The GFWC/Iowa Toledo Woman’s Club met at the Toledo Library on March 14th with 13 members present. Hostesses were: Karen Havran, Shirley Otterman and Cathy Cook. Following the dessert, the meeting was called to order by President Earlene Bacon. She read several Irish Blessings in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. Karen showed a video on “Feed Just One.” The video was prepared by a group who packages dry grains, etc. to be cooked later. They took their name from Mother Theresa’s comment, “If you can’t feed the world, Then Feed Just One.” It showed some of the outreach to other countries, but they also donate the food to areas of the US. For another part of the program, Floriss Adair brought the quilt that club members had made before the bi-centennial. Each member had their own block in the quilt. It was quite meaningful to see the blocks of members who are no longer with us, but contributed so much to our Club. The idea was Earlene Bacon’s when she became President for the first time in 1974-1976. Ann McMullin came up with the design, and most of the sewing and quilting were done by Norma Yerkes and Helen Christensen, with occasional help from other members. The quilt is a wonderful tribute to both past and present members. Marlene Eernisse also read a news article that was published when the quilt was finished. There were originally 15 members when the club was organized in 1894. We joined the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1895.

Secretary Carolyn Anderson read the minutes of the February meeting, and Marlene gave the Treasurer’s report.

After taking up a collection, we were able to donate $100.00 to the Toledo Library.

The State Scholarship judging will again be held in Toledo on Friday, March 24th. Our Club will serve a noon luncheon for the group. Marlene is Co-Chairman for the SE District Scholarship Committee, and they will judge all of the scholarship requests that were received in the State.

We were responsible for delivering meals from February 27-March 3rd. Due to illnesses and previous commitments of members, Don Havran delivered the meals for the entire week.

Our GFWC/Iowa State Convention will be held in Pella from April 21-22. Members are encouraged to attend, even for just 1 of the days.

A donation request was received for Project Prom, and one from the Nature Center. Arlene Gerlach gave the Adventures in Reading Program. All members read at least 5 books giving us a total of 1,020 books read by our members. For Conservation, Ann McMullin reported on conserving energy by lowering the heat in our homes, and also repeating the cleaning that can be done using only vinegar and baking soda. Ann Hendricks announced that we will have Bingo at Premier Estates on Monday, March 27th. 5 members volunteered to help. Happy Dollars were collected, and the meeting closed by reciting the Club Collect.