Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Club News

Red Springs EHC

Good character, like good soup, is usually homemade. Betty Cook, hostess for the November 12 meeting of the Red Springs Extension Homemakers Club, gave the devotional and program. Twenty members and three visitors answered roll call by naming an ethnic food they liked.

Jean Toland, president, presided over the business meeting. Reports given were: at the Fall Council meeting Kathryn Burchfield, Elizabeth Wilson and Dianna Bloomfield modeled garments from the Fashion Corner in the style show; Mary McBride and Jo Baldwin performed as the Hen Sisters in a comedy skit; and Elven McBride served as auctioneer for the auction. Twenty-three attended the meeting.

The Red Springs Club report was judged the Clark County 1998 Club of the Year. Here are some of the outstanding work the club was recognized for the past year:

• Eighty-five turbans, night caps and bonnets were sewn and given to cancer patients at no charge.
• Appreciation was shown to the teachers, substitutes, grandparents, cafeteria workers, custodians and bus drivers by giving a large delicious red apple and a card of appreciation for the teaching and caring of our children in all three Gurdon Schools.
• A twenty-hour class was held in disaster shelter operation, shelter simulation, standard first aid and adult CPR with attendance of fourteen and nine completing both the disaster and CPR classes and received their Red Cross badges.
• Tootsie Dempsey, Larece Friemon and Helen Toland put their training to work by volunteering their time in serving food at Point Cedar on DeGray Lake during a drowning disaster.
• Teaching dolls were sewn by Martha Bearden and given to the Arkansas Children's Hospital.
• The Baptist Medical Center Ambulance and Paramedic Service of Gurdon demonstrated the ambulance's life saving equipment and a tour of the ambulance was made.
• Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets were given to deserving families.
• Valerie Swayze won the fair queen title and Morgan Watson was runner-up in the Little Miss pageant sponsored by the club.
• Smiles Through Turbans exhibit won sweepstakes in the fair and placed fourth in the district fair in Hope.
• Maggie Sue and Lucy Currey were honored as fifty year members.
• Mary McBride, Betty Cook, Dorothy Nilz, Pauline Cook and Jean Toland, members of the Clark County Quilters Guild, helped make eighty trauma quilts that were distributed to all county fire departments and the parents as teachers groups.

The club chose Betty Cook as member of the year. She is a past club president, served ten years as secretary, two years as county president, program leader of the Clark County Quilters Guild, past district leader in cultural arts, assisted in fair judging school, workshop leader in 4-H, taught basket weaving, stool seat weaving, displayed her quilts at the third grade class at Central Primary, and teachers grapevine wreaths in local and county workshops.

Betty has made teaching dolls for the Children's Hospital. She is an active member of the Beech Street Church and is always willing to help someone in need.

In other business, the club voted to give a $25 dollar donation to buy testaments for the Courage House. Fifteen ornaments are needed for the county tree that will be decorated on the State Capitol grounds.

The tour of homes is December 6 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Manchester community. Red Springs will be hostess at the Manchester United Methodist Church, where refreshments will be served.

Plans were made for the Thanksgiving baskets and bringing food items for the Christmas baskets.

Kathryn Burchfield concluded the meeting with the Club Collect reading. Blessing of the food was by Georgia Schee.

Workshops of towel rabbits, bead angels and plastic canvas bells were held in the afternoon.

Joyce Rutherford will host the December 10 meeting. Each one is urged to bring a part to give on the program and an exchange gift.