Club news: Historical Society marks 70 years

On Feb. 9th Altrusa International of Bentonville/Bella Vista made a $300 presentation to Thomas Jefferson School Librarian Sue Bentel. The money will be used to purchase books by Arkansas authors. From left are President Kris Sherry, Sue Bentel the school librarian, Terri Gather, school liaison, and Savanna Ramsey, library aid.

(Courtesy photo)
On Feb. 9th Altrusa International of Bentonville/Bella Vista made a $300 presentation to Thomas Jefferson School Librarian Sue Bentel. The money will be used to purchase books by Arkansas authors. From left are President Kris Sherry, Sue Bentel the school librarian, Terri Gather, school liaison, and Savanna Ramsey, library aid. (Courtesy photo)

Democrats

The Northwest Arkansas Senior Democrats will meet at noon March 16 via Zoom. The guest speaker will be Kent Eikenberry, CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. Prior to that position he spent 43 years in newspaper advertising, marketing and management. He has lived in Rogers since 1986 and has been active in the community by working on several nonprofits and Chamber of Commerce boards. He is currently the president of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

Call for a meeting link.

Information: (479) 267-1967.

Rotary

The Rotary Club of Fayetteville will meet at noon March 18 via Zoom. The program will be given by Larry Shackelford, CEO of Washington Regional Medical Center. Email the club for a link to the meeting.

Information: Email [email protected].

Orchids

The Orchid Society of the Ozarks has resumed online meetings at 1:30 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month. Meetings to date have included virtual greenhouse tours, members discussing traits and culture tips for their favorite orchids, Q&A time, and a brief business meeting. Meeting link and passwords are sent to OSO members by email.

The next meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20 and will join the Three Rivers Orchid Society and the Orchid Society of Indiana's Virtual celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank. New members as of March 17 will be sent a link and password to sign into this presentation at no additional cost.

This event includes:

• Courtney Hackney: "Orchid Triage: How to Save Your Dying Orchid." Hackney is a longtime expert grower and hybridizer, especially of Cattleyas.

• A live presentation: "Growing Orchids Under Lights and Equipment to Consider."

• A live video tour of the Wheeler-Thanhauser Orchid Collection and Species Bank at Ball State University hosted by its curator, Cheryl LeBlanc.

Registrants will also receive via e mail links to other culture programs and orchid garden tours.

Information: (479) 310-9444 or oso-web.org.

Historians

The Washington County Historical Society, now based at Headquarters House in Fayetteville, marked its 70th anniversary last month.

The first organizational meeting of the society was held on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 1951, at the Lutheran Student Center at Dickson Street and Arkansas Avenue. Lessie Stringfellow Reed was the organizational chairwoman, while W.J. Lemke acted as the secretary for the meeting, according to the records of the WCHS Flashback, the organization's journal for the past seven decades.

At a March 19 meeting of the group held at the University of Arkansas Library, Reed presided as a constitution for the WCHS was adopted and Lemke was elected president; Jobelle Holcomb, vice president; and Tom Feathers, secretary-treasurer. The new elected officers with six appointed members constituted the Board of Directors.

Those appointed to the first WCHS as board members were Grace Albright, Mary Droke, A.S. Humphreys, F.H. McConnell, Reed and F.S. Root.

The officers and board met March 29 at Lemke's home and began discussing events for the remainder of the year. Dues were set at $2 a year, with each person joining receiving a souvenir membership card (wallet sized) bearing printed images of Lovely County and the current configuration of Washington County imprinted on the membership cards for 1951.

The Washington County Historical Society is the state's oldest, continuous county historical society. The Flashback's August-September 1951 issue contained the following notice: "The Washington County Historical Society welcomes the newest county organization, the Pulaski County Historical Society, which was recently organized in the Little Rock."

Information: To find out more about today's Washington County Historical Society, call (479) 521-4681 or email [email protected].

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