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Making A Difference

The Jewelry Ladies and Their “Home Away From Home”

They greet each other affectionately, and speak with the familiarity of long-time friends.

Which they indeed are. Lilyan Feinman and Evelyne Lerner Savel are both 92. Friends at South Side High School in Newark in the late 1930s, they lost touch after they graduated. They reunited at the Margulies Senior Center at JCC MetroWest, a Federation partner agency.

Now they are known as the “jewelry ladies.” They are two of five women responsible for the senior center’s bi-annual jewelry sale, a fund raiser that is about much more than jewelry. Lilyan and Evelyne recently sat together to discuss the old days, the jewelry, and how the Margulies Senior Center has become central to their lives.

In different tracks at South Side, Lilyan and Evelyne became friends through the social studies classes they shared. They recalled the football games and dramatic performances as highlights of their high school days. After becoming the first commercial track student to graduate as valedictorian, Evelyne went to work to help support her family. Married in 1942, she has four children and five grandchildren. Lilyan went to drama school after finishing South Side and has an abiding love for all things theatrical. Also married in 1942, she has three children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Both women worked until they were in their 80s.

Evelyne joined the Margulies Senior Center 12 years ago after her first husband died. Her late second husband, Murray, whom she met at the Center, was a past president there. Lilyan joined 10 years ago when she became widowed. They quickly reconnected. “We’re both laughers, that’s what I love about Lilyan,” said Evelyne.

Now, among the other activities they are involved in, they organize the costume jewelry sale, which raises money for the Center. Always held in conjunction with an event that brings community members to the JCC, it is a favorite among JCC staff and outside customers alike.

The jewelry event started small, with Evelyne running the sale by herself. “I have an instinctive knowledge of what will sell and I’m well versed in bartering. Those first years, if we raised $50 or $60 we were happy,” she recalled. “But then we became big and known.” The event has raised as much as $1,000, and now includes pocketbooks, books, and other “tchotchkes." The women are assisted by three other co-chairs, Ruth Bernstein, Natalie Weiss, and Marion Kaslon.

“There’s nothing like it,” gushed Feinman and Savel. They spend weeks collecting the jewelry and other items from Senior Center members and friends. Then comes the sorting. Finally, the day of the sale arrives. Many of their clients are repeat customers.

Federation and its partner agencies are dedicated to meeting the social, physical, and emotional needs of seniors. The Margulies Senior Center, other JCC MetroWest senior programs, and the senior programs at the JCC of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains and the YM-YWHA of Union County provide a range of activities that meet the social, cultural, educational, and wellness needs of the participants.

The ultimate goal is to make sure seniors age in place safely while maintaining the highest quality of life possible.

Evelyne and Lilyan are two examples of women who are enjoying their lives to the fullest, in part thanks to the programs offered by Greater MetroWest. As they said in unison, “The Margulies Senior Center is our home away from home.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 2014

 

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