Oakton Women's Club Installs New Officers

A little more than a year after the Oakton Women's Club said , the group has swelled to nearly 30 members.

Of the new members, three have been selected to serve as officers for the next two years. The five-member board was sworn in at their lunch meeting at Marco Polo Restaurant in Vienna on May 9.

"We have enough new members now who are willing to take on the responsibility and the offices, which is great," said Linda Byrne, who is the outgoing president and will continue on the board as secretary. "I see the club staying in the same direction of helping our community ... but I also see the younger people coming in who will bring in new ideas and drag us into the 21st century."

The board, as sworn in by Pat Riedinger, president of the Northern District General Federation of Women's Club, will look as follows:

• President: Linda Sherrange
• First Vice President: Cherie Lejeune
• Second Vice President: Ursula Spell
• Secretary: Linda Byrne
• Treasurer: Lynn Miller

Lejeune, Spell and Miller joined the Oakton Women's Club in the last year.

"I'm the kind of person who will try to encourage many more members to join because nothing's better in this life than to be in a group where their sole goal is to give away money and do good things," Lejeune said. "My goal will be to create programming that we could invite the community, making them more aware of this club's existence. I think if more people knew about the club and what it has done for this area, they would want to join."

The group also decided which local organizations would receive donations this year, raised at the Oakton Women's Club's annual luncheon and fashion show in April. This year the show raised about $1,800. With other funds already banked, the group will give away $3,000 by the end of the year.

Virginia Autism Project and the Shepherd's Center of Oakton-Vienna will each receive a $1,000 donation from the Oakton Women's Club. The last $1,000 will be given to a third charity to be decided at the group's next meeting in September.