About Seaside Social Club
In 1945, a group of young adult women of the Houghs Neck Congregational Church formed the Mothers Club. Although there was a Women’s Association at that time, the younger women were not included in that group. The club had three objectives which have remained to this day:
- To share concerns about all children and to include in our programs and budget ways of supporting those concerns.
- To promote friendship and sociability among the members and others in the community.
- To share in the financial and spiritual support of Houghs Neck Congregational Church.
- Any woman interested in the objectives of the club is eligible for membership. It has never been a requirement to be a mother nor a member of the Houghs Neck Congregational Church. Members over the years have included many women from our community and from other faiths.
- The club has a board of elected officers, appointed officers and the general membership. Dues are currently $20 per year.
On the 25 anniversary of the Rev. M. Alicia Corea’s service to the church, the club established the M. Alicia Corea Student Fund. This fund provides student awards to college students who are sponsored by a club member. Fundraising is conducted throughout the year and the total amount of each award is determined by the total number of requests and the funds available in the fund. These awards have been given every year since the fund was established in the 1970’s.
The club supports the church with a budgeted pledge and donations to special projects. The club provides bibles for Sunday School children entering third grade. The club president may choose a special project for the church to be funded by the club. The steel doors on the lower level were the gift of the club as were the kitchen floor, bathroom renovations, and carpeting years ago. More recently, new chairs and tables for the church hall were purchased by the club.
The name of the club has changed several times. Although never a requirement, people often assumed that members must be mothers, so the name was changed to Mothers and Others. This did not prove to be very popular since who would want to be known as an “other”? So the name was changed to MOTHERS Club with the word MOTHER being an acronym for Members Organized To Help, Educate, Reach out and Socialize. This name remained for many years, but the confusion remained about motherhood being a requirement. It was decided to find a new name in 2016. For one year, the club was known as Seaside Sisters. This name was modified the following year and the club is now the Seaside Social Club.
Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month from September through December and March through June. The June meeting is generally an outing to a restaurant, play or other event. Business meetings are at 6:30 and the monthly program begins at 7:00. Programs may include guest speakers, craft or cooking activities or other social event. Programs are generally open to the public.