Kissimmee Woman’s Club turns 115

The Kissimmee Woman’s Club, whose clubhouse can be seen at 1616 West Oak Street adjacent to the Oak Street Park Sports Complex, is marking its 115th anniversary as a service organization in the City. The historic club is dedicated to community service, personal growth, and fellowship among women.

The Club was founded in 1909 as the American Woman’s League, made up of the wives of Kissimmee ranchers, farmers and orange grove owners, meeting in the parlor of the old Graystone Hotel. The name was changed to the Kissimmee Woman’s Club in 1915. The group built their own building which they named the Hart Memorial Chapter House after a former Kissimmee postmistress. Members of the club donated books, and in 1916 the Hart Memorial Chapter House also became the first public library.

In 1962 the Club gave the city the Hart Memorial Chapter House as a library in exchange for the land on West Oak Street where the present clubhouse now stands, built within a few years of the exchange at a cost of $13,500.

“A lot of people don’t know the club is here,” says Charlotte Booth, who has been a member since 1989 and now serves as the Club’s president. “I think the club empowers women. I think there is a lot of leadership here. It’s a gathering place for women.

“What we do is different activities to raise money, and we give it back to the community. We give out two scholarships to graduating high schoolers, and also donate to different local charities. We have baskets for food for the hungry. We send things to the animal shelter. A new event we had was Trunk or Treat for Halloween, here in our driveway of the clubhouse. We did it for the community. We had a great turn out for that.”

“We have a long history of yard sales with the Women’s Club,” said club Vice President Donna Cregger. “I’m second generation. My mother-in-law was a member of the club. She became a member after my father-in-law passed away, and she was looking for something to do. She joined the club and it was pretty much her life after that. She did everything with the club. I can remember back then she would always talk about their yard sales. That was the big fundraiser.”

Yard sales stopped during the pandemic, but the group started them up again two years ago, usually in December, which help fundraise for the scholarship program. Janet Shearer, who heads the scholarship committee, says the hope is to add more scholarships.

“We look at their GPA and their need. We look at their extracurricular activities and volunteer hours,” she said. “We make sure they are seniors at either Osceola High School or Gateway. Next year we hope to add two more schools and award a total of four $1,000 scholarships. This year we had 99 applicants.”

The group meets the first Tuesday of every month at noon, usually with a featured speaker. Recent speakers have included a local mortgage office speaking on reverse mortgages, and a presentation on beading and crafts that included a hands-on demonstration. The next meeting will be in August after a summer break.

The club also holds card parties on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month to play canasta and is always looking for new players to socialize with. The clubhouse can be rented by its members. It’s now also rented on Sunday mornings by a church, which has helped with maintenance of the facility. The club can be contacted at thekwc1909@gmail.com.

With the 115th anniversary, Cregger says the hope is to highlight and grow the Club.

“I think our plan right now is to grow the membership so that we can do more in the community. I think we’ve developed a little bit of a social media presence and have attracted some members through that. We’re going to try to go out and start showing up at more places. I think it would be fit for any woman who is looking to make a connection in the community.”