Good People

5perspectives

Story and photo by David Moore

Mamma, you might say, is celebrating her 100th anniversary. Her daughter is celebrating her 50th. And Cullman’s the better for both.

The Coterie is mamma; Share Club the daughter.

A group of forward-thinking, caring women who loved Cullman formed The Coterie in January 1922. First called Eclectic Study Club, they met at the home of Mrs. M.H. Killingsworth. They were forward-thinking in that if men had civic clubs, then women could, too; but it would be 2002 before the forwardthinkers quit using their husbands’ first names and initials and used their own.

The first president, Mrs. Louis Vogle, and Mrs. Killingsworth were charter members along with Mrs. S.O. Kimbrough, Mrs. Fred Armstrong, Mrs. C.W. Alley, Mrs. W.W. Person, Mrs. H.G. Dowling, Mrs. Ed Gunn, Mrs. Baxter Nash, Mrs. J.A. Dunlap, Mrs. Forney Fuller and Mrs. L.D. Edwards.

In 1926, they joined the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (formed in 1890, it had thrown its national weight behind women’s suffrage in 1914) and its Alabama chapter. The group also changed its name to The Coterie, defined by the old Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary as “… an association of villagers, cote. A set or circle of friends who meet for social, literary intercourse.”

They adopted an Alexander Pope quote as their motto: There is no study or project that is not capable of delighting us after a little application.

In 2002, under the presidency of Peggy Harris, the group officially quit referring to members by their husbands’ name. But in their records, they retain the courtesy title of “Mrs.”

Coterie members rotated the responsibility of monthly programs under one of six general GFWC topics: arts, conservation, education, home life, international outreach and public issues.

Though no records or money raised and donated are readily available, Coterie initiated and supported scores of projects over the years, ranging from educational contests and sponsoring scholarships since 1955, to helping meet the needs of veterans, Victims Services, the Ronald McDonald House and Weiss Cottage.

Perhaps their biggest projects, Peggy says, were establishing the county library in 1928; raising money to build the replica of Col. John Cullmann’s house in 1972 as a venue for the Cullman County Museum; and, about the same time, their Light the Night project helped fund the first street lights on US 31, coming south down the hill into town.

During Coterie’s 50th anniversary, it sponsored the formation of the Share Junior Women’s Club. Susan Powell was its first president and other charter members were Connie Hardiman, Bonnie Heatherly, Johanna Johnson, Deborah McAfee and Linda Price.

Like Coterie, and as a part of the GFWC, the junior women’s club was “dedicated to strengthening their community and enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service.”

Member Laura Ray jokingly but correctly says the club’s purpose was to make money to give away. And that they did – records show the club has raised and donated more than $311,000 since 1972. It has “shared” with scores of groups and programs over the years, with more recent recipients including Hospice of Cullman County, Cullman Caring For Kids and Good Samaritan Clinic.

While it still holds to federation standards, the club dropped out of the GFWCs in 1989 to keep more of its money at home (three years ago, Coterie did likewise). It also underwent another transformation in ‘89.

“We changed our name to Share

Clubs mark 100th and 50th milestone anniversaries of helping meet needs

Women’s Club because we were no longer ‘juniors,’ and as we increased in wisdom, eventually shortened our name to Share Club,” Ray says.

Despite recent Covid cancellations, today Share Club remains best known for its annual and highly successful Christmas Tour of Homes.

Here are five perspectives on this 50-year-old club and its 100-year-old “mother.” 1. Peggy Harris has been in The Coterie since 1980. Retired from the Cooperative Alabama Extension Service office in Cullman, she’s the grandmother of five, mother of a son and a stepson and wife of the late Clarence Harris.

I joined Coterie at the invitation of a friend and co-worker, Joyce Rowe. At that time, we met in each other’s homes, limiting membership to 12-15 women so we could fit in most living rooms.

Each member signed up for a month to host the meetings, which worked out to be about once every two years. Most members were teachers, so we met after school and our club year followed the school year, September through May.

Later, after most of us retired and weren’t so interested in entertaining, we moved our meetings to a restaurant for brunch, which continues today. This also allows space for additional members.

We sent in annual reports on our activities to the Alabama Chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, and won awards every year for outstanding programs and activities.

One of my favorite programs was “Rosie the Riveter.” In 2008, Fran Carter – an 86-year-old, real-life Rosie from Homewood – spoke to us. She portrayed the icon of the working American women of World War II. She knew and played the part by heart because she was there.

Another fun program was a twoact play written by Edna Earle Arnold.

Five perspective contributors

Clubs still faithfully recite 116-year-old collect

Cullman’s 100-year-old Coterie and 50-year-old Share Club were founded under the umbrella of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. The GFWC itself dates to 1890 and became a hub for women’s clubs in the U.S. and even nationally that promoted civic improvements and volunteer services.

At its peak in 1955, the federation boasted ties to 16,000 civic clubs which had an estimated 850,000 members. As of the 2015, GFWC records show membership at 3,000 clubs with some 70,000 members.

Coterie and Share Club are no longer in the federation but still follow many of the its cornerstone constructs and philosophies, including the citation of its “collect” at each meeting.

Penned as a personal prayer in 1904 by Mary Stewart, it was offered for publication under the title “A Collect for Club Women,” she wrote, “because at the time I felt that women working together with wide interest for large ends was a new thing under the sun, and that perhaps they had need for special petition and mediation of their own …”

The Club Collect

Keep us, Oh God, from pettiness: let us be large in thought, in word, in deed. Let us be done with fault-finding, and leave off self seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without self pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous. Let us take time for all things: Make us to grow calm, serene, gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses, Straight-forward and unafraid. Grant that we may realize it is The little things that create differences, That in the big things of life we are at one. And may we strive to touch and to know the great common human heart of us all. And, Oh Lord God, let us forget not... to be kind!

It celebrated our 75th anniversary by reenacting the first meeting of Coterie in 1922. We all dressed like the ‘20s and had our picture in The Cullman Times.

Plus, each of us stitched a square of a historical building in Cullman for a crossed-stitched quilt Coterie’s Mary Bland designed for the museum.

We sponsor a biennial college scholarship. More recently, we have raised money – from rummage sales, book sales, Christmas paper sales and bake sales – to support our scholarship and local charities, such as Cullman Historical Society, Cullman Caring for Kids and Pilot Light Home. 2. Susan Powell was the first president of Share Club and served twice again. She’s retired from public education – including librarian at West Elementary – as well as Little Lambs Preschool at St. John’s, which she helped start. She’s the grandmother of eight, mother of three and wife of the late John Powell.

In 1972, my mother, Ernestine Skipper, suggested that I contact some friends and try to start a Share Junior Women’s Club. Mother was in Coterie, which sponsored us.

So it began.

A small group of us met at her house to discuss what it would involve. We decided we would meet once a month. The first meeting was held at my house. I was elected president for that year and the following year.

We established our main goal of raising money to help others – hence the name the “Share” – and we voted on a project each year. Through the years we’ve done many different things to raise money to fund community projects.

During one of my terms as president, we were discussing what project we wanted to support. We had always done one or two small ones. But after several projects had been suggested, one member said, “Let’s do them all!” We were off and running – and our projects grew larger and larger.

We contributed to such things as the Leukemia Society, foster care, the Pilot House for Abused and Neglected Children, the pediatric unit of Cullman Medical Center, Red Cross, Godwin Home for Girls, Cullman County Library, Adult Activity Center and the Margaret

The Coterie has 14 members on its roster: Melissa Betts Gayle Floyd Jane Frutiger Dot Gudger Peggy Harris Myrna Hermetz Tina Hermetz Essie Hollingsworth Fayellen Jones Orpha Sue McDonald Carol A. Nelson Nava Jean Parker Laura Ray Mitzi Smallwood

Honorary members: Mary Ellen Goodlett Bobbie Pope Geraldine Sharpton

Jean Jones Center. These were just some projects during the early years.

For 50 years Share Club has been working to help our community. We’ve come a very long way – and had fun doing it!

I’ve grown old and don’t attend meetings anymore. However, I keep up with Share Club. I feel like a mother who is so proud of her children. I can’t believe it’s been 50 years. And I am hopeful it will last for many years more. 3. Robyn Nance will move up in May from vice president to president of Share Club. The mother of three children, she teaches at Cullman Middle School.

My first memories of Share Club are from the 1990s. I remember visiting from college and hearing my aunts, Mary Barnes and Kathy Miller, discuss Share Club.

I moved to Cullman in 2011 and met

Top fave countdown

Did yours make the cut?

With fingers crossed on 2022, Deb Veres pauses to see what her customers most loved to eat the last week of ’21. Drum roll, please! And the winner is … the 12 oz. rib eye!

Looking over her stats, Deb pulls out the following seven: #2 Hawaiian rib eye #3 coconut shrimp #4 hamburger #5 8 oz. sirloin #6 salmon #7 Hawaiian chicken #8 hamburger steak

Given the hefty price hike of everything, Deb and co-owner son Josh Veres were a bit surprised.

“When prices started going up, we thought we wouldn’t sell many steaks,” she says. But the beef king grabbed first, second and fifth most ordered entrée – which translates into a hefty compliment to the chefs.

Here’s the secret … well the part that’s not a top secret recipe, anyway.

“We make our own liquid seasoning blend of secret spices,” Deb says. “And we baste it on while the steaks cook. The flavors cooks all the way through.”

So ... changing the name to Augusta’s Steakhouse, maybe?

“No,” she laughs. “But who knew how they’d sell when we opened?”

Well, customers always know this when opening the door to Augusta’s – they’ll get great food for the body and good times for the soul.

Not only does Augusta’s use a secret baste while grilling their steaks, but they hand-cut each one from top quality beef, top. Augusta’s also makes its own Hawaiian sauce for its #2 and #7 most ordered entrees. The very popular coconut shrimp, above, makes a strong seafood entry into the countdown at #3. What about craft beer orders? The top two sellers during the last week of 2021 were Goat Island’s locally brewed Blood Orange Berliner-Weisse, right, and Pernicious IPA from Wicked Weed. Besides a full bar, wine and bottled beer, Augusta’s carries 16 brews on tap, including the still favorite lineup of lights and Ultra.

several friends who were affiliated with the club. A favorite annual event was to attend Share Club’s Christmas Tour of Homes with my friend Paula Graham, who’s also a club member.

In 2017, Jennifer Shugarts extended me an invitation to join the club. I gladly accepted. Since then, I’ve participated in the tour of homes, served on committees, held the role of various offices and worked on other philanthropic endeavors.

My best memory of service is the work we did in 2018 on the home for Restoring Women Outreach. Dorothy Frady, along with others in Cullman, began the outreach, and Dorothy donated several houses to the cause.

We joined in the effort to clean up, repair and revitalize one of the houses. In addition to raising monetary donations, we also got physically involved, collaborating with our many diverse talents to successfully turn the old house into a wonderful home.

Share Club members believe a strong sense of community is essential to human well-being. It is through service that we can build core relationships with others. Service allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place.

Helping with the smallest task can make a real difference to the lives of people. Service is the lens through which we decide how we will invest our time and resources. Living the value of service empowers us to make lasting community change. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

How true.

4. Kristi Creel is an accountant at McGriff Industries, mother of two children and wife of Clint Creel. She’s one of the newer members of Share Club.

Bridgette Walker invited me to join Share Club in 2019. I was honored. I knew it was a service organization, and I had been looking to get involved with something of that nature.

For years, I attended the Christmas Tour of Homes as a non-club member. It was a fun day spent with family and friends, touring beautiful homes decorated for Christmas. I admired the ladies who were members; volunteering their time for charitable causes. I’ve only been able

Share Club has 35 active members. They are: Jill Bradberry Beth Caviness Kristi Creel Jackie Donovan Paige Faulk Paula Graham Belinda Hagan Lindsay Harrison Loren Heatherly Sheree Hillegass Stephanie Jowers Katie Knop Alice Lindsey Jessica Lowry Lindsay Marshall Cindy McGriff Kathy Miller Delane Milligan Mary Leah Moss Robyn Nance Karen Parker Carin Rains Amy Ray Lauren Royster Connie Sandlin Jennifer Shugarts Maria Stanford Katie Stidham T’aira Ugarkovich Katie Waldrop Mary Jane Waldrop Bridgette Walker Melinda Willingham Judy Wise Shara Yerby

Another 10 women have honorary status: Lee Adams Clara Kent Vicki Knight Cindy Ponder Suzanne Quick Laura Ray Cheryl Rutledge Mary Smith Derinda Weathersby Amy Wood

to be a part of one tour of homes so far. Covid interrupted, and we have been limited for the past two years.

I’ve learned that faith, family and fellowship play major roles in Share Club, but volunteering and serving organizations in our community is the heart of the club. In my short time as a member, we have been able to do small service projects. Those projects, for the most part, have consisted of providing much needed supplies to several local organizations. Sometimes it’s a backpack for a child or a purse for a woman trying to make a change in her life.

Whether the project is small or large is not the emphasis. A need is recognized and the first question is, “How can we help?” It is exciting for me as I look forward to being a part of those efforts in the near future. The love for community and each other that these ladies share is immeasurable.

It is a joy serving in Share Club. 5. Laura Killen Ray is the immediate past president of Share Club and served a previous term. She is a retired teacher, grandmother of three girls, mother of one son and wife of the late Aubrey David Ray.

Bonnie Heatherly invited me to join Share Club in 1981. Another friend, Johanna Johnson, further encouraged me, resulting in my involvement with an outstanding group of like-minded women with the united goals to benefit our community, have social opportunities, meet monthly and make new friends.

Our fundraisers, small and large, include fashion shows, making and selling Valentine baskets, selling Current stationery, holding a ‘50s dance, the Night of Chocolate silent auction, sponsoring Gardens from the Heart Spring Home Tours and now our beloved Christmas Tour of Homes.

I have happy memories of Christmas parties, shared meals with other members, pleasant conversation, making new friends and working with others to complete shared goals.

When Bonnie retired from teaching, she also joined Coterie, and when I retired in 2011, she invited me to join, too. That’s when I began to understand the unique relationship between Share Club and Coterie. These two mostly different groups of women have the same heart for helping and supporting others.

I write this piece because I am in both clubs. But I believe Bonnie should be writing it because of her love for both groups of women; however her passing in April 2021 did not allow that to happen.

My hope is that readers will gain some understanding of the mission and goals of these two long-standing clubs. I also hope you buy tickets to Share Club’s next Christmas Tour of Homes!