History: Pleasant Hill, Mayville Twp., Clark Co., Wis. Homemakers Club (1921 - 1965)

Contact: Stan
Email: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Halle

----Source: Greenwood Public Library, original copy owned by Jean Rolstad

Our Day Out Homemakers Club - 1921-1965

the Our Day Out Homemakers Club was organized in the fall of 1921 in the old one-room Pleasant Hill school in the town of Mayville by Miss Wealthy M. Halle from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Before the days of Home Agents, our lessons were brought to us once or twice a year by representatives from the University. We started with 12 members, which in time increased to over 30.

Our annual picnic which was a family affair, was the highlight of the year. In the early days, the cars were jacked up on blocks for the duration of the winter. Husbands of the members would hitch his team to the old lumber wagon or sleigh, pick up all the m embers on the way and take them to the home of the hostess. Once a year, we used to have an evening meeting when the whole family would come.

When the county was first divided into Centers, there were two, one in Neillsville and one in Abbotsford. As more clubs were organized, more Centers were formed.

Each year, our Club donates to five fund drives including, Red Cross, Cancer, Heart, March of Dimes, and Muscular Distrophy. We have had many service projects throughout the years. Some of the methods we used to replenish our treasury were: (1) Blind auction bake sales among our members; (2) a Penney for each inch of our waist measurement; (3) a birthday party when we gave pennies to equal our age; (4) hostess gifts; (5) an apron was circulated each member sewed on a patch with her name and donation under it, largest donation winning the apron; (6) aprons raffled off to the highest bidder.; (7) galloping teas; and (8) the hostess made a quantity of one item, candy, cookies, etc. and sold them to the club members.

We feel that we have learned much from our past project lessons and look forward to many happy years with the Homemaker organization.