The History of Zonta Club Oswego
The Zonta Club of Oswego was founded on June 9, 1955. Since its inception, the Zonta Club of Oswego has been an active participant in the betterment of our community and has made a strong commitment in implementing Zonta International’s objective of “advancing the status of women worldwide”.
Funds for local service projects, scholarships and International outreach programs are raised through auctions, Oliver Paine sales in May, Christmas Wreath sales in December and an annual fund raising dinner.
The Zonta Club of Oswego has had a long-standing relationship with Services to Aid Families (SAF), the local domestic violence program. The club provides both financial support and promotes awareness of their programs throughout the year. We began partnering with them in 2017 to put on our 1st annual Witches Ball, which helps to raise money for SAF services. We outgrew our first venue so last year we had to move it to a bigger venue. We welcomed over 300 witches. We look forward to our Third Annual Witches ball on October 25, 2019 at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center from 7 – 11.
Zonta Club of Oswego celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 2015 and held a celebratory dinner in June of 2016 where Assemblyman Barclay was presented a resolution on the Assembly floor to recognize Zonta Club of Oswego for a successful 60 years as a club. The Zonta Club of Oswego is now part of New York State history because of this resolution.
Read all about our history here.
1955-1965 During the 1950’s the Zonta Club of Oswego worked closely with the Girl Scouts to provide young women with opportunities to develop leadership skills. The club sponsored area Girl Scouts so they could attend the annual camporee in Kingston, Ontario.
1965-1975 In the 1960’s the club focused on funding a bike safety program at the Campus School, promoting Oswego’s growth and revitalization by having luncheons featuring prominent local leaders, collected magazines to forward to other countries through the “Magazines for Friendship” program, sponsoring bloodmobiles for the Red Cross, and continuing their work with the Girl Scouts.
1975-1985 In 1976, “International Women’s Year” Zonta honored local women in the area newspaper.
1985-1995 In cooperation with the International Book Project, Oswego Zontians collected and sent books to Ghana. The Amelia Earhart Woman of Achievement fundraising dinners began. Scholarships were provided to high school and non-traditional college women.
1995-2005 The club provided financial support for mammograms for low-income women, and continued fundraising efforts for scholarships through the Amelia Earhart Dinner.
2005-2010 We began contributing to vital programs that advocate for women by supporting the Services to Aid Families (SAF) and promoting efforts to address domestic violence in our community.
2010-2015 During the early part of 2010’s Zonta members became part of Literacy Volunteers Scrabble Fest, their annual fundraiser. We have been able form at least one team a year for the past 5 years. We have organized an International Women’s day celebration for the last 3 years. In 2016, we made it into a symposium and included young girls and STEM activities. In 2014, Zonta Club of Oswego began working with our local SAF services to promote, Zonta Says no to Violence against women. During this year’s 16 days of activism, a club member made an Orange woman that traveled around to different business and captured photos of community supporters of the campaign to add to our Facebook page. We are using social medial, press releases and twitter to get information out about Zonta Club of Oswego.