Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

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TRUE OR FALSE QUIZ

About the SEW WHAT? Club

It’s a Sewing & Crafting Club for women.  FALSE

Its Fundraisers (Rummage Sales, Forums, & Octoberfest) provide Scholarships for local High School seniors, College students, Trade School students, and older individuals.  TRUE

It provides Welcome Wagon Packets to new residents, packed with helpful information.   TRUE

Community Outreach is provided for Elders, Shut-Ins, anyone Sick or Recovering.  Friendly visits, meals, rides, and yummy treats are offered.  TRUE

Programs & Forums provide Speakers on a variety of interesting topics, free for the community to attend.   TRUE

And “Science for Seniors” by Dr. Howard Topoff is sure to educate and entertain you!!  TRUE

TRUE – It’s a FUN way to get involved in our community!!

TRUE – Annual Dues are just $20.  Please join us!

Contact Donna Meenach (Treasurer), 520-557-1400  

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SEW WHAT? CLUB FORUMS & PROGRAMS

Forums feature speakers and free programs of interest to our community members, presented usually on Friday evenings September through May. They are held in the Portal Rescue classroom and are always open to the public.  Donations are accepted for the Sew What? Club Scholarship Fund.

Programs (daytime) are held at 11am (AZ), usually on the 3rd Wednesday of the month September through May, and are followed by a potluck luncheon and business meeting.  Most are held at the Portal Rescue classroom and open to members of our community. However, some Programs are also held in private residences and are for Sew What? Club members only. 

Check the portal-rodeo.com Community Calendar, which lists all the Forums and Programs and includes who is invited to attend.

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SEW WHAT? FORUMS (2024-2025)

Flashes of Brilliance: The Science and Wonder of Arizona Lightning 

Ron Holle, meteorologist                               rholle@earthlink.net

October 4, 2024                                            7:00 pm

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

                                                                      

Sonoran Desert: View from Aravaipa Canyon

Phil Hedrick                                                   philip.hedrick@asu.edu

October 18, 2024                                          7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                            

Social Ecology — Living Sustainably With the Earth 

Rod Rylander                                                rylander@yandex.com

November 15, 2024                                      7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

Beasts of the Border, Jaguars, Human Predators and the Wall

Scott Huber                                                   wmscotthuber@gmail.com

January 17, 2025                                          7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

Through Trilobite Eyes: A Natural History of the Paleozoic Era 

Dr. Chris Cunningham                                   arctinurus@icloud.com                            

February 7, 2025                                          7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

Thirty Years With the Ngogo Chimpanzees 

Dr. John Mitani                                              mitani@umich.edu

February 28, 2025                                        7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

Rock Art and Prehistoric Land Use on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon 

Connie Zweifel                                               conniezweifel@gmail.com

March 14, 2025                                             7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                            

A Camel Caravan in the Deep Sahara Desert from Taoudenni to Timbuktu: Geology, Archaeology and Natural History

Dr. John Barthelme                                       jbarthelme@stlawu.edu

April 4, 2025                                                 7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom                             

A Brief History of Haiku: Seasons of Beauty, Insight and Wit

Dr. Deborah Bowman                                   dbowmanphd@gmail.com

May 2, 2025                                                  7:00 p.m.

Portal Rescue Classroom  

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Sew What? Club Daytime Program Meetings  (2024-2025)

September 18, 2024   

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Paul Hirt

“The Transition to Electric Transportation: Advances, Obstacles,

Technologies, and Trends”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Southwest Research Station

October 16, 2024      

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Mike Anderson

“Women in Sports in Cochise and Hidalgo Counties”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Portal Rescue Classroom

November 18, 2024

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Sandy Amy

“Challenging brain boosting activities to help your brain minimize

cognitive decline.- an interactive session.”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Open To Sew What? Members

Portal Rescue Classroom

January 15, 2025

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Mary Jo Fleming

“Nature Journaling - Less about art and more about exploring the

relationships of critters to their environment.”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Portal Rescue Classroom

February 19, 2025

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Glenna Winnie

“Sleep: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Portal Rescue Classroom

March 19, 2025

Field Trip, Deming History Museum

Times and Carpooling details to come.

April 16, 2025

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Craig McEwan 

"The Strange Case of Effie and Mark Lamb - Bisbee and

Douglas residents, 1904”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Portal Rescue Classroom

May 21, 2025

11:00 am (AZ)

Speaker:  Renata Golden

“Mountain Time: A Field Guide to Astonishment”

Program followed by a potluck luncheon at noon.   

Community is welcome.

Portal Rescue Classroom

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Some Of Our Many Activities

Click On Any Image To See It In Its Original (Larger) Size

SEW WHAT? CLUB, THEN UNTIL NOW

By Delane Blondeau

Sew What? Club has pioneer roots reaching back into Arizona's territorial past. When wives of ranchers, and even some bold daring ladies who were homesteaders themselves , came to the frontier of the San Simon Valley, they did what wise women have always done organized.

19?? to 1920

To escape from cowboys, cows and the never-ending housework, they formed a sisterhood. Packing the babies and a dish to share into some mode of transportation, they gathered to refresh their minds with new ideas and "woman talk".

A charter to "Sew What Homemaker's Club" dated 1924 (but issued in the 1960 's) is in our archives. The group became part of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service network at that time . However, women in the Apache area had a more informal monthly potluck get-together long before that date. Note: Extension Homemakers Clubs began in Cochise County in 1914.

The first record we have of a club in Portal is a letter written by Laura Law Bailey to an Eleanor Radke in 1967 . Laura quotes from her journal written August 1919 when she and her husband, Gene, first visited Cave Creek Canyon as a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hands. An excerpt from that letter says:

J. H. Laura's shorthand for John Hands, brother of Frank Hands and the person for whom the John Hands Campground is named had promised to take Mrs. Houk (the woman who has charge of the cottages) down to Portal for a canning demonstration. He asked me if I didn't want to go, and I said if my trousers wouldn’t shock the community I 'd go. J. H. said they wouldn't, and at 1:30 we left the ranch in a spring wagon.

 

The canning demonstration was held at the schoolhouse [not the present adobe Myrtle Kraft Library built in 1929, but a small wooden building, now gone, built up on the bench in front of the present home of Yvette and Dan Rehurek] , and all the ladies from near and far were gathered, all togged out in their glad rags. But I had on a clean shirt and don't believe I looked any worse to them than some of them did to me.

First thing in the demonstration was that Mrs. Lockwood, the demonstrator must have her picture taken, and then she was sure she had moved so it must be taken again. This nearly finished it with me, but I couldn't go anywhere if I did go out, so I stayed put.

The canning was the cold pack method, and I took several notes on how it was done. One of the things that amused me was the stress she laid to scalding and blanching the peach so the skin could be easily removed without paring, and she showed how nicely this could be done. But after the canning there were some unused peaches left which they passed around and among the "congregation", and if all peaches were the same variety as mine, and I judge they were for I had a second one later, the skinning process was a cinch, as it was an Elberta peach and all you had to do with it practically was to pinch the skin in your fingers and it came off easy. 

Met most of the women, and J. H. had a long confab with a bunch of them before we got started home.

Sew What? , the name, has always been a curiosity. Sally Darnell Richards thinks her mother, Lillie Darnell, named it. A note from Cochise County Cooperative Extension Office says Sew What? was named by Lillie Darnell when the club was organized about 1945. That was actually a re-organization, when Lillie returned to the club from some years of inactivity. She had lived in Douglas while her children were going to high school there.

Sew What? was going strong and had that name when Gretchen Hayes and her mother, Jane Grenadier, were active in the group, about 1941, according to Alden Hayes of Portal .

Dorothy Bliss, a long time Sew What? member, said she recalled the name Sew What? happened like this : A group of women were organizing the club. They were discussing what kinds of activities they would have. The major organizer leaned toward something for the mind, perhaps book reviews or political events or talks . Someone who didn't quite have the vision said brightly, "We could sew". The more cerebral lady is reported to have said with a touch of irritation, "Sew What?" 

Animas had an Extension Club cal led the "Sew Club" mentioned in Sew What? minutes in 1967. Another play on the word "sew".

1920 to 1930

From the 1920s we have no stories of Sew What? Club. The ladies of that time have passed away and their daughters available for interview were not born, yet.

1930 to 1940

Sally Richards recalls that in 1930 when her mother, Lil lie Darnell , was going "to club" , Sally suddenly found herself quite sick so sick she could not go to school . So, she had to go with Mom to club. The meeting was at the home of Mrs. Jim Hunt, where the IV Bar Ranch is now. Mrs. Hunt's daughter had some wonderful toys Sally had always enjoyed, especially, she remembers with a twinkle in her eye, a little pair of high-heeled shoes. (Sally's mother was well-known for the red high-heels she liked to wear. ) Mamie Franklin remembers she had just married and moved to Paradise in 1936 when she went to her first club meeting there at the home of Irene Kennedy. Mamie understood the Paradise club had been organized the year before. This was probably a separate Extension Club. It appears that Apache, Rodeo, Portal, Animas each had their own separate group for a time. Now Rodeo, Portal, Paradise are formed into one club.

Audrey Morrow Miller says she helped ranch, she was not a club Iady. Her mother, Juanita Morrow, and Lillie Darnell were the  'organizing type". However, Audrey recalls Miss Bertha Vermont (the Cochise County Home Agent from 1929 to 1946) . "She taught me how to sew a housecoat. I never wore it, but I kept it in the closet for years, I guess just to show I did sew something once. Sewing is not my talent. " Miss Vermont also showed how to make a cereal from soybeans, Audrey remembers, "And it was really good. "

"Sew What? helped with 4-H in the early years, " Audrey thinks . She has a memory as a very young 4-H girl going to a 4-H Round-Up at the University of Arizona. "I met Mary Magoffin there and we have been friends ever since. "

Sally Richards also remembers Miss Vermont. She taught the ladies how to make bread. "And I still do it to this day, just as she showed us. "

 'Sew What? made mother so hapPY" Sharon Dayton smiles, thinking of the years from 1945 until 1957 when her mother, Maureen Dayton, and her four children lived in Rodeo. Maureen was the night telegraph operator at the Rodeo Railway Station in those years. Sharon explains, "Mother had been a school teacher, but she took the job as telegrapher because it paid more. Sew What? did crafts and my mother always liked those. My brother, Mike, still has some copper plaques she made."

In the late 40s, Sally and Fin Richards as newly-weds lived on State-line Road near Rodeo where Sharon Dayton now lives. Sally had just cleaned the house for a meeting of Sew What? when Fin spotted a skunk under the house. Perhaps forgetting the club was coming, he shot the skunk . The house was permeated with the unmistakable odor the ladies certainly recognized. "I was never so embarrassed, " Sally says, "But there was no time to do anything else except go on with the meeting."

1950 to 1960

Dorothy Bliss' five pocket-sized "Cochise County Homemaker ' s Yearbooks" with a few scant notes plus a half dozen black and white photos provide our only clues to Sew What Club activities in the 1950s.

They were learning to make hot rolls, design a sewing center, cook beef in new ways, use their home freezers, make valances and cornices and repair their plumbing.

But all was not work. The photos show "Night of the Gay Nineties" with a scene called "By the Sea" performed by beauties in old fashioned swim suits. There was a radio skit with actors in mop wigs, fake handle-bar mustaches and Ruth Newman as a buxom opera singer. A hobo party featured hotdogs, corn-on-the-cob, coffee served in tin mugs and Jane Grenadier as Grandma Yokum. Each June the club held a picnic at some scenic spot in the Chiricahua Mountains.

Eccentricities in members make good memories . It is recalled that "Mother" Martin, mother of Buford Martin of Rodeo, used to bring the same dish to each club meeting. It was a dessert cal led "Pineapple Delight . " Jean Gertsch in later years was known for her monthly "Rum Bundt Cake" . One early member always brought a can of peas and her pan and warmed them on the hostess' stove. This member also enameled her lavatory and bathtub each time Sew What? met at her house. Audrey Miller had this tub in her bathroom at Sulphur Draw and each family member had to scrape off a little paint each time he took a bath. Susan and Louis Pope now live in that house.

1960 to 1970

Blue paperback books labeled "Secretary's Book, Homemaker's Club" record a much clearer picture of Sew What? in the 60s.

The story of clubs is in the details of how they make money, what they do with it, their programs that reflect the interests of the times and which local events give them concern.

Sew What? decided to make money in 1960 by buying a cedar chest and stocking it with "decorated table linens, doilies, dresser scarves, bed linens, bath and kitchen towels, potholders, aprons and many other useful items the minutes note. Linen, embroidery, scallops, crocheting, needlepoint were the major enhancements of these items . Chances were sold for $1.00 each and the drawing was held at the Cochise County Fair.

The club made $1,093.00 from the raffle. The money was divided in thirds and given to three cemeteries . "Rodeo gave their part to Paradise Cemetery", the minutes read.

A compressor had been bought for the Paradise Cemetery. It cost $1030 .00 and Sew What? paid $685 of that. It was purchased to provide the power to drill holes in the rock beneath the cemetery so that Bill Sanders could use dynamite to blast out graves.

That compressor played a leit motif throughout the minutes of Sew What? for years to come. It seemed to always need repairs and Bill Sanders was listing the parts he needed to order. Sew What? always compl i ed and financed the bill . Finally, in the 80s when Bill Sanders was too old to blast anymore and he could no longer get dynamite, the compressor was finally sold. Surely the club drew a collective sigh of relief.

Major milestones of life were celebrated by the club. When Mr. and Mrs. Eplold-timersey, old-timers of Paradise, had their 60th wedding anniversary, Sew What? gave the party, even to a three-tiered wedding cake provided by a Mrs. Potter of Lordsburg.

And when Aunt Jen Wheeler had her 91st birthday, Sew What? honored her with a corsage, cake and a handkerchief shower. She was the widow of Joe Wheeler, the manager of the huge "H" ranch that had extended from the coinage at Granite Gap to Bernadino. The ranch built corrals at Rodeo and shipped their cattle on that railroad via El Paso to the Midwest. Cowboys from this ranch gave Rodeo its name when they had rodeos there after the round-ups were over. The present Apache School is located on Aunt Jen's homestead. Mamie Franklin is her niece.

Small projects kept money coming into the club: an auction, Bingo, a rummage sale. There was also a Penny Parade: a bowl was passed around at each meeting and members put in it whatever money they wished to cover club expenses. This tradition has lasted until the present, 1996. (No dues were paid to belong to Sew What?).

Juanita Morrow initiated a "Pig in a Poke" which ran for a few years making a small amount of money, but there was no explanation about how it worked. Gold Bond Stamps and cigarette coupons were saved and 8 TV trays and a card table were acquired with them. They probably provided more table space for the potluck luncheon at each meeting.

The proceeds from money making projects went to buy two radios for the County Hospital . Portal School and Rodeo School received $15.00 each for Christmas stockings or lights for their school Christmas tree. Mamie Franklin suggested instead of giving small amounts to the schools "that we have a big project of giving a scholarship each year to a graduating student at Animas and San Simon" , the minutes state. (There was never enough money in the 60s to do this, but watch the idea come to fruition years later.)

Arizona Children's Home at Tucson and Baptist Children's Home at Portales were given donations. Sew What? contributed to the Animas School so a girl could go to Girl 's State in Santa Fe. It was suggested that the club send Kool-Aid to the soldiers in Viet Nam. And Sew What? bought itself some Christmas tree ornaments . Vivian Martin in Rodeo agreed to store the ornaments in her storeroom and asked if the silverware might be stored there, too. The Martin building is presently the home of Kathy and Dave Fuller and Kathy's Fireworks and Gift Shop.

1966 was the first year that a trip for Sew What? members was mentioned. The club went to the Desert Museum at Tucson, and had lunch at Furr's Cafeteria", the minutes add.

The ladies of Sew What? were learning about Medicare, houseplants, how to cook pasta, using seat belts and what to do in case of nuclear fall out.

Meeting places for a club are often a problem. Myrtle Kraft invited Sew What? to use the old church in Rodeo that was being fixed up and to be called St. Stevens Episcopal Mission. The club did use the facility and were even looking into buying carpeting. But two years later the minutes declared that the roof leaked in three places, although it had been fixed three times. The ceiling was warped and the new paint was ruined. The club was not putting any more money into that project until the roof was fixed. Today the Chiricahua Gallery occupies that building with a new roof.

1970 to 1980

By 1970 a new solution to meeting places was found: the Rodeo School was no longer being used and Sew What? began to meet there as well as in homes. But there were other problems. The minutes note the coffee maker broke. However, when it was taken to Tucson to be checked, there was nothing wrong with it. It was postulated a fuse had blown, but the club was charged $3.50 anyway for the examination of the coffee maker. A year later the minutes state: "As all of our silverware was stolen from the schoolhouse, it was decided that each member bring one place setting and some tablespoons to replace the stolen ones".

The school was later sold as a home and the club met at times in the Catholic Church Social Hall which was surely a safer place.

Sew What? Programs in the 70s were on cancer, retirement, storage, inflation, how to paint a portrait and a subject that will get many re- runs - landscaping with desert plants.

Besides rummage sales and auctions, new ways of making money emerged . Kits for making little purses were ordered. Greeting cards were sold. And from the minutes : "We have a birthday container into which each member will put the amount of money she wishes to donate or the exact amount of her age. To be opened at the end of the year. " It is unknown who put in what, but there was $20 .28 in the container when it was opened. It was spent on two dozen serving spoons!

New demands were being made on that money, also. A donation was made to the Cochise County Hospital for an iron lung. The club voted to donate $25.00 to the Rodeo Fire Department . The department needed air packs that are worn by firemen entering burning buildings. These packs cost $200 to $300. Rodeo's Fire Department could not be approved by the state until it had the air packs . By selling home-baked and hand-made items, the club gave $100 more. A month later the Fire Department had accrued the price of the air packs. A contribution was given to a Rodeo Backhoe Fund . Ten yards of fabric were bought to make curtains for the Hildago County Hospital in Lordsburg. Betty Crocker coupons were requested to help Douglas Hospital get a kidney machine.

Mrs. Mildred Marrs (County Home Agent 1965 to 1976) asked Sew What? to sponsor (in 1970 and 1971) a 4-H Club for girls in Douglas. The minutes report ". . . the girls were taught social graces, manners, sharing, simple cooking and sewing and camping."

Katie Scholes suggested instead of sending money to orphanages in Tucson and Portales, that we donate to nursing homes in Douglas and Lordsburg . Some of our elderly club members have gone to live in those homes.

Sew What? Club was asked could it purchase a ground cover to put the dirt on when graves were dug with the compressor? After a year of apparent inaction, Edna De Shazo of Rodeo donated some sheets of tin to hold the dirt.

Every few years some club member cleans out her closet and finds The Sew What? Tablecloth. New members sign their names on it. Sally Richard's Aunt Wardie Hale made it many years ago and the tradition goes on.

1980 to 1990

1980 began with a frugal idea from Jean Gertsch: dispense with buying of paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic eating utensils. (Whatever happened to all that silverware?) Let each member bring her own service. The idea was accepted immediately and is still in effect 16 years later.

A new picnic tradition was started. The date was changed to the first meeting of the club year, September , and husbands were invited. The picnic site remained the same under the forest trees in the yard of Charlotte and Ed Bagwell until they moved from Portal five years later.

New people began to move into the community and the club began to change to meet their needs. In 1985 no one would accept the office of president of the Sew What? Club. Reason: The president was expected to attend 7 Extension Club training meetings as well as the 9 Sew What? meetings. Most of the club members came from professional careers. They had retired from too many meetings. The club voted to terminate its affiliation with the Extension Clubs and become a local group. This was amicably done with Dorothy Green, the County Home Agent, instructing the club in how to become a non-profit, tax exempt organization.

Money from Sew What? began to go to other causes. Toys and donations were given to the Douglas Salvation Army until that branch was closed. A scholarship fund was started to be given to a graduating senior of San Simon School , preferably a student from Portal. Teresa Tapp of Portal was awarded the first scholarship. The fund was later extended to Animas School, also, with preference given to a student from Rodeo.

Drapes which were also blackout curtains were purchased for the Portal Library. A donation was given to Portal Library for Kids for supplies. Fifty dollars went to repairs at the Portal Post Office, and a like sum to the newly-built Rodeo Community Center. Proceeds from a Bake Sale and the raffle of a beautiful quilt made by club members were given to Portal Rescue to buy an expensive resuscitator. Sweaters, bird feeders, bird seed, binoculars , Christmas stockings were given to the nursing home residents.

Beginning in the 80s and extending to the present time Claudia Kenny has given a memorial gift, annually, to Sew What? The gift is given in the name of her deceased aunt, Edna Hastings, a long time member of the club.

November meetings were held at the Southwestern Research Station. Husbands were invited for Thanksgiving dinners there. At first, auctions after the dinner were the club's major fund raiser . Later, rummage sales became more profitable because new people moving into the neighborhood had so many household items they wanted to donate to the club.

The earliest Sew What? meetings were designed to leave husband and home for a day of activity with "just ladies". Now the club members had retired husbands and the wives wished to include their men in more activities, but keep the club still a women 's organization.

Jeanne Williams initiated "Town Hal Is" sponsored by Sew What? for al l the community. Her contacts as an author and member of historical societies have supplied the group with an interesting assortment of programs. Local neighbors and their knowledgeable guests have provided much of the agenda.

Ann English from the Board of Supervisors gave an up-date on what was going on in Cochise County as the first Town Hall . "Geology of the Chiricahuas" and "Flora and Fauna of Cave Creek Canyon" were two other early presentations. The latter program was by Virginia and Mac Cutler with color slides they had taken through the years while living at Portal .

Sew What? programs changed. Members were interested in history and culture of Arizona which inspired 't Navajo Rugs", "Indian Jewelry" , "Indians Who Lived Here" . There was interest in travels of members with programs : "Russian Women" , "Elderhosteling" , "Australia" . Members especially enjoyed learning about each other's "young lives" since the women were from different states and lifestyles and had known each other only as retirees. That brought "share" programs like: "Easter Memories", " A Special Birthday", "A Family Recipe and Its Story" .

Trips were taken to the Amerind Foundation and to Slaughter Ranch. The minutes mention "lunch at the Gadsden Hotel" after the ranch visit.

At the annual Thanksgiving meeting at the Southwestern Research Station, the program in 1989 was on "Fire Hazards and Prevention".

The guest speakers were Brian Lauber of Arizona State Land Department, Fire Chief Dan Wood of Elfrida and a Douglas Fire Department representative. They had made a tour of the Portal area and pointed out previously unnoticed fire hazards around us. The present Volunteer Fire service at Portal was organized as a result of that program.

1990 to 1996

By 1990 the September picnic was held under the big trees at the home of Bill and Mary Willy and still is, 6 years later. Ranch programs have been popular at that meeting with husbands: "Update on the Cray Ranch" and 't our Spanish Land Grant Ranch at Amado" by Tony Celaya were two of these talks.

Members were told how to contact their legislators and congressmen and as private citizens how to state their reactions to a mining company applying to explore for gold in the Cave Creek area near Portal.

The Town Halls were now called Forums and the most outstanding was a duo piano concert by Yvette Rehurek and her daughter, Leslie Pintor. The concert was held in the Rehurek home which was formerly Cathedral Rock Lodge.

Donations were made to the Arizona Humanities Council and a program came from them each year: " Diaries of Pioneer Women", ' 'Civil War in Arizona '% "Quilts in the Lives of Women" .

Rummage sales, book sales, bake sales still provided Sew What? funds. Nursing homes and scholarships were supported. A donation to the Myrtle Kraft Library provided more shelves for books . Portal Rescue received financial aid in 1996. The neighborhood was growing and the club was concentrating on local needs.

Local talents were enjoyed: Jeanne Williams' "Home Mountain, How I Wrote It", Ray Mendez' "I'm an Insect Wrangler for the Movies”.

Lynn Mayes' "Mules I Have Known" , Izzy Escobar's and Junior Gomez ' "Growing Up in Rodeo" with a big model of the town of Rodeo in its railroad days. The Writer's Group read selections from "All That Talent" , a book they have published.

With an unforgettable production of "The Nutcracker Suite" by children and adults of the community, Sew What? began the tradition of a Christmas Celebration involving the Portal , Paradise, Rodeo neighborhoods . A choir, dancing groups, skits, children's plays and even a band (of sorts) have been on the programs.

The world has changed and Sew What? has changed with it. But a self-sufficient pioneer spirit is still evident in the members. If only Laura Law Bailey could have witnessed this scene at the meeting in Paradise at the George Walker House.

Mary Carson had a flat on her pick-up. While she read from the manual how to find the hidden spare tire and disengage it from under the truck bed, Mary Winkler got out the jack handle and followed the instructions . Since Mary and Kari Chalker had on pants, they slid under the chassis and positioned the jack. Up came the pick-up, the flat tire was removed and the spare slipped on. Down came the pick-up. The lug nuts were tightened. The flat tire and jack were tossed in the back. Mary Carson drove away while Mary Winkler and Kari dusted themselves off. "It was just like a race car pit stop", said O'Leary Squier with a touch of awe.

Wouldn't Laura Bailey have felt that kinship of sisterhood, even though three-fourths of a century and incredible years of technology separate us?

Footnote: The material for this history of Sew What? Club was extracted from:

    1.. Minutes of the club from 1960 through 1996.

   2.. Information from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service, Cochise County.

   3.. A letter from Laura Law Bailey to Eleanor Radke (in the possession of Sally Spot ford, Portal . )

  4.. Interviews with Sally Richards, Audrey Miller and Alden Hayes of Portal , Arizona; Sharon Dayton of Rodeo, New Mexico; Mamie Franklin, formerly of this area, now residing in Bisbee, Arizona.

   5.. Mementos from a scrapbook kept by Dorothy Bliss and a remembered conversation with her when she lived in Portal in the 1970s.

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Articles Of Association

Article 1.       Name

The name of this association shall be Sew What?

Article II.      Purpose.

This association shall provide for members to pool their ideas, judgment and expertise for the progressive improvement of community and personal life. It shall offer community forums, which are programs of local, state, national and international interest and importance. The club shall offer such activities as it may deem appropriate to educate and entertain its members. It shall support charitable programs such as the Sew What? Scholarship Fund, the Christmas Charities Nursing Home Project, Portal Rescue, the Portal Library, the Rodeo Community Center, and the San Simon and other schools.

Article III.     This association is organized for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Article IV.     Legislative or Political Activities.

No substantial part of the activities of the association shall be distributing propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation. The association shall not participate in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

Article V.      Limitations.

Any property, moneys or other items of value belonging to this association or hereafter acquired is and shall be irrevocably dedicated to the herein described purposes, and no individual shall be entitled at any time, including at dissolution, to receive any benefits from the properly or accounts of the association. No part of the net earnings of the association shall be distributed fruits members, directors, officers or other private persons, except that the - association shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable reimbursement for services rendered. In the event of dissolution or the impossibility of performing the purposes herein described, the assets shall be distributed to a charitable organization which is exempt under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The first choice would be local charitable organizations that we have supported in the past.

Article VI.     Membership and Dues.

Section 1. Membership in this association shall be open to all interested women.

Section 2. The annual dues shall be determined by vote of the members at any meeting.

Section 3. Each individual member shall be entitled to one vote in the business of the association.

Section 4. The fiscal year shall start September 1 and end on August 31.

Article VII.     Officers and Duties,

Section I. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers. The officers shall be President, Vice President. Secretary and Treasurer. They shall be elected by the general membership at the May meeting. The terms of office shall be one year.

Part a. The President shall preside at meetings. She shall appoint such standing and  special committees as may be necessary and shall perform other duties that usually pertain to the office of president.

Part b. In the absence of the President, the Vice President shall preside at all meetings. In case of vacancy of the office of President, the Vice President shall assume the title and duties of President.

Part c. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings. She shall be the custodian of-all official papers and records. She shall keep a current list of officers and members of the club.

Part d. The Treasurer shall collect all moneys belonging to the dub and shall disburse such funds on request of the President or appointed members so designated A bank account shall be maintained for deposit and distribution.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall serve a term of one year and will be nominated by a Nominating Committee and offered for approval at the annual membership meeting.

Article VIII.    Meetings.

Section 1. The association shall hold monthly meetings from September to May. Notice shall be given to the membership at least one week prior to all meetings.

Section 2 The club shall establish committees to meet at intervals allowing them to meet their objectives. Committees shall include, but are not limited to: Programs and Forums, Forum Setup. Scholarships, Nursing Home, Nominating. Christmas Program, Ways and Means, Publicity. Membership Booklet, E-mail and Telephone Contact, Facility Reservations, and Historian.

Section 3. A quorum shall be the number of members present at a regularly scheduled meeting. A vote of fifty-one percent of the quorum shall be required to pass any motion. All meetings shall be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order Revised.

Article IX.     Amendments

Amendments shall be added or changed as needed by a majority vote of members present at a regularly scheduled monthly meeting. Proposed amendments to the bylaws shall be communicated to the members one week before the meeting.