AUGUSTA -- Thirty years ago, a group of women formed the Maine Women's Lobby so they could have a voice at the Statehouse.

They charged an annual membership fee of $2.

They hoped for an annual budget of $15,000.

And they worked on issues such as domestic violence, abortion rights, and the rights of married women, said Vendean Vafiades, who worked as the first lobbyist for the group.

In 1979, before she earned her law degree and went on to be District Court chief judge, Vafiades registered as a lobbyist -- only the second woman to do so.

"Back then, legislation truly was behind the scenes in a smoke-filled room," she said. "The system wasn't anywhere near as transparent as it is now."

Vafiades, a Hallowell resident who now serves on the Public Utilities Commission, is one of the women who will be celebrated Sept. 18 at a gathering to mark the 30th anniversary of the Maine Women's Lobby.

Another woman who played a prominent role in the group's evolution, Karen Heck of Waterville, said work over the last three decades has made Maine a good place for women to live.

"All this stuff that happened 30 years ago is having a profound and continuing affect on what happens in the state," she said.

The idea for creating a separate group to lobby on behalf of women can be traced back to the late 1970s. Patricia Ryan of Brunswick convened a conference in Maine where women talked about issues of importance. From there, a group traveled to Texas to attend a national women's conference. Not long after, the Maine Women's Lobby was born.

On July 1, 1978, a group of women held a press conference at the Statehouse to say they were forming a nonprofit to fight for women's rights. At the time, the Associated Press reported the group was likely to deal with issues such as discrimination against pregnant women and support for family crisis shelters. Vafiades said she also worked to allow married women to get credit in their own names. Also, married women abused by their husbands had few rights, she said. Vafiades said she relied on sympathetic Republicans and Democrats to help her gain entree into the halls -- and the back rooms -- of the Statehouse. Just six years after Roe v. Wade, attempts to restrict abortions continued to come forward in the Legislature.

"It was a very emotionally-charged time," she said. "It was important to have balance."

And while the lobby feels it has advanced the issues of domestic violence and abortion rights, there is more work to be done in both areas, said Heck, a senior program officer at The Bingham Program, a health philanthropy in Augusta.

"Domestic violence is still a huge issue facing one in three women in this state," she said, noting the Bingham Program is now focusing on domestic violence as it relates to women's health.

Ryan agreed there continues to be a need for the lobby. An early supporter and organizer of the lobby, Ryan now works as executive director for the Maine Human Rights Commission.

"If you look back you see 30 years ago issues were more identifiably related to women," she said. "Now they encompass, in many instances, families."

During Heck's tenure with the lobby -- she served on the board of directors and as chairwoman during the late 1980s and early 1990s -- the lobby created a fund to help low-income women pay for safe abortions. It also worked to pass two first-in-the-nation laws. One is credited with putting in place protections for those who use video display terminals. The other required employers to post notices and conduct training on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. "This state is so much better off as a result of the lobby," she said.

The past and the future of the organization will be the focus of the Sept. 18 event, said Sarah Standiford, executive director of the lobby.

Today, membership dues have increased from $2 to $35 and the group's annual budget is well over $100,000. The women's lobby is one of only a handful of similar organizations across the country, she said. She said many prominent Maine women -- Rep. Janet Mills. D-Farmington, Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman and lobbyist Betsy Sweet -- played roles in the organization's evolution.

"There are very prominent women in politics now who unanimously speak to their work with the lobby being the foundation of their leadership," she said.

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com