History of the North Jersey Chapter

  The 32 Charter Members were:

*now deceased

Two of these Charter Members, Ann T. Belloni CPS and Janice B. Gardner CPS are still active members of The North Jersey Chapter today!

The first Chapter Officers were:  President :   Elizabeth W. Lee                 Recording Secretary:   June Morris on
                                                                  Vice President: Anne Hopp                 Corresponding Secretary:   Helen Baumbach

                                                                  Treasurer:   Judith Dominico

June 5, 1969 : The first official meeting of the Chapter was held at the Holiday Inn in Wayne and was opened with the saying of Grace by President Betty Lee. We had 22 members in attendance and 4 guests. The speaker, Mr. Jerry Collins, Director of Marketing for Mosler/Airmatic Systems, gave us an impetus toward achievement by his talk on Secretarial Professionalism. The fact that he was the “boss” of one of our members strengthened the conviction that most business firms thoroughly approved of, and supported N.S.A. Communications from National, and from other Chapters were read and discussed. Chapter dues were discussed and approved. Thanks to the efforts of Marian Pernetti, the flowers at the head table were donated by Mr. Frank Schulte, who would continue to do so for each meeting. The table was flanked by two beautiful baskets of fruit, donated by the A&P Tea Company. These items were raffled off at the end of the meeting; the flowers being won by our President and two lucky members went home with the fruit. The President thanked Janice Van Gelder for designing the cover of “ The Quill ,” our official newsletter .

Marian Pernetti was responsible for originating the Certificate of Incorporation for the Wayne Chapter, The National Secretaries Association that was filed and recorded in the office of the Passaic County Clerk on March 29, 1977 with a check for $5 to cover filing fee for the not-for-profit corporation. It was signed in the presence of President Janice Van Gelder and her officers: Eileen Ernest, Kay Holmes, Doris Rapone, and Genevieve Brudzinski.

In 1981 the title of the N.S.A. (National Secretaries Association) was changed to PSI (Professional Secretaries International.)  At the 1995 International Convention in Seattle, Washington, delegates voted to approve a bylaws amendment that added "The Association for Office Professional" as a tag line to the name of the association. 

Our organization has always encouraged continuing education and our CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) program. Our first CPS was Mary Nugent in 1954. After Janice (Van Gelder) Gardner attained her CPS in 1980, she chaired mini CPS exams for the New Jersey Division at Berkeley for many years. During that time, Janet Chidiac became a CPS in 1981, then Nan Belloni in 1982, Adeline Hicswa in 1985, and Melanie Noonan in 1986. The CPS program has since been enhanced and another designation, CAP (Certified Administrative Professional) has been added. Other North Jersey Chapter members who have received certification include Helen Held CPS (1995), Debra Doviak CPS (1996), Beverley Mariso CPS (1998), Phyllis Wooster CPS (1998), Paulette Stewart CPS (2004)/CAP (2005), and Michele Vogel CPS (2005)/CAP (2007).

The Wayne Chapter started Church-Going Sunday and our SOTY (Secretary of the Year) program, fashioned after the one at the Paterson Chapter using our  International, Northeast District, and New Jersey Division guidelines. (At one time there was an International SOTY selected at our International Conventions.) Our SOTYs were awarded based on the highest cumulative points achieved through education, the CPS program, chapter officership, committee involvement, work experience, etc.  Click here for a list of the North Jersey Chapter SOTY recipients.

Click here for a list of the Presidents of the North Jersey Chapter.