Union City Times-Gazette, Tuesday, May 7, 1946
Sugar Creek – The Number 1 Home Ec Group
On the afternoon of April 24, 1913, Mrs. Anderson Lesley opened her home
to a group of women for the purpose of organizing the first home
economics club in Randolph county, the Sugar Creek Home Economics class.
The desire to have this organization developed from the enthusiasm
inspired by Miss Grace Garvin of Purdue university, who conducted a
short course of home economics in the East Street Christian church of
Winchester in February, 1913.
From this group of women, namely, Mrs. Elizabeth Bird, Mrs. Florence
Climer, Mrs. Lou Lesley, Mrs. Irene Thornburg, Mrs. Mabel Lesley, Miss
Hazel Climer, Mrs. Ada Adamson, Miss Eva Courtner, Mrs. Earl Heitz, Mrs.
Pearl Wilmore, Miss Edith Kabel, Mrs. Nellie McNees, Mrs. Lillian
Vanlandingham, Mrs. Julia Diggs, Mrs. Lilly Lesley, Mrs. Eva Lesley,
Mrs. Maggie Bragg and Mrs. Etta Funk, originated the Sugar Creek Home
Economics class.
Prior to this a few interested women met in Winchester and elected
county officers: president, Mrs. Julia Diggs; vice-president, Ada
Adamson; secretary-treasurer, Eva Courtner. With the county president,
Mrs. Diggs, presiding, this first meeting was called to order and the
officers for the new class were elected.
The result of this election was as follows: president, Mrs. Mable
Lesley; vice-president, Mrs. Pearl Wilmore; secretary-treasurer, Edith
Kabel. Irene Thornburg and Lou Lesley were appointed program committee.
Pearl Wilmore and Maggie Bragg were chosen to draft a constitution. It
was suggested that since this was the Sugar Creek neighborhood, so named
because of a small creek and little brick schoolhouse, that the
organization be know as the Sugar Creek class, not club, because of the
aversion that existed then to the name club. The last Thursday of each
month was selected as the most convenient time to meet.
The first year the hostesses were volunteers to entertain the class.
Dues were 25 cents and the first four quarters were sent to Purdue for
state dues.
The study outline was furnished by Purdue and the program committee
could select other topics of interest. It was voted not to serve
refreshments except at special entertainments. The class decided to have
ten study programs and two social programs each year – picnic in July
and a Christmas party in December. Each meeting was to open with
devotion and roll call, and at the time the above picture was take, the
twenty-fifth anniversary, the class had never missed one of the 300
meetings.
]This article was accompanied by a large group picture taken in 1938 of
eleven of the members – many of the ladies named above.]
Thus the years have come and gone, each filled with new ideas and happy
recollections of the past. The twenty-fifth anniversary meeting was held
at the home of Mrs. Garnet Gearhart on April, 1938. A history of the
club, in the form of a cake each slice being a year, was written by Ada
Adamson and read by Ada Cecil.
The original recipe for the cake follows: “Pounds of service, work,
charity, love and tolerance mixed with bushels of good deeds and fun and
flavored with enough disappointment and regrets to appreciate the
quality of this cake, baked in the home economics oven furnished by
Purdue university and mixed with the helping hands of the Sugar Creek
class.” Here you have the real reason for the success of the Sugar Creek
class. The class is indeed proud to be the oldest club in Randolph county.
In April 1946, the club celebrated the thirty-third anniversary at the
Bagley club room with the remaining charter members as hostesses.
The Sugar Creek class has a display of layettes to be sent for Russian
relief and a box of things to be sent to a Russian child in the window
of the Baumgartner Jewelry store, south side of the square.