The Memphis Mid-Day Study Club
At age 73 I’ve joined my first ever women’s club. The Memphis Mid-Day Study Club has been meeting since the 1930s. I was invited as a visitor by my friend Debbie Monroe, whom I hadn’t seen in decades! Our children went to Snowden School in midtown back in the 1980s, but we haven’t been in touch since. After one visit, Debbie asked if I would be interested in joining, and I said yes. The club meets once a month, on a Friday, for lunch and a presentation, given by one of the members. We meet at the Church of the Holy Communion on Walnut Grove. Each month there’s a committee of three women who bring lunch. It’s simple, unpretentious, and, well, educational. They only allow 25 members, so I felt honored to be invited. (I didn’t ask if someone died or moved away or what . . . .)
Education and Friendships
The presentations are interesting and varied . . . everything from renovation and repurposing of old buildings in Memphis to end-of-life and dying issues to labyrinths to artwork on the walls and windows of local churches, including an in-person tour following our meeting a few months ago. The entire meeting including lunch only lasts a little over an hour, and it’s a great way to spend a little time getting to know new friends and learning about interesting subjects. I was happy to see two more “old friends” from back in the 1980s and 90s—Stephanie Rodda and Nancy Thompson. Stephanie’s son Duke and our son Jason were good friends at Snowden and at Central High School. Jason did gymnastics with Nancy’s son, Reed, so there was another fun connection from “back in the day.”
Recent Visits to Other Clubs
A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at two other Memphis women’s clubs—The Duration Fine Arts Club (where I was asked to speak about iconography) and the DAR Hermitage Club (my friend Sandy Walsh invited me to speak about my writing journey.) Oh, and the Brooks Museum League, which isn’t really so much a club as a supportive wing of the Memphis Brooks Art Museum. It was fun sharing a Power Point presentation about iconography with them.
Jackson, Mississippi—Hometown Clubs
I was also invited to speak at two women’s clubs in my home town, Jackson, Mississippi, a few years ago by my friend Regina Boyles—The Talisman Club and the Pleiades Club, about a couple of my books. Growing up in Jackson, I watched my mother participate in a luncheon club and a garden club, and it seemed that many of my friends’ mothers also participated in those kinds of groups. Books Clubs weren’t so popular yet, but of course they are today, and I’ve enjoyed speaking at a number of those since my first book came out in 2017. This is a picture of one of two times I was invited to speak at the Memphis Tri Delt Book Club, this time at Owen Brennan’s Restaurant.
Why Join?
If you’ve read this far, you might be asking, “Why join a women’s club?” You might be thinking you’re too busy or you have plenty of friends and activities going on, or you might be thinking you’re just too old or too tired to try something new. You might be wrong. It doesn’t take much energy to show up once a month for an hour and a half and visit with an interesting group of women and possibly learn something new from the presentation. And age? My guess is these women are mostly in their 70s and 80s. But the chatter during lunch doesn’t generally lean towards news about everyone’s grandchildren (or great-grandchildren) . . . it’s pretty varied and interesting. Not that grandchildren aren’t interesting. . . . but this is, after all, a women’s club!
I would love to hear from you about your experiences if you are in a women’s club!!!