MCFRW

Rural Women’s Republican Club

(Founded 1962)

Rural February Meeting

Our Mission

We are Republican women working to shape and mobilize grassroots efforts in Northwestern Montgomery County. These initiatives are essential to influence and maintain the political landscape in our communities.

Our Club

If you are looking for a small, friendly active group of women with whom you share similar interests and beliefs, we invite you to join the Rural Women’s Republican Club. By joining together we have a greater influence on issues affecting our community, our state, and our nation. The contact person for The Rural Women’s Republican Club is Sarah Nichols, President Her mail address is Nichols_5@verizon.net

Meetings

To accommodate a diverse membership, meetings are held on the third Monday of every month (except July and August) either in the morning or evening. The club is made up of approximately 35 members and most of the members come from the northwestern part of Montgomery County.

---

Our Activities

Our club provides financial support to Republican candidates at a local, state, and national level. The majority of our contributions go to support candidates who represent Northwestern Montgomery County.

Our club volunteers for activities including: voter registration, phone banks, fairs, Poolesville Day, campaign mailings, and Election Day events.

Our Community Service

Financial support for WUMCO Help, Inc., Hands of Love Mission, Circle of Hope Riding Club for the disabled, donate to the Mary Davidson Scholarship Fund.

The History of The Rural Women’s Republican Club

The Rural Women’s Republican Club’s was founded on June 5, 1962. This small club is still appropriately named. The Upper Montgomery County area is still very much a rural area. We are surrounded by 95,000 acres of the Agricultural Preserve, with Sugarloaf Mountain towering over the rolling acres of beautiful farms.

Some trivia from that year:

• President John F. Kennedy demands removal of the Soviet missile bases in Cuba;
• Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. becomes first American to achieve earth orbit;
• U.S. establishes semi-permanent military presence in Vietnam
• Popular songs: Go Away Little Girl, The Loco-Motion, Sherry, Monster Mash, Big Girls Don't Cry;
• The Beverly Hillbillies and The Twilight Zone were the top TV shows;
• Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O’Toole, was voted top movie that year; Marilyn Monroe dies, apparently from an overdose of sleeping pills.

There was so much happening in that year, which prompted Elaine Mauser (chartered member) to get involved in Republican politics. She took the initiative to call the Montgomery County Federation to see if there was a Republican club in the upper part of the county. There was not. So—it all began. Elaine Mauser, Pat O’Hanlon, Jennie Fulton, Sylvia Herman and Mary Helburn from the Federation, got together for lunch at the Potomac Valley Country Club in upper Montgomery County to discuss plans for starting a new club. It’s part of the tradition—Rural does its best work over food! Together, they came up with a list of names and found enough Republican ladies to invite to an organizational coffee to be held at the home of General and Mrs. Wedemeyer in Boyds.

On June 5, 1962, twenty-eight (28) women came for coffee and about fourteen (14) signed up to become the first charter members of the newly formed club. One woman in attendance suggested that the club be called “The Rural Women’s Republican Club.” The record shows that she never attended another meeting, but the name still remains. It’s recorded for posterity that the first paid member was Bessie Reddick of Poolesville and Pat O’Hanlon was the first president of the club. Jill Chadwick and Elaine Mauser are charter members and are still in the club today. Because of health problems, Elaine cannot attend meetings, but Jill Chadwick is still an active member. Although she did not attend the first meeting, Dorinne Armstrong came to the second meeting and is still active today. Some of our past presidents who are still active today are: Shirley Weber 1968 – 1969; Audrey Prichard 1988 – 1989 (Audrey was also President of the Montgomery County Federation 1994 – 1995); and Bonnie Anthony 1992- 1993.

As with any start-up club, the most urgent need was money. The one attempt at fundraising was a bake sale at Selby’s Market, where the club netted $18.07. To earn more money, two members, Elaine Mauser and Dorinne Armstrong came up with the idea of having an old-fashioned box supper in the barn on the Wedemeyer farm, where the Armstrongs were renting at the time. The Wedemeyer’s were kind enough to give the club permission to use the old barn (probably thought it was a great way to get it cleaned out). The club went to work! Everyone pitched in by scraping the floor, ridding it of years of barn gunk, hung wire for Chinese lanterns, pushed hay around to provide appropriate seating, hired a Country Music group called “The Blue Grass Travelers,” and sent out invitations. A tradition was in the making. On June 7, 1963, the first “Saturday Night in the Country” was held. There were about 30 couples to attend the first one, each with a beautifully wrapped box supper to be auctioned off by a real live auctioneer. The first Saturday Night in the Country netted $558.35—not bad for a small club in its embryonic stages. That tradition is still very much alive today. (We just held the 43rd this year.) Though the format has changed some through the years, we still have an auction (silent), good food, entertainment and best of all we have a great time with each other and our guests.

After all these years, the Rural Women’s Republican Club remains small but mighty! We support our candidates very well, work hard for Republican causes and we always do very well in our volunteer hours. The friendships that have been established in this club have been long lasting and the family like atmosphere has been incentive for others to join this political but caring club.