By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - A trio of remarkable milestones was recognized Monday afternoon by the Seepewa Reading Club at the group's annual Founder's Day lunch at Millennium Steakhouse. The women were celebrating the club's 125th anniversary and also honored a family that has been a part of Seepewa since the early 1900s, as well as the club's senior member.
Seepewa, which means running water, began meeting in 1881. Soon after, the first of three generations from the same family joined the club. Records do not tell the exact year Katherine Eaglesfield's membership began but the club's historian, Cathy Villeneuve, has traced the date to somewhere between 1915 and 1920.
Eaglesfield's daughter, Virginia Strayer, joined her mother in attending the monthly meetings nearly 30 years later upon her return to Niles from Ann Arbor in 1949, and today said she still enjoys the companionship of the club's 18 members.
Being able to trace the history of the club through the membership of one family is a unique experience, member Linda Koontz said.
The attraction to the club did not end with Strayer, though. Nearly three more decades passed before the third generation, Kathy Rossow, began attending Seepewa readings. At the time Rossow joined in 1978, she did not attend too many meetings with her grandmother. At 95 years old, Eaglesfield was unable to make the events but was still considered an honorary member of Seepewa. Being part of a family tradition of over 80 years and staying connected to the relationships born out of that stretch of time are easily the most valuable benefits of the Seepewa club for Rossow and her mother.
Some of the stories passed along the three generations that help trace the steps of the group and some of its traditions were retold Monday by member Sharon Peeters.
The brief history arranged by Strayer explained how the Seepewa Reading Club used to be limited to 30 elected members and all the women were required to attend meetings dressed in their nicest hats and gloves. One member hosted each gathering and it was often the case that painting or some form of remodeling would be required prior to the event. Children were rarely allowed in the front room with the women upon returning home from school, except to wave goodbye at the end of the meeting.
Most of the stricter Seepewa traditions have expired, President Kathleen McCormick admitted.
Shortly after the dress codes disappeared in the 1940s and '50s is when the club's current senior member joined the group. Mary Wigent is 98 years old and has been attending Seepewa meetings for around 40 years. She too was honored on Monday and was presented with a bouquet of flowers in recognition of her commitment to the club.
Unlike some groups, Seepewa is not a reading club in a sense they are all assigned a book to read to discuss. Rather, the women say the monthly program exists as a way to exchange the information each member is in charge of researching once a year.
For 2006, each host researches a historical event over the last 125 years, such as the famous flight of Charles Lindbergh, and then ties the moment to what the Seepewa club was like at the same time.
A more recent tradition of the group is the Founder's Day celebration. The event originated only about 10 years ago during a terrible winter storm. The weather forced many of the members to stay home instead of attending a scheduled monthly meeting. But, those that were able to make it out met up for a night of cards and coffee. Since then, the group has annually held a meeting to celebrate the history of the club and its many milestones.