Berthoud Weekly Surveyor January 16, 2014 Page 5
A LOOK AT BERTHOUD
Mountain View Club entertained rural community west of Berthoud
I
n 1915 a group of women living west of Berthoud formed the Mountain View Social Club. At that time a woman’s life in Berthoud’s rural area was characterized by a little frame house that lacked electricity and rutted Surveyor dirt lanes that Columnist were nearly impassable in the winter. To counter their isolation, women from farm and ranch families formed strong bonds with their neighbors. Since they craved the company of their friends, Mark they organized French neighborhood social clubs that brought them together on a regular basis. Among the first members of the Mountain View Social Club in 1915 were Amelia Cole, Beanie Ownbey, Mae Culver, Vernie Culver, Minnie Mundt and Mrs. Albert Sprague. The women lived on
farms and ranches located near the foothills southwest of Berthoud. Three of the original members — Amelia Cole, Mae and Vernie Culver — were sisters-in-law. In the club’s early years it was not uncommon for the women’s husbands to accompany them to meetings of the club held during the winter months when they were not busy farming and ranching. Children were also welcome at meetings. The Mountain View Social Club met twice monthly at the homes of members as a means of making entertainment for themselves. Meetings generally included roll call, entertainment and refreshments. To set the tone for the meeting, roll call might require those present to respond with “a good word for marriage.” Entertainment was intended to be lighthearted and sometimes took the form of a reverse spelling bee where all the words had to be spelled backwards. Any food provided for the group was invariably the members’ well-known specialties. Loosely organized for its first 15 years, the club did not elect a secretary to record minutes until 1930. When the club took on a slightly more formal structure red, white and blue were selected as its colors, the forget-me-not as its flower, and “Eat, drink and be merry” as its motto. Beyond
bi-monthly afternoon meetings, the club entertained its members with dances, ice cream socials, oyster suppers and card parties. During World War II, when gasoline was being rationed on the Home Front, the Mountain View Club reduced its meetings to once a month to conserve precious fuel. The hours of the monthly meeting, however, were extended and a potluck lunch at noon became the rule. During the war the club engaged in projects that included the production of homemade “cheer packages” that were mailed to local servicemen. The club also held quilt-making sessions and made donations to various charitable organizations. Following World War II the club continued to meet on a monthly basis rather than resuming their twice-monthly schedule. Over the years the Mountain View Club grew as mothers, daughters and granddaughters joined the ranks and the club became so large that it was necessary to limit the number of members to 24. For a time the club was so large that it met at the Culver country school which was not being used because that school district had been consolidated with the Berthoud schools.
By 1990, however, when many women were working outside the home, the roster dwindled to 13 members that included Mildred Bebo, Pat Coler, Freda Gunn, Susan Hergenrater, Maxine Hertha, Jane King, Ruth Lemmon, Mary Meining, Ella Niehoff, Jean Rowe, Alice Stoneman, Mabel Weaver and Edith Wilson. One of those members — Mary Meining — was active in the club for well over Photo courtesy of the Berthoud Historical Society 60 years. The club In 1971 five long-time members and officers of the Mounis not known to be tain View Club assembled for a photograph. Standing (left currently active. to right): Maxine Hertha, Ruth Lemmon; Sitting: Alma McThe Mountain Cartney, Mary Meining and Ida Bennet. View Club is fondly was given the support of the club. That’s a remembered for fine noble legacy for any organization. fellowship and the fact that anyone who needed a helping hand in a time of trouble
RAFT wheels start turning this week
it necessary to cease door-to-door, ondemand transportation services outside of the town limits. In response to the loss of services to adults in the counties served previously by BATS, the nonprofit Berthoud Golden Links (BGL), known as the Berthoud Senior Center, decided to once again enter the transportation business. Under the guidance of Ruth FletcherCarter (a BGL board member and coordinator of the RAFT project), Golden Links sought and received a program development grant from the Larimer County Office on Aging in June 2013. This proposal for a rural volunteer driver program received the backing of the Town of Berthoud, which also provided a grant to Golden Links as well as in-
kind contributions. The Berthoud Fire Protection District expanded their support of the Berthoud Senior Center to include the RAFT administration offices. Scott Banzhaf, chair; Marcy Greenslit, Jerry Hoard, Douglas Brown, Larry Frye and Stanley Linnertz comprise the RAFT Policy Board. Following eight months of planning and additional support from individual contributions and the Berthoud Community Fund, RAFT is conducting its first door-to-door, on-demand transportation on Jan. 16. Seniors and other eligible adults residing in counties outside of Berthoud’s town limits but within the boundaries of the Berthoud Fire Protection District may be eligible for this door-to-door “taxi”
service. Interested individuals can phone the Berthoud Area Community Center 970-532-2730 to register as a rider and schedule a ride at least three days prior to the trip. RAFT drivers will give rides to and from appointments in Berthoud, Loveland, Longmont and adjacent areas. Service hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday except holidays. Fletcher-Carter said that RAFT and BATS will coordinate and work together when applicable. “RAFT picks up riders in an area that BATS no longer serves and, where possible, RAFT will bring individuals from the surrounding county areas to the Berthoud Area Community Center,” Fletcher-Carter said. “At the center riders can transfer to BATS for morning trips to Longmont or Loveland.
Special to the Surveyor Should anyone stop by the Berthoud Area Community Center this week, they will not help but be caught up in the excitement over the initiation of its volunteer driver program — Rural Alternative for Transportation (RAFT). In April 2013, the Berthoud Town Trustees found
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“We will coordinate with BATS anytime we can. We do not want parallel services running up and down 287 in competition with each other.” In discussing RAFT volunteer drivers, Fletcher-Carter expressed appreciation and gratitude to those who have volunteered their cars and time to help their neighbors remain independent and access the medical, professional and personal services they need. Access to necessary services is difficult when adults can no longer drive, especially when they live in the country. She said that RAFT is always seeking more drivers so that no one person is overburdened. Interested potential volunteers may contact the Berthoud Community Center at the same phone number 970-532-2730 so that interviews might be scheduled. Applicants must be willing to grant permission for background checks through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Drivers License Bureau. When asked what the program’s longterm plans are, Fletcher-Carter noted that with personal vehicles being used, RAFT has no ability to serve persons who are in wheelchairs. “We have been able to raise $11,750 toward required matching funds. We still need $250 to meet the required $12,000. Individual contributions can make such a difference,” Fletcher-Carter said. A second area noted for long-term attention is “sustainability.” Golden Links is looking into state licensing that will permit them to hold bingo and lotto games to create a source of funding that will be used to help maintain the RAFT program. “All in all,” she said, “we at the Berthoud Senior Center are excited about the RAFT program. We want to share it with everyone.” More information can be found at their website www.berthoudraft.org.
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