Woman's Club Campaign

Woman's Club to establish 'Hall of Fame'

Tuesday, April 07, 2009
By Susan Harrison Wolffis
Chronicle correspondent
 
MUSKEGON -- The Greater Muskegon Woman's Club will open its doors to history later this year.

The clubhouse will be home to the newly formed Muskegon County Women of Achievement Hall of Fame, which will honor the recipients of the Women of Accomplishment award given annually by Muskegon Community College during Women's History Month in March.

The Hall of Fame, which will be housed in the Woman's Club's second-floor tea room, should be open by September, said organizer Florence Bright. Space will also be dedicated to the club's history, which dates back to 1890.

The establishment of the Hall of Fame is part of the Woman's Club's ambitious $750,000 fundraising campaign to refurbish the historic clubhouse, which was built at 280 W. Webster and dedicated in 1903.

"Normally, Hall of Fame names are just hung on a wall, but the Woman's Club can do better than that," said Bright when she unveiled the plans Wednesday.

This summer, club members will provide a "quick fix," painting and sprucing up the tea room, until the capital campaign is complete, she said. The work will be funded by an initial $2,000 gift from the local Zonta Club.

Bright hopes that the work, which she calls a "bridge to where we want to go," can all be funded in-house. Members are being asked to "adopt" a piece of furniture in the tearoom to be reupholstered, Bright said. Plans for the tea room's redesign were done by artist Colette Klukos of Muskegon.

The Greater Muskegon Woman's Club is on the list of Michigan and National Historic Sites for its colonial revival-style architecture -- but it is showing its age.

"Hopefully, by sprucing the tea room up a little, people will want to rent it and use it, and that will help raise money for our capital campaign," Bright said.

In November 2008, club members announced the campaign they're calling "Act II, Our Second Century."

Plans include not only a decorating job of massive proportions but also installing air conditioning, an elevator and making the century-old building barrier-free.

The Women of Accomplishment awards will become a joint partnership of MCC and the Women's Division Chamber of Commerce in 2010.

HOW TO HELP:
To donate to the capital fundraising campaign: send donations to the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, 425 W. Western, Suite 200, Muskegon, MI, 49440. Note that the donation is for the GMWC Fund Campaign.