Real Jersey girls gather at SML

Courtesy of Kathy Saleeba

Jersey Girls of Smith Mountain Lake, a social/service club, meets monthly at Poppy's for dinner and conversation.

This story starts with a bottle of wine.

Kathy A. Saleeba, her sister-in-law, Kathy P. Saleeba, and cousin, Lesley Kocsis, got together one night to toss around the idea of creating a social club for lake women who have a New Jersey connection.

"Every time I turned around, I saw the Jersey plates," said Kathy A. Saleeba. "So we decided, let's get together one night and have wine and talk about it."

Kathy Hoffman, a former Jersey resident who lives two doors down from Kathy A. Saleeba in Wirtz, later came by with more wine. And with that, Jersey Girls of Smith Mountain Lake was born.

"It's just a way for women to get together and meet and talk and have a good time," said Hoffman.

The social club has been meeting since March and, through word-of-mouth, has grown to 50 members ranging in age from 40 to 80. Kathy A. Saleeba said they decided to cut membership off at that point so the club didn't get too large for members to socialize. There's already a waiting list.

"Every time I turn around, I bump into people who want to join," said Kathy P. Saleeba.

The club members hold dinner meetings at Poppy's. At most, they've had 35 women gathered at the Moneta restaurant.

But it's not all socializing; the club has expanded since its inception to include service activities. Kathy A. Saleeba said the board members - she is president, Kathy P. Saleeba is vice president, Hoffman is secretary and Kocsis is treasurer - polled the membership and asked which nonprofit they'd like to take on as a pet project.

"Ninety percent of votes were the humane societies," said Kathy A. Saleeba.

In December, members collected pet supplies and money, which they donated to the Bedford and Franklin county humane societies. This year, club members plan to sell a cookbook filled with favorite recipes and donate the proceeds to the humane societies.

One of the club's goals is to encourage members to create satellite groups around similar interests, said Kathy P. Saleeba. For example, a group may want to gather outside of the monthly meetings to play bunko or discuss books they've read. She said getting together more frequently in smaller groups will allow the women to create stronger friendships.

Hoffman said the members also can rally together for outings to weekend retreats, hikes or local festivals by shooting off an email from the club's account to the entire membership.

Hoffman said it's nice to know there are 49 women out there to call on when the prospect of attending something solo arises. She said the group has been great for her, as her husband splits his time between the lake and his job in Michigan.

Kathy P. Saleeba said members can call on just about anyone. Every member is sociable, proactive and fun, she said.

Or, as Kathy A. Saleeba put it: "It's not all Jersey-licious girls. We're just down-to-earth people."

Amidst the parodies surrounding the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" - a reality TV show featuring heavily tanned, party-hardy New Jerseyans - Jersey Girls of SML is swimming against the tide of anti-Jersey press.

"I'm sure with 'Jersey Girl,' there's a stereotype in people's minds," said Kathy P. Saleeba. "We're trying to raise ourselves above that."

For more information about the club, email jgofsml@yahoo.com.