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Dogwood Club rich in history records located

On April 14, 1948, 14 residents of the Perham Corner section of Lyndeborough met at the home of Virginia Russell on Perham Corner Road for the purpose of forming a women’s club. At their second meeting, two weeks later, they chose the name “Dogwood Reservation Club” in honor of the botanical park that had been established in the neighborhood a few years earlier. Dogwood trees line the area roads.

Recently, the minutes of the club meetings through the 1980s were found in a box at an estate sale at the home of the late Edna Worcester and “rescued” by former member Mary Holt.

Five of the remaining club members met at the home of Polly Brown, whose mother Olive Bullard, was an original member. They looked at the minutes and a collection of pictures, and fondly recalled the club. Of those first members, only Alice Holt remains in the area. Attending were Polly Brown, Peg McEntee, Alice Holt, Sally Reynolds and Mary Holt.

The first officers elected were Mrs. Russell, president; Dorothy Brown, vice-president; Jan Parker secretary and Olive Bullard, treasurer. At the second meeting, Ethel Clark was named secretary, a post she held for several years. At some point, Mrs. Bullard was named “treasurer for life.”

While they were a social club, they also decided on community service. Their first project was collecting toys for Memorial Hospital in Nashua. They established an award at the Perham Corner School, which was continued for the sixth grade when the Central School opened in 1949. The award, presented for excellence in reading, was given through 1994.

Their projects included Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, volunteering at Crotched Mountain, working for the Red Cross and collecting donations for many local organizations.

Once a year, they went out to a restaurant, held a family picnic in the summer and a Christmas party to which all the men were invited.

The club never formally disbanded, Polly Brown said.

“It just sort of fizzled out as people died or moved away. There was little interest among newcomers. Times change,” she said.

Letters were sent to all new residents in 1992, but “none responded,” according to the minutes.

Sally Reynolds was the last secretary, and she located her notes from the 1990s, which end with the meeting in March 1994. The next meeting was planned for April, with a picnic in August, but there is no record of those happening.

Among the papers in the box is a poem written by Clarabelle Warren for the club’s 20th anniversary in 1968. She details the club’s activities, their games and contests, the refreshments and parties. She sums up the whole club:

“The officers are faithful, good as gold

And take their turns as the years unfold,

Especially Olive, who is always here

And has guarded our money for the whole twenty years.

The schools get prize money, the babies get showers,

Funds get help and the sick get flowers.

Merry Christmas comes but once a year

And we have a party with plenty of cheer.”

Mrs. Warren wrote odes in honor of many town anniversaries.

The last records show there was a treasury balance of $91.52. The members could not recall what was done with it, but most thought it was donated to the library.

The group voted to give the records to the Historical Society for preservation. But Mary Holt noted, that next year, 2018, would be the 70th anniversary of the founding.

“We need to have a party,” she said.

Maybe they will.