“Let’s do lunch?” a very common term in today’s society, but is that what the ladies of the Avalon Sewing Club had in mind in 1954 when they began meeting for lunch? And boy have they lived up to the saying, because in almost 50 years they haven’t missed a monthly get-together. The fourth Thursday of every month, these faithful friends have gathered at someone’s home to do lunch, very little mending, and a lot of talking.
Avalon, a tree-lined street consisting of only four blocks, nestled between the hustle and bustle of Gaston Avenue and the grand estates on Lakewood Boulevard, became the backdrop for these club meetings. The members’ children, better known as baby-boomers, were the first benefactors of this club.
The original group consisted of Jimmie Kennedy, Mary Taylor, Evelyn Hughes, Kathryn Russell, Evelyn Lund, Mary Alice Bloss, Molly Jameson, Lib Story, Clements Buskirk and Margaret Metzger, with Hannah Collier as head Mom.
“Hannah kept us in line as ladies,” says Kennedy. “At our meetings, we would decide what all our kids could do or not do. Many of the kids wished we were not in the club.”
Currently, there are 10 active members: Rosemary Brinegar, Molly Jameson, Florene Reed, Louise Storm, Doris Townsend, Marianne Battle, Mary Taylor, Jimmie Kennedy, Katie Russell and Elaine Loyd.
“At first you had to live on Avalon to be a member, thus the club name evolved. Then, as members moved away, others from nearby would be ‘allowed’ in,” says Storm, one of the members who joined later. “We were standing there with our tongues hanging out wanting to get in.”
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