The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MAKING HER MARK
Karen Bidlack holds distinction of becoming first women president of Fairport Men’s Civic Club in 85 years
If anyone writes a book on the modern-day history of Fairport Harbor Village, Karen Bidlack should be mentioned somewhere in that publication.
After all, in 2020, she earned the distinction of being the first women ever to serve as president of the Fairport Men’s Civic Club. And that achievement breaks a long tradition of men heading the club, as the group has existed in the village for 85 years.
“I think it says a lot about the times and encouraging women to have a voice for positive changes, and also speaks about the changes women are making in society,” said Bidlack,
regarding her accomplishment.
She began her one-year term as president on Jan. 1, after being elected by a popular vote of all active Civic Club members in December. About eight members, divided fairly evenly between men and women, were eligible to cast votes for the organization’s president and a supporting cast of officers and trustees.
Bidlack joined the Fairport Men’s Civic Club in 2004, the first year that membership was opened up to women.
Club highlights
“The Fairport Men’s Civic Club offers a lot of wonderful activities for the betterment
“Then when president resigned at that point, his kid was done, they asked me if I’d run for president. It was quite interesting for a woman, being surrounded by a lot of men who were coaches. I got good at what I did. There was a lot of respect between all of us.”
— Karen Bidlack, President of the Fairport Men’s Civic Club
of the community and that was one of the reasons I wanted to be involved in it,” she said.
The group sponsors three main events each year. Those are the Founders Day dinner, Community Day and an Easter egg hunt for children.
The club recently decided to delay the Founders’ Day dinner and cancel the Easter egg hunt because of health and safety concerns related to novel coronavirus. Community Day doesn’t take place until September, so the club is keeping that event intact, hoping that COVID-19 will no longer be a threat at that time.
Community Day also provides an opportunity for the club to sell Italian sausage as a fundraiser. But the club’s main fundraising event every year takes place through the Community Calendar it produces and sells.
The calendar allows businesses and organizations to buy block ads that border a Fairport Harbor-themed photo. Then during each month on the calendar, community members can purchase listings for birthdays, anniversaries, special events or meetings, to name a few examples, that correspond with a specific date.
“All the money we make goes back into the community,” Bidlack said.
Examples of projects or events that the Fairport Men’s Civic Club helps to fund include the Fairport Harbor Public Library Summer Reading Program, the Fairport Mardi Gras festival, Toys for Tots, and sponsoring students for the annual Fairport Harding Middle School trip.
Always involved
Bidlack’s desire to give back to the community in which she lives can be traced to her childhood.
“I learned how to volunteer at a young age,” she said. “My mom was very connected with the church. We were always fundraising, always giving of our time, so it was second nature for me to volunteer.”
Bidlack said she was born in Fairport Harbor, but as a young child moved around to several places in Lake County with her family.
She and her family then returned to Fairport Harbor when she was in third grade, and she stayed in the village until graduating from Harding High School.
Bidlack then moved to Chicago and lived there for about three years before returning to Lake County.
“About 1995, I moved back to Fairport Harbor and have been here ever since,” she said.
One of the more interesting volunteer opportunities she experienced was serving as president of the village’s former youth football league.
“I don’t have any boys,” she said.
Instead, she had been helping with cheerleaders affiliated with the league. From there, she became the league’s secretary.
“Then when president resigned at that point, his kid was done, they asked me if I’d run for president,” Bidlack said. “It was quite interesting for a woman, being surrounded by a lot of men who were coaches. I got good at what I did. There was a lot of respect between all of us.”
When the Fairport Men’s Civic Club opened up its membership to women in 2004, Bidlack said that she, Sherie Murphy and Patricia Mackey all were asked to join the group and accepted the invitation. Murphy still remains active in the organization along with Bidlack.
Five years after Bidlack joined the club, she was honored as its Citizen of the Year in 2009.
“It was a total surprise to me,” she said of the award.
Along with being involved with the Men’s Civic Club, the Fairport Mardi
Gras Committee and the village Tree Commission, Bidlack has worked for the past 13 years as a customer associate for Progressive Insurance. From about 2004 to 2017, she also was employed as an adviser in the Fairport Harbor School District.
Setting goals
Bidlack began serving as club president after spending about the past 10 years as the group’s secretary.
One of her prime goals is to increase the club’s membership.
“The door is open for new members,” she said. “The annual fee is only $5 each year. Most importantly, we want members who are committed to Fairport Harbor and doing good in the community. We can do a lot more if we had more members.”
Bidlack also is working on changing the club’s name to the Fairport Civic Club, since the group has included women for the past 16 years.
“That’s my recommendation, removing the word ‘men’ and saying Fairport Civic Club, because we’re all civic minded,” she said.
In addition, Bidlack said there are plans to have special entertainment at this year’s Community Day to help celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Fairport Men’s Civic Club. More information will be announced later, she said.
As she settles in as the group’s new leader, Bidlack also spoke highly of the club’s most recent president, Verne Horton.
She said Horton, who’s well-known as a former village administrator and current Village Council member, holds the record for serving the most consecutive years — 14 — as Fairport Men’s Civic Club president.
“I learned a lot from Verne,” Bidlack said. “He’s been a great president and showed great leadership. I can only hope to be as good of an example as he was.”