 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
We don't sit in rockers, we gallivant,' says Carmen Wedlake of the Sunnyvale Grandmother's Club. The group raises money to help fund low-cost housing for elderly women and their husbands.
Grandmas' group offers money, help
By Kelly Wilkinson
Last Wednesday at the dark-wooded Moose Lodge on Kifer Road, about three dozen grandmothers gathered to eat chocolate cake and cookies at the monthly social meeting of the Sunnyvale Grandmother's Club.
"We don't sit in rockers, we gallivant," said Carmen Wedlake, a past president of the club who has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
The Centennial Belles, as the group is known, is the 100th chapter of California's Grandmother's Club. According to their page of regulations, any legal grandmother in good standing with her community is eligible for membership. The group meets twice a month, once for business and once for socializing.
Local dues are $10 a year, and throughout the year there are various fundraisers such as bake sales and "white elephant tables," where members bring in anything to sell. The group also hosts a fashion show where several of the members promenade in glamorous dresses and outfits supplied by a Sunnyvale boutique.
And upon the birth of a new grandchild, the proud grandmother contributes $1 to the group. All the money raised goes to the "Grandmother's Colony Fund" which has bought and maintained a 64-space mobile home complex in Arroyo Grande and a 20-unit apartment complex at Coarsegold.
The colony's purpose is to maintain properties with lower rent in an established community for eligible grandmothers and their husbands, said Cleo Blanco.
"We really believe in our colony fund," Wedlake said. Last year, the group contributed over $1,000 to the fund and hopes to send more this year.
Wedlake credits her mother for forming the Sunnyvale chapter in 1979.
"She was the one who got us all going on this," she said. "She was very active and lived to be 100 years old. She worked up to the very last moment."
Wedlake's sister then joined when she became a grandmother, and Wedlake joined with the birth of her first grandchild 27 years ago.
"It's strictly grandmothers who do everything throughout the year," she said. "The friendship is wonderful, and all the gals are very warm and really help each other out if anyone is in need."
One grandmother, Rosaline Quintal, who other grannies said makes a great taco salad, attests to the strength the group can provide.
"I joined 15 years ago, two years after my husband died, and [the members] have given me a lot of support," she said. "I used to be very timid, and this had given me a lot of confidence. I really enjoy the company of all the ladies."
In addition to their local events, all of the chapters throughout the state are eligible to attend a four-day convention each year, and a portion of the chapter's money goes toward sending delegates.
"We can get a little wild," said Blanco, who has three grandchildren. At the convention there is a memorial service for members who have passed away, evening socials, and skits. Blanco described "one little granny who showed up wearing a tutu. And she was pretty plump, too."
"Us grannies, when they get us all together, they can't control us."
|
|
|
|
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
