Once they were considered only for men. Now, service clubs encourage women as members. The ranks of Rotary have swelled with women. Kelly Hjelle said close to a fourth of the members of Sertoma are women. For a long time, it was only Kelly and Karen Lovelace.
Hjelle was the first woman elected president of Sertoma here. She will never forget her first meeting as president because it was on the troubled day of Sept. 11, 2001. She wondered if there should be a meeting and finally concluded it was a day when people wanted to be together. She has found the advantages of working together for community projects, such as the annual Fourth of July celebration sponsored by Sertoma.
Sheila Bruhn was president of the Optimist Club in 2005 and is one of many women in that club. She has enjoyed the opportunity to work on projects with good friends -- especially the recent addition of a Young Optimist Club at South Middle School in Grand Forks.
