Mendham club celebrates 100 years of progress in sports

Dennis O’Keefe still has his father’s Pastime Club member card from 1946, back when dues were 25 cents.

O’Keefe’s grandfather was one the original members to reorganize this fraternal community service organization after it was shutdown during World War I.

“It was started because it gave people something to do,” O’Keefe said. “A lot of people were born and raised here and stayed here so this was part of the social program for the day.”

The Pastime Club was recently recognized by the state for its 100 years of dedication to community service .

Anthony M Bucco, R-25, said he read about the organization and thought, “it was appropriate for them to be recognized.” He got the state Assembly to pass a resolution that was then introduced by his father, Sen. Tony Bucco, R-25,, into the state Senate where it also passed.

The Pastime Club, which is a non-profit organization, was founded on June 22, 1915. The founding members adopted the motto: “Progress in Sports,” because they believed youth participation in athletics would teach life lessons.

“What this club has done over the years by fostering that through the motto ‘Progress in Sports’ is exactly what we need not only in this community, not only this county and state but the country,” Bucco said.

For the past 100 years this fraternal organization has kept up the mission to promote and support youth athletics within Mendham and its surrounding communities.

The Pastime Club supports youth athletics within Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Chester Borough and Chester Township, said President Jim Devine.

“All of the teams we support financially and through action by coaching, managing fields and we give eight scholarships a way a year,” Devine said.

They support several levels of baseball, girls and boys lacrosse, track and field, junior wrestling, volleyball and much more.

Baseball is what started this organization, O’Keefe said.

The Pastime Club also sponsors a baseball team called the Pastime Athletics that plays in the Morris County Major League with players using only wooden bats. It’s mostly college students who play on college teams during the year and use it to keep sharp during the summer, Devine said. The club’s website points out that the club is just 3 houses down from the home of Abner Doubleday, where he died in 1893.

Along with youth sports, the Pastime Club supports the community through Special Olympics, a Harvest Fun Run, Project Graduation and their largest event, a Labor Day Carnival that runs for four days over the long weekend.

“We have been running the carnival in town since the 40s, there’s a big 50/50 raffle, for about 20 grand and 100 percent of it goes into the youth activities,” Devine said.

Also, all members contribute the day of the carnival, running games and serving food among other things, Devine said.

The club has a lot of diversity in it, Devine said. Members come from all occupational backgrounds including teachers, carpenters, plumbers and finance.

“A lot of the members are in other organizations too like EMTs, volunteer firefighters so we have a good tie with other organizations,” he added.

The building where the Pastime Club resides was purchased in the 1940s, Devine said. Prior to that, meetings took place at the old firehouse, in people’s homes or various other places around town. The clubhouse boasts a four lane bowling alley.

“This fraternal organization is a great thing, when you can get together, have fun and at the same time be raising awareness and money to give to somebody else to make sure they have a better life, its quite honorable,” Bucco said.

The Pastime Club is located at 3 Hilltop Road in Mendham.