Rumford area women's group dedicated to sharing knowledge and learning

Fourteen members of the Searchlight Club women’s group gathered for their monthly meeting in Rumford on October 18 to share how much they enjoy being members of the club. Seated, left to right: Cheryl Gallant, Gail Parent, Anita Theriault, Judy Wiseman, Wanda Orino, Donna Bucher. Standing, left to right: Jeanne Cushing, Leslie Skibitsky, Mary Pulsifer, Pat Hopkins, Carolyn Kennard, Sally Carey, Linda Kuras, and Anne Morin. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

RUMFORD — Searchlight Club, a women’s group that discusses cultural and educational issues and hosts events, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. At the October meeting, 14 members came together to share about the club and what they enjoy about being a club member.

Member Pat Hopkins, 90, estimates he has been a member for 25 years. He researched the founding of the club through the Rumford Area Historical Society archives and found that the club’s beginnings coincided with the opening of the Oxford Paper Company mill in Rumford.

“A lot of these (mill) men were engineers and professionals… and their wives came with them, and their wives probably had a higher education than most people (at the time),” Hopkins said. To stay together as a group and meet socially, the spouses formed the Searchlight Club, “that kind of study club,” he said.

Searchlight Club member Jeanne Cushing (third from left) describes her experiences as a club member as women meet at her home for their October meeting. The club celebrated its 120th anniversary this year. From left to right, Carolyn Kennard, Mary Pulsifer, Cushing and Anne Morin. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

“In some accounts, the ladies would all show up wearing their (best) summer dresses and gloves and hats, and of course the silverware would show up, too, and you were judged by how everything was set up,” Hopkins said. explained.

Currently, the group eats lunch when they gather for their monthly meeting, and the formalities of dress and table setting are much more relaxed than they were years ago.

Each month, one member chooses a cultural or educational topic to present to the group, while another member hosts the group at his or her home. There is also a business meeting and lunch provided by members.

Hopkins joined the group when he retired because he thought “how much he wanted to join” the group and also because he knew most of the members. She also felt that the group members were interesting women in the community and that their activities brought culture to the area. “And it seemed like a fun thing to do; but fun didn’t mean ‘an easy ride,'” Hopkins said.

Hopkins said one of the group’s most impressive events occurred in 1979, when it joined forces with the Portland Art Museum and the (then) Boise Cascade paper mill in Rumford and staged a two-day art show upstairs. Rumford Power Company, located at the corner of Exchange and Congress streets, Hopkins said.

“It was beautiful; There was a lot of beautiful art here, Hopkins recalled.

Another aspect of the group that club members appreciate is that it is not a fundraising group, but donates money each year to local libraries in Rumford, Dixfield, Hanover and Mexico.

Club president Linda Kuras, who was elected last June, has been a member of the club for two years. He and Leslie Skibitsky are the two youngest members of the group; They are both 69 years old.

“I’ve given one presentation so far and it was about Blue Zones in the world where people live to a very old age simply because of the way they live and the things they eat. I thought this would be a good topic to share with the group; Looks like I did a very good job,” Kuras said.

Kuras added that he was honored by the opportunity to be the group’s president. “And I really appreciate the sisterhood of this group of women. “I think we support each other and I think it’s a fun group to get together and learn a new topic every month,” he said.

The group also has “some things” they did in August when they went to eat at Carolyn Kennard’s camp in Rangeley. They gather together for a Christmas gathering in December. They also go out to eat together once a year, which Kuras says he “loves”.

Gail Parent, 86, a member for “at least 60 years”, said: “One thing I often remember from a past club meeting is a lady brought her horse to the house meeting. She wanted us to see her horse so (she brought it home).”

Searchlight Club member Anita Theriault (center) shares the joy of being a member of the women’s group dedicated to learning and sharing knowledge at member Jeanne Cushing’s home in Rumford. From left to right, club president Linda Kuras, Gail Parent, Theriault, Wanda Orino and Carolyn Kennard. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times

The parent said: “But anyway, I’ve been here a long, long time. I always enjoyed it, even when (the club membership) was made up entirely of millers (wives of Boise Cascade mill managers).

“And I have to say I was a little scared because they were all millers; You know, for the most part I felt like I was just a teacher. That’s why I was a little scared at first.”

Anita Theriault, 95, the club’s oldest member, said she came to Rumford in the 1960s as a newlywed and didn’t know anyone. Her neighbor Jane Swallow invited her to join the club, and “it was great because I finally got to meet people,” Theriault said.

“We worked really hard on our programs and had great discussions; There is never any discussion. So we can argue, but we can argue in a friendly way, and this is a group that doesn’t gossip,” Theriault said.

Wanda Orino, 92, joined in 1987 because Theriault encouraged her to join and said she knew many women who were already members of the club.

“One year, Anita and I got together and made a program about dictators in the world; all the different dictators and their backgrounds. This was very interesting and required a lot of work,” Orino said.

Mary Pulsifer, 82, estimates she’s been at the club for 10 years. When it is his turn to prepare a program for the group, he often finds friends who can talk about interesting topics; such as asking Carolyn Kennard to talk to the group about her experience hiking half of the Appalachian Trail. Kennard later became a member of the group after his speech about AT.

Pulsifer also stated that he was impressed by the women on the list of past Searchlight Club members. He thought: “I could be in the group that includes all of these (interesting) people.” In addition to appreciating spending time with interesting people, he said he also enjoys the camaraderie of being a member of a group.

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