The Evesham Township Council approved a proclamation on March 11 that declares Women’s History Month and celebrates local females.
Women’s History Month is celebrated nationally in March to recognize the many women who ensured female rights and freedoms and contributed to the country’s culture, arts, sciences and economy.
Mayor Jackie Veasy began the presentation by highlighting women in the state, county and township.
“We have the great honor of serving (residents) as women, myself, the deputy mayor (Heather Cooper) and Councilwoman (Dr. Krystal) Hunter,” Veasy said. “But we also have many other elected officials here in Evesham Township that represent all of us.”
Among them, the mayor noted, are Gov. Mikie Sherrill, only the second woman in that role; Assemblywoman Andrea Katz; county Commissioner Deputy Director Allison Eckel; Elizabeth Ball, an Evesham fire commissioner; and Lenape school board members Joanne Harmon, Terri Butrymowicz, Krista Iannelli and board president Janice Knoll.
“These are our local elected officials serving all of you in Evesham,” Veasy remarked. “We’re proud to be able to do that and just honor all of them.”
Veasy also cited Jane Taylor, who became the township’s first female police officer in 1980. The police department has 14 female officers, as well as Capt. Erin Gorman and Lt. Laura Brown.
“We kind of joked that the amount of women we have in our police department is bigger than some of the small town police departments altogether,” Veasy noted, “so I’m very proud of our police department as we continue to work to hire female police officers here in Evesham.”
The mayor then highlighted women who work for the township, including tax collector Kathy Merkh; tax assessor Karen McMahon; court administrator Staci Heavner; clerk Rebecca Andrews; Diana DeCicco, head of human resources; and Stacy Webb, head of business services.
“We have fantastic women who work here in our township and we are honored to have everyone here,” Veasy said. “So thank you for giving us the privilege of serving you.”
Veasy then read the Women’s History Month proclamation, which emphasized the difficulties women have faced over the years as well as their major contributions in history.
“Today, some may take for granted the basic rights of our nation’s women to vote, own property, control their own finances, sign legal documents, enter the profession of their choosing, marry whom they choose or have a legal identity separate from (a) husband,” the document said.
“These rights would not have been obtained,” it continued, “if not for the perseverance, endurance and accomplishments of the many women throughout our nation’s history. We often look to the well-known names and histories of women in the past, but we must also remember the many women who deserve equal recognition for their countless recorded and unrecorded historic contributions to the growth and strength of our great nation.”
The full council meeting can be viewed at www.evesham-nj.org.
