Homemakers recognized

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

September 29, 2007 03:55 pm

— Those who are members of a Barren County Homemaker Club do a lot for their community.
“They are the first ones on the scene when anything is needed,” said Mindy McCulley, Barren County Extension agent for Family and Consumer Science.
They make turbans for chemotherapy patients, quilts for the Center for Courageous Kids and visit nursing homes in the area on a monthly basis and conduct special programs with the residents. They also go to area schools and read to students.
Homemakers also help with various fundraisers, such as the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Relay for Life and the American Heart Association.
“This year they’ve raised money for the Ralph Bunche Center, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Clubs. So, they are always doing something for somebody,” McCulley said.
On Thursday the homemakers were recognized for their accomplishments during the Barren County Extension Homemaker’s 69th Annual Day, which is the organization’s annual business meeting.
After the business portion of the meeting, members were treated to lunch and given the opportunity to attend three workshops. One was on flower gardens, another on fall preparations for the garden and a third was about drying and arranging flowers.
Betty Barrick was of the many homemaker club members who attended the event.
She has been a member of the Bristletown-Cedar Grove Home-maker Club for 37 years.
Barrick joined when a friend gave her a call one night back in 1970 and invited her to a club meeting. Barrick had such a good time at that first meeting that has she continued to participate.
“I enjoy it,” she said. “I guess as much as anything you learn so much.”
A lot of the things she has learned were taught to her by people who are no longer alive.
“Some are still here, but a lot of them aren’t anymore,” she said.
The most valuable thing she has learned being a member of a homemaker club, she said, is how to be a better leader.
“I had really not done a lot of stuff in leadership until I got into this and then it just seemed like it exploded,” Barrick said.
Barrick’s reason for joining a homemaker club is different from Sallie Brownfield’s.
Brownfield, with the Lucas Home-maker Club, joined the club so she could help others in need.
“I just thought it would be good thing to do to serve my community and help people in need and to do the thing we know we should do for people,” she said.
Tabitha Elmore, a member of the Austin Homemaker Club, has a family tradition of being a member of a homemaker club.
“My mother-in-law is a homemaker and I think it instills good qualities in you,” she said. “My daughter is also in homemakers, but she’s in school right now.”
There are 12 homemaker clubs in Barren County, which consist of 191 members.
For more information about the organization, or about becoming a member, call McCulley at 651-3818.