By Karen Hendrix | For The Tribune
The Kum Join Us Homemakers met Feb. 7 at St. Paul Lutheran Church Borchers with nine members in attendance. Mandy Otte hosted the meeting.
The meeting opened with members reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the club creed. Olga Otte’s roll call question this month was “What is your favorite comfort food?” Responses included such foods as coconut cream pie, mac and cheese, chicken and noodles and freshly baked breads. Almost everyone answered with some form of chocolate, but others liked Spamusubi and Hurricane popcorn.
Karen Hendrix read the minutes from the January meeting, and Michelle Wood gave the treasurer’s report. Club dues also were collected for the next year.
Hours were tallied for state projects. It was determined there was $520 donated to Riley Hospital for Children and Riley Cheer Guild with four service hours.
The Scatter Hearts campaign donations were $200 and 433 service hours. Most members used fabric left over from other projects, which kept their cost down.
The club has made and given out more than 600 of the county’s projected total of 1,000 hearts. The hearts have been distributed at the club’s annual bake sale and to some of the local nursing homes, such as Seymour Place, Covered Bridge Health Campus and Lutheran Community Home. Ruth Ann Hendrix has left them on restaurant tables and bathroom sinks while traveling. Plans also were discussed about including them in the college care boxes for Borchers college students.
Anyone receiving a heart is encouraged to take a picture and post it on any social media site with #IEHA. Members browsed interesting posts on Facebook from other counties showing what they had done to promote their heart campaign. Some had used store windows in their downtown areas and placed them for church members to take.
County project donations included the yearly bake sale, in which $269 was donated to make the scrumptious goodies sold and 52 service hours from our volunteers.
Local club projects to Lutheran World Relief included $760 and 667 hours donated. Donations to food pantries were $2,280 with 45 hours and shoebox ministries $980 and 210 hours.
Members voted to use the same three county projects next year. The Jackson County Clothing Center and Compassion Kits will be added. The Compassion Kits project takes donations for all ages of schoolchildren and works in conjunction with school counselors helping needy children within their schools. Items given are specific to each child’s needs.
Anyone wanting to make a donation of new items, such as toiletries, brushes, combs, clothing, etc., or wanting info on what is needed can contact the church office at 812-522-7364 or the local Indiana Extension Homemakers Association office at 812-358-6101. That office can put you in touch with a club member for details.
Sweet Cheeks Diaper Pantry located at First Presbyterian Church, 301 N. Walnut St., Seymour, also was added to the project volunteer list.
There’s quite a variety of volunteer options for our club members. We’re hoping this adds to our hours and donations for next year.
Olga read the monthly joke from our club booklet. What flower gives you the most kisses on Valentine’s Day? Tu-lips. The quote of the month was from GodFruits.com: “Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets the bad and a soul that never loses faith in God.”
The IEHA district meeting will be held March 21 at Cornerstone Community Church, 1088 Sarasota Drive, Seymour. The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will end at 2:30 p.m. Donna Cronk will be the guest speaker. Lunch will be catered and will cost $11.50 for anyone attending. The IEHA office has details of where to reserve your space for the event.
Mandy Otte gave our lesson on vinegar valentines. These valentines became well known during the Victorian era. Instead of sending lace-trimmed cards expressing undying love to their loved ones, vinegar valentines were sent instead to those not on good terms or those wanting to fend off an unwanted suitor. Vinegar valentines offered a stinging alternative.
Some were quite thought out, for instance, “To my valentine, ‘Tis a lemon that I hand you and bid you now skidoo.’ Because I love another, there is no chance for you.” Another depicts a woman dousing an unsuspecting man with a bucket of water. “Here’s a cool reception,” it warns, telling the “Old fellow” that he best step away.
Before they were dubbed vinegar valentines, these sassy cards were known as mocking or comic valentines. At one time, there was a card insulting anyone from landlords to salespeople or overbearing employees or liars, cheats and flirts. Very few of these valentines survived due to being burned by recipients because of embarrassment. Adding to the insult, most cards were delivered C.O.D.
Olga Otte read from Reader’s Digest about Indiana’s best sandwich, the tenderloin. We see them on so many menus around Jackson County, but did you know there’s a Tenderloin Trail? It begins in Huntington and traverses the central areas of the state and ends in Evansville. The closest trail restaurant to Jackson County is Holt’s Cafe in Bedford.
Mandy Otte read our devotions from “The Illustrated Words of Jesus for Women.”
The story was from Luke 15:4: “God loves you so very much. You, not just the world.” You may feel as though you’re lost in the crowd sometimes, but every person is important to God, and he will search high and low to make sure everyone has a chance to know him. As Jesus said, God would leave the crowd to go look for one follower who has wandered away.
Anyone interested in joining the club is invited to call the local IEHA office in Brownstown at 812-358-6101. We’re always looking for new faces to share our kindness.