News : VWC members share memories as club disbands

Members of the VWC gathered Wednesday for one final meeting.

These ladies each has previously served as VWC President.

Former Woman of the Year honorees also posed for a photo.

Irene Geiger and Bunny Fritch hold up a quilt Bev Fiebelkorn made for the 1988 Woman of the Year.

VWC members recited this old prayer, called a collect, at every banquet.

About 51 years ago, two women knocked on the door of Dorothy Albert to welcome her and her family to Vinton.

That was the first Dorothy had ever heard of the Vinton Women’s Club. She joined the VWC shortly afterwards and became involved in many activities. In 1988, she was named the Woman of the Year, and among her gifts was a quilt made by Bev Fiebelkorn, who died three years ago this week.

Shortly after that – nobody knows exactly when – Dorothy became involved in honoring the Woman of the Year; she helped created unique skits to honor each woman who had been selected.

Bev’s mom, Irene Geiger, and sister, Bunny Fritch, stopped during Wednesday’s final meeting of the VWC, to see that quilt and other historic items.

“I did not even know she was going to make that quilt,” Irene recalls. “She had a lot of talents we did not know about.”

About 35 ladies attended the banquet, the last in the club’s history. Instead of announcing another Woman of the Year, the club members reminisced about the years when membership exceeded 200, and there were several organizations within the club.

“It was a big deal,” said one member.

“We were the biggest club in town,” said another.

But changes in society and age and the deaths of many members shrunk membership to less than 40; leaders recently decided to disband the club.

Several tables of memorabilia lined the wall of the Trinity Lutheran Fellowship Hall, as the women shared their memories. Many of them said they learned to play bridge because of the VWC. The club at one time had departments for fitness, child welfare, music, literature and more.

Other members recalled annual events that became traditions. The lunch and bazaar at the Legion Hall was one of their favorites. Other events, however, did not go so well. One year, they attempted a hunter’s breakfast. In addition to needing to make arrangements to care for their young children so they could leave the house at 4 or 5 a.m., the ladies discovered that they were also competing with a home Iowa football game. They decided to not make that breakfast an annual event.

The Newcomers group was responsible for introducing many members, including Dorothy, to the club. They would get information about new arrivals from City Hall, then stop by the new family’s place to tell them about Vinton.

Club members honored its former presidents and the former Women of the Year who attended last night's meeting.