Priscillas celebrate 115th
Priscilla Club members join to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the club. Pictured are Kathi Kares (back left), Cynthia Miller, Ruth Seaberg, Historian Margaret Unkel, Wanda Crayton, Secretary JC Frick, Photographer Debbie Griffin, Connie Harris Arnold, Shelia Shook, President Cindy Miller, Treasurer Betty Unkel, Patsie Arnold (front left), Barbara Harris, Vice President Vivian Harris, Ena Stoesser and Linda Sanders. Not pictured are Mary Beth Jamison and Becky Guthrie, who were unable to attend.
Patsie Arnold (left) chats with Barbara Harris, while Ena Stoesser, Caroline Wadzeck, Linda Sanders and Ruth Seaberg catch up during the Dayton Priscilla Club’s 115th anniversary.
Wanda Crayton poses with a sewing magazine dated 1937, the year she was born. Crayton served as president of the Priscilla Club from 2016 to 2018.
DAYTON— While difficult to trace, it appears there are only a few Priscilla Clubs left in Texas, but one thing is for sure: the Dayton Priscilla Club remains strong, recently celebrating its 115th anniversary.
The Dayton Priscilla Club celebrated its 115th anniversary on Saturday, Nov. 1, and members came out to enjoy cake and conversation, which was very fitting as the club was originally a social club where women congregated to chat and sew.
The club began as a way for women to share tips and tricks with one another, charging a dime if someone forgot their sewing gear.
“We’re up to a quarter now,” President Cindy Miller said.
Priscilla Club members Barbara Harris, Ena Stoesser, Linda Sanders and Connie Harris Arnold shared fond memories and recounted entertaining minutes they’ve previously read through.
Arnold, the granddaughter of charter member J.D. Harris, said she remembered as a young girl watching her mother and grandmother dress up for the 70th anniversary of the club.
Most of the women in the club are related in some way, whether by blood or marriage, and that has been historically the case.
Harris explained that the women in the club would often ask their daughters or daughters-in-law to join the club.
“It’s something I felt like I needed to do to keep my family history alive,” Arnold said.
Harris and Stoesser shared that the club provides good fellowship and a way to bond with others.
“I have met so many loving friends and great people,” Harris said.
A brief history of the club from 1910 to 1960 was created using records kept by J.S. Flowers.
The Dayton Priscilla Club was founded on Nov. 4, 1910, with five members. Each member was asked to invite a friend, and the club grew to 10 members by the next meeting.
The ladies would showcase their works at the county fair, including “fancy work, tatting, crocheting, reed baskets.”
In 1914, the club began collecting fines for those who did not have their work, and in 1915, the club purchased a gavel.
In August 1917, the club organized a Red Cross Auxiliary, making comfort kits, sweaters and socks.
Throughout World War II, the Priscillas organized numerous efforts to assist, including sending money to organizations, donating books and magazines to U.S. Army camps, and providing towels, pillowcases, and operating sheets to the Yettie Kersting Hospital.
Throughout the years, the Priscillas donated to various causes, including the local fire department and Red Cross, as well as efforts in polio research and to the March of Dimes.
Mr. J. Parker donated $1,000 for a children’s playground in memory of his wife, Emma, an early member of the club. The Priscillas took steps to establish a park, named Parker Park.
Although this is a brief history, meeting minutes are archived at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center.
At the celebration, a few records were on display, including minutes from the 1914, 1917, 1918 and 1920 meetings.