7 Oaks Club and Quilting with Harriett Weber

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Okay, welcome back to the Bridgeton Beacon. I have the true pleasure today to be speaking with Mrs. Harriett Weber. We just finished a really nice lunch at my mom and dad's house, Bob and Jane McCormick, and Mrs. Weber has been gracious enough to speak with me today, in particular about an organization that I just became aware of.

 

But it certainly has been around for quite a long time. By my math, the Seven Oaks Club will actually have its 130th anniversary this coming year. I was formed in 1895 by a group of women in the Bridgeton-Cumberland County area and it has been going strong ever since.

 

Mrs. Weber as a member. And I'm hoping you can give me some insight as to your experiences with this club, which I take to understand is art, culture, music, education. It looks like there have been meetings on a regular basis over the last 130 years where there are speakers that come in and really educate and inform.

 

the women of our area. is that a fair representation of the club or has it evolved over the years? It is. And in the beginning, I think they used to meet twice a month, but then it's just once a month now, usually the first Tuesday of the month. We don't meet in the summertime, but. Where do you meet? Well, the group membership has become so large that

 

We no longer meet in private homes, which we used to do. And we meet at the West Cumberland Senior Center because that can accommodate a larger group. Right out in Hopewell Township. That is correct. Okay. So how long have you been a member of the group? Since 1971, which would make it 53 years at this point in time. So I'm one of the

 

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elders of the group. So tell me what the group generally talks about and meets when you meet. Well, we often have an outside speaker, but not always. Sometimes the members will put on the programs themselves. we have a formal meeting every month that we meet, except for summer, except for April. And that is like club day, it's a fun day. So we have a very, very short business meeting and then we get into doing something that's fun. And next year we plan, because I believe it's on April 1st, which is April Fool's Day, we're going to have an April Foolish Fashion Day, which means that people will come dressed up in a humorous sort of outfit.

 

So we'll see how that goes. would be a first. sounds like a lot of fun. Well, I was able to to get my hands on a copy of a history of the Seven Oaks Club. But this was a history, says a brief history of the first 100 years. And so this book was published in 1995, which would have been the hundredth year anniversary. And in the beginning of the book, They talk about a, I guess an article that was printed in an issue of the Daily Pioneer, the women's edition. And it said, quote, came into the mind of one progressive woman to broaden her own as well as other lives by stimulating a mental growth and a lively interest in the living events of the day.

 

which should relegate the trifles where they belong to a subordinate place. And it goes on to talk about it being a group of wives, mothers, sisters that apparently was formed in 1895 on the lawn in front of a Mrs. Jonathan Elmer's home, which I thought was a neat way for this to have started because there was seven oak trees on that front lawn.

 

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I'm going to have to try to find out what house that was and see if I can't see if those seven oak trees are still there. Sure. think it said, I think it gave an address in the book of 220 Commerce Street. think was East Commerce, 440 or 220. And one of the things that signify carry on the tradition of the oak tree is when you become a member, you get a a lapel pin of an oak tree. So all new members are given that.

 

I should have had you wear it tonight. We are required to wear it to all our meetings. for some of the women that forget we have name badges, they leave their oak tree on their name badge so they don't have to remember to do that. But the interesting thing to me, why I was so pleased to become asked to become a member of this group several years ago, this group of women are responsible for seeding the idea of the Bridgton Hospital. I did not know that. Came into being in 1898, I believe.

The club started in 1895. But these women, through their local influential, this is men husbands or whatever, I think seeded the idea. And that is something that seven days can really be proud of. they saw a need.

They saw a need and I think it started with just a couple bids here and it grew. In fact, I think what became one of the nursing homes was a gray building, wasn't the original hospital. But, And I noticed in the book that again, every meeting was a different speaker and those speakers that we could be here all afternoon if I were to name all the different speakers that the club has hosted over the last 130 years.

But some of the speakers were about literature, some were about music, some were about education, but there were quite a few presentations by doctors about health issues. Right. Is that still the case? Yeah. No, not today. Doctors are too busy. Right.

 

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And when you talk about art, music, and literature, in the past, there was a junior women's civic club in Bridgerton, and they would sponsor a table topic tea every year. And any woman's club could put entries in that. And my good friend, Carol Gould, and I decided to set a core table for this table topic tea. First year, we got a

 

first place ribbon. So we did it the second year. And the topic, the theme was either art, music or literature. And the second year we got second place. So we did it a third year and we got third place. And we saw where this trend was going. So we never did it again. You should have quit while you were at it. There is a motto.

 

And I can't, I've never, I never took Latin. It is a Latin, so I'm going to probably mispronounce it. But the motto is, I'm going to spell it actually, UT. Yeah, I don't know either. So, but it means, it means quietly or softly useful, which I think is interesting in light of what you said about the club being instrumental in the forming of the hospital.

 

Right, and it's always been putting the community first. We have dues, but we're not fundraisers. So combining our dues at the end of our season, we make donations locally to a lot of worthy causes, and some we have done for years. And there is a, correct me if I'm wrong, but a National Federation of Women's Organizations that

 

it is part of or at least at one time was part of? Yes, Seven Oaks was part of that and in myself reading the history long before my time, they discovered they were spending so much of their budget to belong to this women's federation that they decided not to continue to be part of that so they could give the money that they had, the resources they had at the end of the year to donate to local cause. To keep it local. Right.

 

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That makes sense. Another thing that I thought was really interesting, there are so many local women that have been part of this organization over its many years. One of the things that this publication said that was when members passed away, the saying was, cannot say, we will not say that they are dead, they're just away. Which I think is kind of a nice way of they're still part of the history of organization.

 

Right, exactly. And then a donation is always made, what used to be made to the Bridgerton Library or Cumberland County Library in their memory, a book that would have been of interest to that individual. Do you recall how you became a member? Do other members bring you every year? Do you bring new members? Yes, I think I became, my good friend Carol Gold was someone that

 

introduced me to 7X Club. And I think I became a member also because my mother-in-law Esther Weber was a member. And it's sort of like if you were a 7X member and then maybe your acorn came along, you know, the next generation. And at that time, we actually voted on members, but there was never a negative vote.

 

We would go through the paper ballots. Somebody would count them. And that's how you became a member. Today, you're expected to, a sponsor to bring you to the meetings a couple of times so people can kind of get to know you and then propose if you're interested in becoming a member, there'd be a write-up a little bit about you and that would be presented by your sponsor.

 

And then you became a member. There's no more voting on a member. And how do you go about soliciting and organizing the speakers that come in? Is that up to each member? you have a turn in terms of who you're supposed to bring in? Well, in the past, we used to have one of the vice presidents would be program chairman. And that was a huge responsibility for one person. Sure. So what we do today, in the summertime, the president will call

 

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set aside a date and those that are interested in coming to offer suggestions for meetings, we will get together, come up with suggestions. Then we usually have a second meeting to decide to fill the calendar. And that's kind of the way we do it. Do have speakers come from the outside that we pay, give them a stipend, but members also put on programs. And of course we don't get paid.

 

for that, we don't expect it, that's just part of becoming a member. Right, well I would imagine too that when the organization first started, for the most part, it seems like most of the members were what we would refer to nowadays as like stay at home moms, right? Right. And I'm sure so many women that are members have careers in their own right that they're able to speak upon.

 

topics that they're familiar with from that perspective. Absolutely. And I think there are lot of members with a lot of different interests. We have a lot of teachers. We have retired nurses, of which I am one. That's why I am so pleased to be part of the group that started the Breschen Hospital, which is where I went for my first job after becoming a registered nurse. So that's important to me. And

 

We do have a limited number of members. I'm not quite sure what the number is. It's around 40. It used to be fewer members than that. And that's when we could meet in individual homes, which was really a nice affair to go. Personally. Yes, it really was. it, and times have changed because you used to go into a home.

 

and there'd be the linen tablecloth on the table for refreshments. There would be coffee or tea in the fall, cider maybe. But today, and there was always the china cups and saucers, the silverware, the fresh flowers on the table. But today's woman's life is different. So many women are working.

 

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or have worked, have had careers, and just life in general is different today. So we're in no longer the China and silver generation, but the paper plates, the plastic tablecloths, the saffron cup generation, because it's quicker and easier. But I would imagine that the friendship and the fellowships are still just as strong. yes, it is. It is. And maybe that...

 

gives you the freedom to spend more time on that aspect of it, I don't know. And one of the things that I like about what we're doing today when we meet at the senior center, we sit around tables, but instead of sitting with people that you know, the name badges are pre-arranged before we get there. So we get the opportunity to know the 38th member, the 39th member, whatever, where before...

 

if you kind of sat with the people that you know, you never got to know the other people, which are really interesting people. that has been really exciting for me in the last three or four years that they have been doing this. That's a nice thing to do. I'm sure in the beginning people might have been like, I want to sit where I want to sit, but being forced to have an assigned seat will definitely do that. So we have a big variety of topics.

 

There are lot of social programs in the area and people will come and speak about their particular interests. And some of the members of our group have different talents and they will. In fact, I was honored a year ago to speak on quilting. I want to speak to you about your quilting. is a whole other topic.

 

What we talk about it. Yeah, and about that at lunch. Yeah, it was a great opportunity for me to tell about the history of Quilting that was my topic and the interesting thing I just did it last year The interesting thing is I had given the exact same program 43 years prior to the same group of people I don't

 

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Did it change? most part. 43 years ago, there weren't that many members that are still here today. And if they were, I think they probably would not have remembered. And so that was kind of exciting because I had already done the research, already had it. And then I took some of the things that I made and was able to show and tell a little bit about quilting, which is a whole new topic.

 

in of itself really. How did you get started with quilting? As a child, we did not have central air in there, in the house at all. did grow up? In Canton, Lower Arbys Creek. My parents had what is now the Canton Country Store. Salem County. In Salem County. It was built by my great grandfather, my grandfather had it, and then my mother and father had the store. So I grew up the oldest of five.

 

And I remember as a small child in the wintertime sleeping under three or four quilts and how colorful they were. And I was this small to turn over was an effort because of the weight of the quilts, but I was warm. So I always wanted to learn the quilt and nobody in my family quilted. I don't know where these quilts came from that I slept under. And then a few years ago, Bridgton High School had an adult night school.

 

and every fall and spring they would have different classes. Now when you say a few years ago, 50 years ago, 50 plus. Anyway, I saw they had a class for quilting. I thought, my goodness. So I signed up and then a week before I get a phone call, we're cancelling the class because we don't have enough people. And I said, how many do you need? They needed 10.

 

and they had a few sign up and I said, if I can make it up to 10, will you hold the class? And they said, yes. I got on the phone to all my friends in Shiloh and we signed up and that's where I started back in 1973, I think it was. I'm not sure about that. So right around when you started with Seven Oaks. Right. So anyway. You have been quilting ever since and now even

 

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teach a quilting course at West Cumberland Senior Center? Yes, in 2007 West Cumberland Senior Center opened up and somebody knew that I quilted and asked if I would teach quilting. And I had belonged to a quilt group in Cherry Hill of Apple Quilters for 30 some years. And then the drive became more than I wanted to make. I would get home too late at night.

 

So I did have some experience, but I had never really taught before. But over the years, and looking back over my notes recently, there have been 25 people that I have taught to quilt. Some have kept on with it, started with me in the beginning at Breschen High School and are still quilting. What's about quilting that you like?

 

Is it that memory from being a child and sleeping under those? Well, that was the beginning but I find it relaxing and I used to have a rather stressful job in my career and something about coming home in the evening poking that needle into it. You hand sew the quilts. don't use the... Well, I use the machine to sew the tops together but a quilt...

 

is a sandwich. It's the piece top, the batting, and the backing. So to put those three layers together, they're basted and then I quilt them together by hand. Today a lot of women will use their home sewing machines to quilt or there are, can send them out that people will quilt for you. There's also a machine called a long arm quilting machine. They can put a whole large quilt on it.

 

Program it with a computer the design But the best part for me is the hand quilting because it's relaxing I can pick it up put it down Go back to it. Where where do you what do you do with all of your quilts when they're finished? Well in the past I have shared some with a gallery 50 and Christian for their Christmas fun when they have Christmas shop to sell things but then a few years ago I decided I really

 

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didn't want to sell it. It's such a part of you spend so much time with it. And so my family has more than they'll ever use. I've only made nine double bed quilts, but I made well over 200 wall hangings. So what do I do with them? I usually maybe have one or two hanging in my house because I just don't get around to doing it. But

 

Also at the senior center our group will line the walls of the the large room with quilts We change every month. I'm going to try to get some footage of that. Yeah, because yeah and So what do I do with them? I have a spare room at home has twin beds in it and each bed is Probably two feet higher than the other bed and these are not folded quilts

 

They are spread out and they're that much better. So I said to my donor, I said, I need to probably give you some sort of a value for the quilts. And then you can take them to the gallery. They can take their percentage, them, know, after. And she said, I'm not going to do that. And I said, what are you going to do? She says, I'm going to keep them. She has no idea how many.

 

Maybe she will after watching this. I don't know. You had mentioned that the quilting group that you are a teacher for, that you're part of, also donates items to area organizations. Is that right? And do you have a name for that? Yes, our name is the Downing Street Quilters. Downing? Downing. Like W-N-I-N-G? Yes, and the reason for the name is that when the

 

When center first opened, the name was Downing Street. And then they changed the name to honor a local person. And I said to the mayor, I said, how could you do that? We named our quilt group and you said you'll have to change your quilt group's name. No, we didn't change the quilt group's name. So we are the Downing Street quilters. Can anyone come to this? Yes, yes, it is open to anyone who wants to come. And several people have come in and out for...

 

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through the years, some have stayed with quilting, some have decided it just wasn't for them or family obligations, whatever, couldn't continue or moved away. When do you meet? We meet the first and third Wednesday of every month except July and August. So the first and third Wednesday of every month except July and August. And that's the same location that the Seven Oaks Club meets? That is correct. Behind the farmers market of 49.

 

And we meet from 9.30 till noon. And at this point in time, in the very beginning, yes, I did come and teach. But the ladies have been there so long that people bring in their own patterns. We see a pattern that somebody else has that we'd like to do that. We'll join in. Now, when I think of quilts, I think of the squares put together. Is that a type of quilt or is that something completely That's a patchwork quilt.

 

But they're also applique quilts where you're going to have just a large background and then just applique flowers or figures or whatever on. In fact, past summer I finished one. I had the book for a long time, didn't do anything with it. And it had a birdhouse and a 3D bird and it looks like a goldfinch. So I call it Yellowbird. But it's got all kinds of applique leaves with buttons on like a vine growing around the birdhouse. It's truly a work of art.

 

Yeah, I think it is. You have an eye for color, an eye for material. And from time to time, we actually get donations of material, which is great if we want to experiment with something. Because material, when I first started sewing, making quilts, $3 a yard. And now we're up $13, $14, $18 a yard for 100 % cotton, which is all I use. How much of your material?

 

Well, that's a bit of a problem today because so many quilt shops have gone out of business, but there's still a quilt shop or a fabric store in Vineland, the pincushion, sells a lot of other materials besides quilting materials, but they still give some lessons there. So that's the only real local one. And so I bought a lot when I've been out in Pennsylvania in Lancaster area because they're heavily into quilting there.

 

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Was there in your house that you like to do your work or wherever you go? Well, actually, when I put the top together, if it's not replicated by hand, it is a machine put together. So I have a sewing room upstairs that my husband tore out the attic stairs that were very steep and we had pulled downstairs. So in that alcove is my sewing machine.

 

shelves for fabric. And so I do my sewing machine work there. But then throughout the house, it's very portable when you're quilting. You can take it anywhere. You can take it on a trip. even given lessons on a plane to airline hostesses in the past. I'm working on, how do you do that? And these eat, they sit down. So. that's such a wonderful skill that.

 

you know, unless it's passed along, it's gonna be a dying art. Right, but there's, in the 1976s, you know, the bicentennial, it was kind of a resurgence that people got back into quilting, it was just before that that I started. Was there a group of women that quilted downtown? I feel, I interviewed Sharon Kiefer of Gallery 50, and when we were...

 

Walking through Gallery 50, she mentioned that there was some, I think she mentioned that there was some quilting that had been completed by a group of women at the Seven Sisters store. I think years ago at the hospital in Bridgerton in the lobby, there was a quilt made by a lot of local women. They each made a block of some place in Bridgerton.

 

And I don't know where that shilled is, quilt is today. And I don't know that they were a group that did that. I know there were individuals that would apply a building or whatever, and then the whole thing was put together and it was like a, at least a double bedside, full-size quilt. It would be neat to, track that down. Right. I'm not sure. I don't know where that is today. You mentioned that this gave you like a,

 

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almost like a stress relief from when you came home from your job. Tell me about your career as a nurse. I started at Bridgerton as a young nurse. was 20 years old. And fortunately, the law had been changed, I think, just the year before that to become a registered nurse, you used to have to be 21. And was only 20. And but it was changed. So you take the state boards and was all day up there and all these different

 

disciplines that you learn through. Where did you get a nursing school? I went to school with the Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Wilmington, Delaware, which is no longer. I watched it being imploded on the TV one day. I have a brick from there. And as of last year, we no longer have alumni meetings because there are so few of us left after all those years. So I

 

I lived on the borderline between Salem County and Cumberland County, but the only doctor I knew was our family physician, Dr. Carl Ware, who was Carol Gould's father. So I decided to go to Bridgerton Hospital to work. And there I worked for 38 years, but most of those years were part-time while I was raising two boys. So.

 

If we can just shift gears for a minute, you and your husband owned the infamous Weber's Candy Store in downtown Bridgerton, which was in operation, I think, in total of 123 years. That is correct. It was started by my husband's grandfather, the original William Frederick Weber, and then his father, and my husband's William Frederick Weber III.

 

and our oldest son, William Frederick Webber IV, was the last owner and it was in operation from 1888 to 2011, I believe. My husband became ill at that time and he and my son made all the chocolates from scratch. Candy canes, clear toys at Christmas, Easter eggs with your name on.

 

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And to this day, people will come up to me. I just became the add-on after I stopped working at the hospital. And I would go down and help do what little I could do. One of the things that we did do was pull together a book, a nice story about the candy store. And it'd be there. I would love to check that out because you, anyone that you speak to about or speak with about growing up in Bridgeton and

 

going downtown. of the first thing everybody talks about is Weber's candy and of course the only candy store that I know of that you could get your tennis racket strung in. that came about because my husband's father was a pretty good tennis player in the state of New Jersey and my husband played tennis in school and after and then I learned to play.

 

And I loved it. And we played until my husband had a second knee replacement and then we stopped playing. But it's a wonderful sport and one that's very popular in Bridgerton. Sure is. Where would you go to play when you played? Georgetown Swim Club. I played in that court. Yeah. When it first was formed, we joined as a young family so the boys could learn to swim, which they did.

 

And yes, I used to get up early in the morning and meet three friends. We would play doubles and then I'd go on to the hospital, change my clothes and work the rest of the day. That's great. When you were, you know, it seems to me that you had a very busy, like many people, but had a very busy family life between working as a nurse and

 

the candy store, and yet you still found time for civic involvement with clubs like Seven Oaks, with quilting. Why was all of that important to you? I guess I've always had a lot of energy. It's kind of fading a little bit now, but I'm still doing quite a bit for my age, I think. But so I was never one to just sit still. I think growing up being the oldest of five.

 

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You have a responsibility for the younger ones as they come along. We had a business. I learned to work in the business when I can make change for a dime. Somebody, so does where a nickel, they gave me a dime, you give them back a nickel. So I always say from about 10 or 11, it seems like I had my hand in retail or working or doing something. It's just what I do. I just need to have something.

 

at the end of the day, well, what did I do today? You know, besides get up and eat and cleaning, not so important, creating, more important. True words of wisdom right there. You have lived in your home out in Shiloh for how many years? 65. We moved there when my son, oldest son, was two months old.

 

So we've been part of the Shiloh community for a long time. It's a great place for children to grow up. They went to school in Shiloh and we developed lifelong friendships with people that are still there and still our friends. Very close-knit community for sure. It is. Yeah. And there's something special about Ahun, right? And I'm glad to hear you say though that cleaning is not so important. No.

 

You have to keep doing it. Well, right. Well, it just never goes away. Well, I'll never be known for being a good housekeeper, but I people will remember my quilts. I think they will. I think they will for sure. I would love to have some photographs of some of your quilts to share with our listeners and our viewers. OK, that can be done. What do you think in terms of, you know, just returning for a few minutes to the Seven Oaks Club of all of the

 

presenters. Are there any that stand out to you that as some important ones that you want to share with us? Yeah, you know in the beginning we often look for speakers that could tell us a story that were free programs, know, community things about P &T, Electric Company or whatever, always had speakers come in. But one of the most valuable speakers to me

 

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We had a lawyer once that said, spoke to this group of women and said how important it was for a woman to really have some resources of her own, know, after you're married, not taking anything away from the husband or anything like that. But I still find today sometimes when people lose their mate, they're kind of at a loss. So,

 

I got a lot out of his talk that day and I was a very new member at the time and a very young bride. And I gained a lot from his talk that day. stayed with you? Yes, it did. Well, that idea of being able to have an independence and an independent persona is important. Right. Yeah. And it was to me, it always was.

 

I had a husband that understood that and supported it in every single way he could. And it was not a problem. One of the interesting things in reading through that same history of the book was the names of the women. At first they started sort of with their own name and then they're Mrs. Somebody. You know, you're losing your personal identity. You become part of him, but which Mrs.

 

so-and-so are you. He could have had a second wife or whatever. I noticed that as well. And I thought that really strange that they started off with their own names and then went under the name of the husband, which kind of made me feel that maybe they felt less important than their husband. And that's why they, I don't know. I never, that was not my perspective. Well, and I would imagine that

 

Having a family business that is so long standing and so busy, such as Weber's Candy, could be all consuming, right? You really truly live the business. And that's, you you grew up with a family business, right? But you were still able to not let that necessarily define you, although I'm sure everybody wants to talk to you about Weber's Candy, but...

 

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You were able to have more. was able to have a career as a nurse and I loved being a nurse. I really did. In fact, I was never going to get married. I just wanted a career as a nurse. I met my husband on a blind date. Really? Who set you up? Do you remember? Frank Mastorocchi. Superintendent. He was a patient of mine. His wife invited me for dinner. What happened?

 

I was lamenting, I was a young nurse a couple of years in and it was back in the time where nurses got patients ready for bed at night. He was a patient, you'd rub their back. They don't do that anymore. And he said, and I was lamenting.

 

Everybody wants me to meet their son, their nephew, their brother, their cousin. I'm not interested. So one night he says, I know you don't want to hear this, Ms. Parkel, but there's this show. I think you should. And how old were you then? 22. no, I was 20. Yeah, that's right. 22. Brown that. So that was fine. He was discharged. And then a couple of weeks later, I got a call from his wife.

 

when I come to dinner. And I thought, that's nice. Nobody ever asked me that. I didn't realize it was a dinner party. And I found out ahead of time and I thought, I can't do this. I don't know these people. I don't even know them as rockin'. And I thought, but I've accepted. How can I say no? So I went and sitting across from me was Fred Weber. I looked in his blue eyes and I knew.

 

I absolutely knew. And the rest, as they say, is history. Nine months later, we were married. Wow. In about four months, we were engaged. He was seven years older than me, but he was ready. He waited for me. That's wonderful. That is wonderful. anyway, that's my story. And you ended up having, tell me about your children, grandchildren. I two boys, Will. It goes by Will.

 

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because my husband said when he was born, being the fourth William Frederick Weber, he said, he's not gonna be Fred. I never knew if my mother was calling me or dad. So Will was his great grandfather's nickname. He was called Will. And I thought, Will sounds so old for that little tiny, but we had Will and he was in the candy business and I had a son, Weber.

 

And he became executive vice president at large bank. He's retired and he had no interest in the candy business and he did very well in his business. And one great, one granddaughter and she lives in Connecticut and works in Connecticut. Wonderful. So anyway.

 

I would love to speak with you and maybe I could get my hands on a copy of the Weber's candy history that you referred to a couple minutes ago because I would love to talk about that. Okay. Maybe even more detail at some point. Okay, that would be great. And you're down here in the Ocean City area. You've spent a lot of time at the beach. Right, I do. You like the beach like I do, which is nice to hear. And it's nice to hear that you

 

are able to maintain all those connections in the Salem County, Cumberland County area, which is, you know, obviously so important to you. Well, my husband is the one that brought me to Ocean City. I'd never been here before. once you get your feet in the sand, it's hard to go back. It is. It's a it's a great family resort area. Yeah, there's a lot of folks from Bridgestone who vacation in the city.

 

You don't have the bars, there's a boulevard bar outside, but you don't have the problems that a lot of drinking on islands can lead to. One other thing I wanted to talk to you about just for a few minutes if we could is you have been a member of First Presbyterian Church for many, years. Is that correct? Yes, my husband took me there. We were married there.

 

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in 1957. And then it's got such a rich history in us. And are you still a member of? I am. I am. In fact, my minister was just visiting me over the weekend down here. Our current minister. Yes. And I'm involved there not as much as they would like me to be, I think. But I just have a certain balance in my life. And I am a member of the Presby Perennials.

 

garden club and we put on a tee. We did every year until COVID. And then after COVID this year was our 10th tee that we put on. It's sort of a fundraiser and then we donate all that money out. Is that an organization through the church? Okay. What's the name of that again? Presby Perennials. We were looking for name for a garden club. Plant the flowers outside, keep them watered. Flowers in the church were responsible for that.

 

And then someone came up the idea to have a formal tea, which is very well received. We fill all the tables. When is that tea? It's in the spring, usually after Easter, not always, but around end of March, beginning of April, somewhere in there. And it's a lot of good food. And we make everything. We donate everything.

 

We do sell tickets and as I say that money then is dispersed to within the area, British area. That's such a wonderful thing to do. It seems like that's a lot of what you do is giving back to the community. Yeah, I guess I never really thought of that, but the name came about because we're trying to come up with the name and somebody came up with the name Blooming Idiots. I won't say it was one bar.

 

Previous pastors be funny. His wife said that. That's funny. But then came down that perennial, you're always coming back. Presby were Presbyterians, between coming back to church. Well, that's such an active church. I grew up on Lake Street, as you know, which is right around the corner. And when I was younger, I was very good friends with the Holfelder children. yes. Great, great people.

 

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Wonderful. Yeah, we really, really enjoyed having them there. Sure. time marches on. That it does. That it does. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you today. And you've been friends with my parents for decades and today was the first day that we ever met. So I'm really honored to meet you and I really do appreciate you taking the time to let me hook you up to the mic here. Well, appreciate it. your words of wisdom.

 

I appreciate the opportunity, Megan. It's been great meeting you. It's been great meeting you as well. And maybe we can do this again. Perhaps. Don't be too long at my age. Well, we'll definitely have you back on. And at the rate you're going, you're pretty busy, which I think is just a wonderful thing to say. It is. I'm fortunate. Well, thank you again. All right. So we are back.

 

with Mrs. Harriet Weber and we are at the West Cumberland Senior Center. And Mrs. Weber is gonna introduce us to one of her friends. This is Holly Hunter. Now, I'm sorry. Honey the Hunter. Honey's my name and honey's my game. I love it whether I'm in my deer stand, my duck blind, or my boat fishing. It's all relaxing and rewarding to me.

 

However, when I have time off from my hunting adventures, I love coming to be with my friends at the West Cumberland Senior Center. I could be here daily and not get bored because there is so much to do. There is no excuse to be bored. Be sure to pick up a calendar each month so you know what's going on. You can even get the calendar on W-

 

or West Cumberland Senior Center Facebook page. This is Honey, the hunter. And I see her boots. Yes, she's all ready for the hunting season. And you told us about how she changes her persona with the seasons. Yeah, she came to the senior center just a little over a year ago in September.

 

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And at that time, she presented herself as Sunflower Sadie. But she kind of suffers from Immobile Personality Disorder. And it seems as though at the beginning of every month, she becomes a different persona. But she needs help with that. So the kind people here at the Senior Center, the art group, the Bay Gals, the...

 

bingo groups, the mahjong group, the exercise group, different people have participated in dressing our friend here every month. So we never know who she's going to be. I don't know who she will be in November, but it's been kind of fun for all of us to come up with different ideas. So you take turns deciding what her person is today. there's a look out front, people sign up when they want to dress her.

 

and she has been an Olympian. She's been at St. Patty's with a frilly little skirt around for St. Patrick's Day. So you never know what she's going to be dressed as. So it's fun. This is a beautiful senior center and it is also the home of the Downing Street Quilting Club's quilts that you told me about the other day. So I was hoping you could give me a quick tour and show me some of those quilts.

 

that are hanging here on the wall. Okay, well this is because it's October. At the beginning of each month, we change the wall decor that's appropriate to the time or the season. So we have a nice fall looking quilt here and different members of the Downing Street Quilters, we were organized when the Senior Center opened in 2007. We organized in September and me.

 

twice a month, the first and third Wednesdays of the month. So in the beginning, we taught new quilters. At this point in time, people have been in the group, three of us from the very beginning. So we come up with our own patterns or our own designs and share with quilting. But we always try to decorate. While we're here,

 

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We could take a look because Halloween this month. We have witches. We have pumpkin sprite and a small wall quilt. Another pumpkin sprite. More witches. Now who made these decorations? Where did these decorations come from? The Downing Street Quilters. Made all of them. Yes. We dabble in little doll making.

 

Primarily we are quilters. And we're fortunate here at the Senior Center because we have all these wonderful bookcases and the books are all donated. In fact, we've overflown the bookcase. I had too many books so they added another bookcase recently. And people just come in, take a book, bring it back, bring in books. And it's great. like library. It is. There's no signing in and signing out for books.

 

the honor system. This one says in what? In the pumpkin patch on Halloween night, dances the silly pumpkin sprite. Beautiful thing. Go stay up there. We have a wall hanging up there on the wall. I miss that one.

 

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How long does it take to make one of these quilts? That's the popular question that every quilter has been asked at some point in time. It's hard to tell because we don't sit down and work from morning to night. We'll cut out a few pieces in our sewing rooms and then we may not get back to it for a couple of days. So it's really hard to predict. The very first quilt I ever made, from the time I thought about what I wanted, got the material.

 

completed the quilt was nine months. But other than that, you pick it up, you put it down. So it's hard to tell. I personally make about four to five pieces a year, but they're wall hangings today. I no longer make the full-size bed quilts, which I have made nine of, think. Now these are seasonal quilts. How often each year

 

Do you change the quilts that are hanging on the wall? At our first meeting of every month, we meet the first and third Wednesdays of the month. We do not meet in July and August. So every month at the beginning of the month, we will change the quilt. You change these quilts every month? Right. Wow. Right. So I could come back every month and I will see new quilts. Wednesday of the month, there will be a new exhibit.

 

Sounds like a very strict rule. You're right in back of the turd. Now the only thing is with fall, we'll take down the witches, but a lot of these same pieces will stay hanging. Sure. Because our group now is down to only seven people, and that's six people. So that's not too many of us to be making quilts. So probably these will stay up.

 

And then December we will have Christmas quilts and in January is our snow month. And February of course, hearts and valentines. I bet it's very festive at Christmas time. Yes, it is. And the detail on these quilts is really amazing. Almost all of them are hand quilted, which it sort of adds a lot of interest. And are these quilts based off of patterns? Yes.

 

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We get patterns from books or magazines or online, quilt shops, you can buy patterns. Occasionally, one of us might design our own quilts, but all the ones here today are from patterns. It really gets you in the spirit of the season, being in here. This is just wonderful. I'm going to have to come back. Good. And see what it looks like in November and December and January and February and all through the season.

 

It's been a real pleasure to be able to see these in person since we got to speak about them just a few days ago. It always is nice to come. So I really do appreciate you giving us a tour of this beautiful facility, which has been here since 2007, right behind the Amish Market, the West Cumberland Senior Center hosts the Downing Street Quilters, as well as the Seven Oaks Club, which we discussed the other day. Right.

 

Well, thank you again. Thank you for having us. Always.