By B.C. Manion
It’s a club that rarely calls attention to itself, and yet, it is widely known throughout Lutz and Land O’ Lakes for the civic work it performs.
Its roots go back 50 years and this week, members of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club will gather at the First United Methodist Church of Lutz to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.
The club has invited about 150 guests including state and local elected officials, dignitaries, former members, members and their spouses to drop in to celebrate the milestone, from 2-4 p.m. Oct. 27.
Like many of its occasions over the past five decades, this one will involve refreshments: Finger foods and a big cake.
As guests join the celebration, they’ll have a chance to learn the club’s story – detailed in a video painstakingly created by Cheryl Benton, chairwoman of the 50th anniversary celebration.
Benton culled through a half-century of yearbooks to find the most telling details of the often subtle actions that have improved the quality of life not only in Lutz and Land O’ Lakes, but in many places beyond those communities.
“I was amazed at the things the club had accomplished over the years,” Benton said. This was the group that started the first library in Lutz, pushed for streetlights for US 41 and got a railroad crossing installed, after a mother and daughter were killed near the tracks.
Club members have a hand in all sorts of community activities, large and small.
The club directs the annual Fourth of July parade and organizes an arts and crafts festival at Lake Park each December – with both events attracting thousands of people.
It raises money to pay for scholarships. It supports scout troops and other community groups, such as the Lutz Volunteer Fire Department and friends of the Old Lutz School.
Club members pitch tents for events, knit caps for babies in hospital neonatal units, hold bingo games for retired veterans and make sundresses for African children.
The list goes on and on.
Benton said the club strives to live up to its motto – “Serve today for a better tomorrow.”
The club’s 90 members come primarily from Lutz and Land O’ Lakes, but some hail from Odessa, Wesley Chapel and Tampa.
Benton said her experiences in the group have made her “in awe of all the things that women can do when they are united.”
Lorraine Dabney will speak at the half-century celebration, in a gesture to acknowledge her standing as having the distinction of being the club’s longest-serving active member.
When Dabney moved into Lutz years ago, she was looking for something to do, she said.
“One of my neighbors invited me to come to (the) club. From the first day, I was hooked.”
Initially, she was drawn by the friendly nature of the women. As time went on, she grew increasingly impressed by the club’s commitment to service.
It’s a club that nurtures individual development, too, she said.
“We’re really a place where someone can come and grow,” Dabney said. “If you nurture something, then it blossoms. I like to think that we’re the ones who water and fertilize.”
While the majority of the club members are 50 or older, Dabney said the group is seeing more interest from younger women.
“They’re looking to serve. I think there is a spirit of volunteerism now more than ever. People want meaning to their lives. They want to make a difference,” said Dabney, who now lives in Land O’ Lakes.
For those who are community minded, there are lots of ways to be involved.
“Nobody is required to serve any minimum amount of hours,” Dabney said. “I like to say we have a smorgasbord that people can pick and choose what they want to do. No matter what you do, as long as you use your gift, you’re an asset to our club.”
Like most organizations, the woman’s club has felt the effects of the recession, Dabney said. “I know that we have had to cut back on some of our giving because when we have fundraisers maybe we’re not raising quite as much money as we have in the past.”
Besides serving the community, the women in the group help each other.
They have a sunshine chairwoman who sends cards to members who are sick or bereaved or going through some other sort of difficult time.
“There’s so much compassion in this club. If a member is in need, if we know about it, we’re there to help with that need,” Dabney said.
Marilyn Wannamaker is one of the women who has benefited from that support.
“I joined right after we moved here from Dover (near Plant City). A year later, my husband (Jim) died,” Wannamaker said. “If it had not been for the club, I really don’t think I would have made it. They were wonderful in their support and their caring. I just know that I’m a better human being for being in the club.”
Wannamaker, a member for 11 years, has been president of the club twice. She now supervises the Little Women of Lutz, a group of high school girls who make up a junior chapter of the group.
“It’s been a joy. We cook dinner at Ronald McDonald House. We help at the library. We adopted a road and clean it up three times a year. We adopt a family in need at Christmas,” she said.
“To me, it’s wonderful to watch them grow and develop into wonderful young women,” Wannamaker said.
Edwina Kraemer, the current club president, described the group as purposeful, empowered women. She was attracted to the group because of its focus on service.
“I was raised with the idea that you are not a burden to your society and that you give back,” Kraemer said.
As it begins its second half-century, the group wants to reach out to women who are still in the work force and to stay-at-home moms, Kraemer said.
That group will have evening meetings and will focus on goals that address needs and concerns of those women, she said.
While the older group tends to look at geriatric concerns, this group will likely be more interested in issues involving children and teenagers, Kraemer said.
By creating this new group, the club will address a piece that’s been missing and will help perpetuate the future of the organization, Kraemer said.
While the club is involved in many activities, Kraemer said, that’s not its legacy.
“It is not what we are doing now,” Kraemer said “It is what we’re going to leave.”
