If you're serious about having fun and doing good, the Woman's Club of Minneapolis may be the place for you.
The club's calendar of social and educational events would challenge a hipster's endurance. Charitable activities continue almost nonstop as well, with members donating more than $4 million to assist women and children in need since the club's founding in 1907.
Despite the good times and good works, the club has a relatively low profile, as president-elect Patti Weber, a retired senior intelligence executive, conceded: "We're tired of being the best kept secret in town, and that's coming from someone from the CIA."
The club's 575 members include 16 men, from ages 24 to 104 with a median of 53, general manager Pam Lehan said.
"People often think this club is made up of little old ladies," president Anita Sue Kolman said. "We don't know what a little old lady is."
Members pay an initiation fee of up to $1,000 plus annual dues, Lehan said. There are lower fees and dues for junior members.
The club occupies an elegant, six-story Italianate mansion built in 1928. With full catering and service staff, the clubhouse hosts weddings, cocktail parties, corporate meetings and concerts. Venues include its signature lounge, a ballroom and a 630-seat theater where Frank Lloyd Wright, Garrison Keillor and the Jayhawks have appeared.
A new addition is a rooftop terrace, with prime views of Loring Park and downtown. "This is worth the membership all by itself," Lehan said.
Three and out with Pam Lehan and Anita Sue Kolman
- What does the club do?
Kolman: We have three parts to our mission. One is, we're interested in philanthropy, helping the community. Another one is education. And then social, just having fun. We do all this good work and it sounds like we're so serious. We're passionate about it but we do have a good time. We have a lot of fun here, we have a lot of parties.
- Why is it called the Woman's Club, singular instead of plural?
Kolman: Because this club is your club. Each person makes it different according to what they want it to be. Nobody puts a lot of pressure on you to do anything other than what you want to do.
- What club activities are open to the public?
Lehan: Thursday@5 Showcase (recurring, next is 5-7 p.m., May 26). Breakfast Networking Group (recurring, next on 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m., May 11). We have three blood drives a year that are open to the public (next on 9 a.m.-1 p.m., June 11). Basilica Cathedral Choir performs Vivaldi's "Gloria," May 21. Strictly Social (quarterly), next on July 27, (authors discuss self-publishing books). A member who is a playwright and an actress puts on a cabaret in our theatre every quarter with local entertainers. That's open to the public.
Three more and out with Lehan
- How would someone join?
I meet with them, often for conversation and a meal. I'll take them on a tour and tell them about the club. We like to have them come to an event or two so they can get to know some members. Their application is processed through the membership committee and from there on to the board of directors.
- What are some of the club's civic and charitable projects historically?
The women of this club are responsible in large program for the milk program and the lunch program in the Minneapolis public schools; for the purification of water in the city of Minneapolis; for the public health nursing system in the city of Minneapolis. Their handwriting is all over the child labor laws in this city.
- How about today?
The club has one of the oldest sewing guilds in the country, and they make all of the chemo caps and lap robes for cancer patients at Hennepin County Medical Center and all the baby layettes for moms who can't afford baby clothes. We had a baby shower for the Minnesota Visiting Nurses Association, collecting almost $5,000 worth of baby items to distribute. We work with the Police Athletic Leagues on the north side. We take children shopping for their back to school clothes in the fall and then for their family holiday shopping at holiday time.