Aurora Junior Woman's Club's play benefits community
Children, the actors hope, will be captivated by their retelling of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
But what makes this onstage performance unusual is the backstage story.
The musical - taking the stage Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21 - marks the 50th year the Aurora Junior Woman's Club has mounted a theater production. Club members write the scripts to modernize the story and suit the audience's attention span (performances typically run about an hour), and also handle everything from costumes and sets to playing all the roles - even the male roles.
While the productions are fun, members look forward to them because they allow the club to expose young children to live theater at a relatively small ticket price.
And proceeds support the club's Aurora Children's Dental Service, which works with local dentists to provide care for children in families that cannot afford it.
"What makes all of the hard work so rewarding to us is knowing that all of the proceeds from the play go to charity," club President Lisa Roscoe said. "We see instant feedback in how the kids enjoy the show, but we also see the benefits later on when we are able to spread the profits to dental care for underprivileged children and to various organizations in need."
Roscoe describes the club and its work.
Q. What is your mission?
A. Our organization exists to provide both voluntary service and monetary donations to our local communities and schools. We serve children, families and other charitable organizations in an effort to make a difference in people's lives.
Q. How do you work toward accomplishing that goal?
A. We work hard to utilize all our available resources to create fundraising opportunities throughout our club year. We work to recognize where the needs are within our community and put forth energy and efforts toward those needs. With philanthropic goals in mind, we maintain a responsible budget and use our members' time and talent to the fullest.
Q. When and why did the club start? How has it grown?
A. Our organization was chartered in 1956. Junior woman's clubs were common in many towns in the 1950s. As Aurora was fast growing, so too were the needs for social organizations within our community. Our club's primary focus is to address needs within our community.
AJWC has gone through many changes, no different from many other organizations in our area. Through time our bylaws have been modified to accommodate the diverse community in which we live. The membership numbers have reflected trends in the economy, age parameters, lifestyle obligations and growing social opportunities, just to name a few.
It is believed that, at one time, membership exceeded 100. It is currently averaging only 35 members over the last three years. Membership is a constant challenge.
Q. What kind of success have you had?
A. There are two forms of success that our club can boast of from year to year. There are those relating to fundraising and those successes that directly affect an individual or group.
As far as fundraising, our biggest success continues to be our annual children's play. We are in our 50th year presenting the annual play, which in the last three years has raised an average of $7,500 a year.
The individual successes come from the dental care provided by our sister organization, Aurora Children's Dental Service. AJWC members also make up the membership of the dental service. In some cases, this organization, along with local dentists, provides life-altering dental care for children who otherwise would not receive care without our help.
A couple of cases come to mind. Very recently a young girl needed her jaw broken just to begin dental care. One child was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer treatment and it caused extreme tooth decay, causing pain. If it were not treated, the child could have lost the permanent teeth.
Q. What challenges does the organization currently face?
A. The biggest challenge to our organization is the tough economic times. When donation sources are down, our philanthropic donations go down as well.
As hard times are hitting households across our communities, our own members struggle to pay the dues and potential monetary obligations that come with being a member of our organization. We serve dinner at most of our monthly meetings, but the cost is incurred by members. We are constantly trying to come up with inexpensive places to meet, yet provide a themed evening at a nominal cost.
Our second-largest challenge would have to be the lifestyle obligation roadblock. So many women are working women, trying to help or solely support families, raise their children, assist elderly parents, and still try to give something back to the community. We recognize that commitment is spread among so many other things these days, but we try to continue to offer an opportunity to give back.
Q. What is your club best known for in the community? How does the AJWC contribute to the community?
A. I would have to say we are best known for our annual children's play. Again, this is our 50th year, an achievement we are very proud of. The play provides family entertainment at a time when families need to do things together, for a very nominal fee. All of the proceeds from this play are filtered directly back into our communities.
Q. What do you wish the community at large knew about the AJWC? What might surprise people about the club?
A. I wish the community could realize how much good we really do, how many lives we have touched throughout our many years in existence.
Our scholarships help to further our young adults' education - they are our future. We warm the little fingers of children without gloves. The tears we have seen when we present money to a needy family, the smiles on the elderly faces when we sing for them. I wish they could see how much we can accomplish with limited members and funds. There is no better opportunity to have so many ways to give something back.
It comes as a surprise to many that we have sisters, co-workers and a couple mother/daughter teams in our club. We seem to be one big happy family!
Q. Who are your members? What qualities do you look for in new members?
A. Our members range in age from 18 to 60 years of age (we recently lowered the minimum age to 18 from 21). Almost all our members work, with the predominant occupation of teachers/school administrators and nurses/medical fields. Almost all members have an interest in theater, dance, music, crafts and volunteering.
We do not have geographic boundaries. We have members from Aurora, Batavia, North Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego, Sugar Grove - any surrounding towns.
We expect our existing members and any new potential member to have a willingness to volunteer, leadership qualities and a dedication to our cause, to each other and to themselves.
Q. What do you expect of your members?
A. We realize that people are busy. We are but one part of what they may be committed to in their daily life. The beauty of the AJWC is that you can take on more than you should, just the right amount, or even become an inactive member who pays dues but does not commit to any activity, although they can if they want to!
We strongly encourage meeting attendance. Our general membership meets only once a month, usually the meeting is themed with fun activities or guest speakers.
You will be called on to volunteer two to six hours a few times a year. (At some point, you may have the privilege of being nominated for an officer or board position, which requires additional hours of your time.)
Although we have our own newsletter, the best way to stay informed is to be a participant at the meeting.
We like our members to remember that we are an organization that believes in volunteering, giving back to the community and philanthropic endeavors.
Q. How can readers get involved?
A. Anyone interested in becoming a member can come as a guest to certain meetings. Call me at (630) 264-0527 to receive a membership application or to ask questions about the AJWC. I would be happy to mail a membership brochure.
If you go
What: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 20, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, March 21
Where: West Aurora High School, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora
Tickets: $5
Info: (630) 897-2835 or (630) 897-6690