zonta’s centennial in style at the Beaudesert Cup at the Beaudesert Race Course on Saturday, 22 June.

The club sponsored the fourth race of the day, the “Zonta Centennial Benchmark 58 Handicap.” Zontians enjoyed the company of 76 guests for the centennial celebrations.

The tables were adorned with centennial place mats and bottles of wine which were prizes to each of the guests who were sitting at the lucky seat at each table. Small orange ladies promoted both the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.

District 22 Governor Sandy Venn-Brown and her husband, Steve, joined the event as special guests.

Not-so-well-known facts about another centennial

zontaintlLeave a comment

By Susanne von Bassewitz, International President

What was achieved in June 1919 with the 19th Amendment passing the U.S. Congress was obviously a big success, but female suffrage remained a controversial cause until it was officially ratified in August 1920. 

Casey Cep, author of the article “Finish the Fight,” published in the 8th/15th July issue of the New Yorker, reminds the reader that, at this centennial, it is worth considering why women had to fight so hard and who, exactly, was fighting against them. 

Did you know that New York’s original voting laws included mention of “he or she” and “his or her ballot,” but that the female pronouns were struck in 1777?

Have you heard of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of six indigenous nations gathered in the region of the Great Lakes to form an egalitarian society, and that Haudenosaunee women helped select the chiefs and had a say in matters of war and peace? Which was witnessed firsthand by the 19th century suffragists?

And, were you aware that when suffrage was finally passed in the state of Tennessee, the last step to fully ratify the 19th Amendment, the final vote in the Tennessee House of Representatives was 46 ‘nays’ and 50 ‘ayes?’ 

Cep directs us to two books that seem to be a valuable read: The Women’s Suffrage Movement (Penguin) and Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote (Harvard).

Zonta Club of Bendigo recreates 1919 founders photo

zontaintlLeave a comment

The Zonta Club of Bendigo, Australia, braved the winter weather to recreate the original photo of Zonta’s founding members taken nearly 100 years ago in 1919.

Members enjoyed dressing up in their long, thick winter coats, furs and hats to celebrate their great organization and the milestone in the history of women’s rights.

More celebrations will continue throughout the year for the club.

Photo credit: Peter Little, husband of Zontian Dale Little