Golden Sunset club keeps friendships strong

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

They were young. They were ambitious--and they loved home extension programs.

Homemakers in Larimer County once had more than 30 clubs and a thousand members. Today, there are three clubs with 24 members.

"You can get a video to show you how to do anything," observed Hazel Leininger about the decreasing need for clubs.

"Mothers went to work, and there's information on the television and Internet," added Lolly Martin.

Both are members of the Golden Sunset Homemakers Club. With the Afternoon Suzys and Achievmor, the three clubs make up what's left of the Homemakers of Larimer County.

"Change has changed this organization," noted Marlene Gerlach.

The concept of home extension programs dates back to 1916, just two years after the U.S. Congress authorized the Extension Service as the third branch of the land grant institutions. Early programs centered on nutrition, home furnishings, clothing and home management and budgeting. Women delighted in learning new ideas and sharing them with other club members, and county leaders traveled to state and national conventions.

Though need and numbers have declined, the spirit remains strong, with the clubs continuing to support 4-H members' projects through the Carmen Johnson 4-H Award. Awards range from $25 to $300, and this year's applications are due May 1. Information is available by calling county extension at 498-6000.

The Carmen Johnson award fund has its roots in one of the ambitious ideas undertaken by the club ladies in the 1950s. In 1952, the then-called home demonstration clubs started raising funds statewide for a cooperative house for 4-H girls on the Colorado A&M campus. Each member paid 10 cents or each club paid $1 toward the fund. By 1956, however, the project was abandoned and funds were returned to the counties. Larimer County homemakers decided to invest their share so that interest on that principal, additional donations and memorials could fund an annual award. They named the award for Johnson, who was the Larimer County home economics extension agent from 1934 to 1957.

In addition, the clubs support a variety of local charitable causes both financially and by recycling. The Golden Sunset club, for example, recently donated to the Food Bank. Members also come to meetings with cancelled postage stamps and soup labels collected for other organizations and with craft items for children at the Family Center. To open the new fairgrounds, the clubs donated $600 for display cabinets. Each member also drops a dollar bill in a bowl at the monthly meeting to support 4-H.

"We do things for others," Gerlach said.

The clubs have also refocused their meeting topics. "Most of us are single women now," Martin noted, so a club meeting might focus on cooking for one or another nutrition topic.

Laurel Kubin, director of Larimer County Extension, is often invited to discuss a timely issue. Leininger recalled Kubin's recent presentation on spending and said it changed her life.

Taking Kubin's advice, she started writing down everything she spends. After seeing how many unnecessary purchases she made, Leininger put a stop to it. "I said this has got to change, and it did," she confessed.

Friendship seems to be the driving force behind the clubs' continued presence. Many members have been friends for decades, but they welcome new faces. Anyone interested in joining a club may call Marlene Gerlach, president of Homemakers of Larimer County, at 482-0775.