Women keep Lucky 13 Club going strong

Picture this – A group of women in the early 1900s gathering together in one another’s homes, wearing long, cotton, serviceable dresses, with their hair probably in buns or braids wrapped around their heads.

Their hands, maybe roughened from using lye soap and with nails bare of polish, but perhaps wearing a plain gold band. They were neighbors, friends and relatives, and those busy hands were … darning socks.  
The conversation likely centered on their families, the crops, canning, gardening, recipes, who was “expecting,” the newest baby and the latest death, and everyday matters.
This was the beginning of what later was called The Lucky 13 Club, which still thrives, although appearances and activities have changed over the years.
Then, it was most likely thought of as a break from the endless chores of taking care of their families, which was accomplished with none of the modern conveniences of today. They heated water drawn from the well or cistern, and washed the family’s clothes, bed clothes, etc., by hand, with lye soap, and washed all dishes, pots and pans the same way.
Meals were prepared from scratch, often having to kill the chicken and clean it, and cooked on a wood-burning range.
So it was surly a much-anticipated treat to gather together with their sewing or quilting and relax.
Today, the meetings are still much anticipated and enjoyed as a chance to relax and get together with friends not often seen.
Yesterday and Today
Ginger Wells shared her late mother’s reminiscing about the club, and also shared some of the notes from the club secretaries’ notes over the years.
“I remember my mother, Ethel Augenstine, reminiscing about going with her mother, Rilla Boggs, to neighbors’ homes to enjoy the Lucky 13 Club,” Ginger said. Ethel, who was just a young girl back then, was 97 when she died last October.
“In the early 1900’s, the homemakers were busy taking care of their families, without the conveniences we have today,” she said. “What a treat it was to gather around a quilting and relax.
“They did not have many opportunities to get together. During the early 1900’s, their homes were heated with the wood they gathered for the heating stove in the middle of the house. The oil lamps were lighted after sundown,” Ginger said.
“Discussions were surely about their families, neighbors, gardening and recipes.”
The lady of the home in which they met may have served tea, coffee or lemonade, perhaps with cookies or cake from her wood stove oven.
The charter members of the Lucky 13 were Rilla Boggs, Bess Cowger, Amelia Filer, Lizzie Filer and Hallie Zimmermanm. Amelia Filer is the only charter member still living.
The Early ’30s and ’40s
The ladies continued to meet in their homes, and still brought socks and other items of clothing that needed mending. Their dress styles were beginning to change, as were hairstyles and housework.
Their conversations remained about family and friends, victory gardens and, surely, the Great Depression, the war (and fathers, husbands and sons serving) and war bonds were main topics of discussions and prayers.
As the times evolved, they talked about making ends meet, hearing from their sons serving in World War II. They prayed that the war would soon be over. It was so good just to be together.  Just like their mothers, they were living, and sharing, life together. As sugar and many other foods were rationed, one wonders if the amount per family allowed was used for get-togethers, or saved for their families.
During the ’50s and ’60s
By the early 1950s and ’60s, the darning of socks was becoming obsolete, and the ladies were bringing embroidery, crocheting or other fancy handiwork.
“The conversations were much the same through the years,” Ginger said, “although the names in the attendance book changed as members invited friends and family to join and other members passed away.”
Fashion was now allowing neat and comfortable change, to what was called “slack suits” for the ladies.
On to the ’70s …
… and the club members continued to meet and share their lives. The group no longer brought handiwork with them to the meetings. The hostess prepared refreshments and gave a devotional.
“A co-hostess was in charge of planning games,” Ginger said.
But the rapport and sharing lives continued among the ladies.
The ’80s and ’90s
The ladies continued to meet in homes, but they also went out to eat for one meeting and it was decided to play bingo at the Christmas meeting in lieu of planning a program.
The hostess provided enough small gifts so that nearly everyone could unwrap one. After all the gifts were unwrapped, a timer was set and they played “dirty bingo.”
The final game was “Blackout.”  The hostess bought a special gift for that one.
Although those games may have caused some unfavorable comments from the losers, they were good-natured, and the friendships, caring and sharing remained the same.
And Today
Gone are the days of meeting in the homes of members, in their place the convenience of meeting at the Capital Pointe Apartments clubhouse.
Gone are the days of the hostess working two or three days cleaning the house and preparing refreshments for her guests. Gone are the days of getting out the fancy dishes, linen tablecloths and teacups.
Instead, the girls appreciate paper plates and cups.
Today everyone brings a gift to share for bingo, and the hostess brings a “Blackout” gift.  “Today, we eat out at Christmastime and then go to Bettye Kelly’s beautifully-decorated home for our grab-bag, bingo and dessert,” Ginger said.
Many things have changed since the early 1900s, and gone are some of the previous activities and customs, but what hasn’t changed is the caring for one another and the sharing of their lives, through good and not-so-good times.
What is not gone is the anticipation and enjoyment these ladies feel for their once-monthly meetings.
“Many things have changed,” Ginger said.
As she prepared the cake mix for the meeting’s dessert, she discovered that the same-size box of cake mix she had used before no longer filled the pan, and she had too run out for another box. She ran out for a bag of ice.
“Back when grandmother was a member of the Lucky 13, she would have asked her son to get out the horse and buggy and drive to the Pittsburgh store for a block of ice for the ice box. There was no ice delivery in Seminary,” Ginger said.
Important Things Remain the Same
“The love and concern the ladies of Lucky 13 have for each other has been passed down through the generations,” Giner said.
The conversations still remain the same, i.e., family concerns, who is sick, what should they do for various aches and pains, what diet works the best.
Throughout the decades, these ladies have lived life together.
They have prayed when a son or husband was missing in action or when a grandson was going to Afghanistan, and rejoiced over graduations, new jobs, births, and young men coming home from war. They have cried together, over illnesses, deaths, and family problems. They have lived life together.
As the members voiced comments about the club, some expressed “love for the members”, “visiting with one another” or “compassion of the members.” All, without fail expressed how they enjoy the meetings.
Ginger expressed appreciation for the love the members have for people and for the many blessings the club has received.
They also named Beulah Brown as a long-time and faithful member, who was absent only because of an accidentalfall and inability to be at the meeting.
Present Members
Beulah Brown, Lorene Brown, Joyce Carter, Amanda Crow, Berniece Etcheson, Charlene Forbes, Bettye Kelly, Bea Kistler, Lois Peck, Anita Smith, Doris Street, Ginger Wells.   

Members of the Lucky 13 Club are pictured above. In front, from left to right, are Lorene Brown, Bettye Kelly, Ginger Wells and Anita Smith. In back are Amanda Crow, Joyce Carter, Doris Street, Berniece Etcheson and Lois Peck.