Community Club keeps pace with times

West Shore News

Times have changed in the Flathead Valley, and, in order to keep pace, the Lakeside Community Club has both grown and adapted over the years.

According to club president Joyce Greeve, constant innovation is also a vital component of keeping the community club viable and relevant to the community it serves.

Even the guest speaker for the March club meeting, Anna Marie Scarlett of Flathead Travel, reflected a need to remain relevant and in touch with the interests of both club members and the community at large.

"I think change is important," Greeve said. "As new people move into the area, they bring in ideas that have been successful in the areas they came from, specifically for raising money, and I think that our club members are open to change.

"Suggestions are sometimes made by community members, concerning things that we can include in the community fair, and if it is at all possible and is something that we think will be profitable, we try to include those things. I've been asked a couple of times if we could include more things for children, because the fair is such a community outing, and I think it's important to consider those kinds of things."

One of the changes that club members have embraced within the past month was a break from the previous tradition of auctioning Easter baskets during the annual pre-Easter meeting. The former chairwomen of the event said it was time to move on to something new and they were ready to step down from a project that took considerable time and effort throughout the year to prepare for.

Instead, local artist Barbara Coppock, who is credited as being the author of the Easter Basket project, volunteered to donate one of her personal etchings to be raffled off in lieu of the Easter baskets.

Coppock presented her hand-colored etching to the club members last Wednesday, one month after announcing that she would donate the art for a pre-Easter raffle. The etching, entitled "Sweet Pea" depicts a Victorian home in Bozeman, formerly belonging to the Luerkind family. The etching draws its name from the annual Sweetpea Festival, held in Bozeman in August of each year. The etching will be raffled at the April meeting.

"Everybody likes something different," former club president Lois Lauman said. "We've had the Easter baskets for a number of years, and there's a lot of work involved in making them and purchasing the things that go into them. People lose interest after a while. I really enjoyed the camaraderie that it brought, but I think it's time to try something different. We like to keep the momentum up, but the truth is we get in a rut and we like to do different things.

"I think doing something for the community at Easter-time to give to some organization is our main purpose. I think that this etching will be awesome, and it was very generous of Barb to donate one. I liked the baskets, but I'm looking forward to a change, too. I just think people need change."

Greeve asked the club if they would like to continue with the traditional Easter bonnet parade, which has the ladies of the club parade their best bonnet and be judged on creativity, appearance, originality, and other categories. However, this tradition had lost popularity with the ladies as well and will be discontinued.

With that said, Greeve urged membership to participate in helping set up for Attic Treasures portion of the community fair, which she said has always been short on workers. One way that the club intends to boost interest in Attic Treasures is by introducing a new element — jewelry — which has proven successful in some other places.

"We've had numerous people ask us about it," Lauman, this year's chairwoman for Attic Treasures, said. "Lots of people have old jewelry that they're willing to donate, and it's kind of an in-thing, so it will be a new venue this year. I think it's a good idea. We like to change things around every year so that we don't have everything the same thing year after year."

Lauman said the jewelry will be displayed and sold in two different places. The finer, more expensive jewelry, can be found in the silent auction, where organizers feel it will draw higher bids and raise more money. Less expensive pieces and costume jewelry can be found in the Attic Treasures section. The jewelry will be displayed in its cases and have its own chair to promote it and give it this new venue a more professional feel.

The community club has already begun its acquire of items for both the silent auction and Attic Treasures. Those who wish to donate items may call Greeve at 857-3688 or Lauman at 857-3512.

Items that the community club will not be taking this year include clothing, exercise equipment, computers and computer accessories, which have been difficult to sell in previous years. However, fair organizers hope that will in no way dampen the generosity of the community, which they say is more needed now than ever due to the current financial crisis.

"We're concerned that with the economy we won't get as much," Greeve said. "I think we'll always have buyers, because our prices are low, but we're looking outside of the club for donations. We're always in need of contributions."