Once a month, come rain or shine or howling wind and freezing temperatures like we had a few weeks ago, former members and descendants of members of the Greenfield Women’s Club get together to catch up and remember the old days.

Some months, lunch is as many as 25 people, all bonded by memories of Greenfield.

Because the group is scattered across the state, from Surry to the Seacoast, they meet up at the Red Blazer in Concord.

The group always has the same server, Esther Hayward, who has known the group for so long that she is part of the monthly reunion, asking after everyone’s children and grandchildren and remembering to check in on everyone who has had an illness or a surgery  since the last lunch. 

The Greenfield Women’s Club  was established in 1921 by a group of Greenfield mothers who wanted to improve the conditions at the old Greenfield Elementary School (now the town offices). Over the nearly 100 years the club thrived in Greenfield, the group raised funds for countless projects, ran hundreds of events, worked with the town and other town groups to solve problems and provide resources for the community  and served as custodians of the Meetinghouse. 

The women’s club also awarded an annual  book scholarship to Greenfield High School graduate who was headed off to college.

The women’s club spearheaded the construction of the kitchen in the basement of the Meetinghouse, which served as the heart and soul of Greenfield community events from the 1960s through the 2000s.  In 2008, the Women’s Club  gifted $10,000 to the renovations to the Stephenson Memorial Library, kicking off the fundraising for the new addition.  

Nearly every month, the Greenfield Women’s Club lunch group includes Carele Mayer, who was the last president of the women’s club.  Carele’s mother, Velma Stone, served as president before her.  Jan Hicks of Francestown, who grew up in the big yellow brick house at Miner Road and Route 31, is also a frequent attendee.  Jan’s mother, Annie Cook, who was president of  the women’s club, was a dear friend of Murleigh Miner, another lifelong member.

Cook and Miner were both close friends of Halfdan Lee, who lived off of Miner Road in the what was formerly the Greenfield poor farm. Murleigh Miner’s daughters, Heather and Cherry, rarely miss a women’s club lunch, sometimes bringing their husbands, children and grandchildren. 

Sarah Larson, a granddaughter of longtime women’s club member Sarah Winchester, brings her mother, Liz Winchester-Larson, and her aunt Harriet Winchester-Kudzrall to nearly every lunch. Sarah Larson spent all her childhood summers in Greenfield with her Winchester grandparents, who had a farm on Muzzey Hill. 

“I remember going to all the women’s club events, especially the Harvest Fair,” Sarah said. “I remember my grandfather could swim all the way around Sunset Lake. Greenfield is such a beautiful town.” 

Sarah, who is an artist, said she loves to paint Greenfield scenery, especially views of North Pack. 

Longtime Greenfield resident Estelle Merzi remembers that it wasn’t easy to meet people when she moved to Greenfield with her family  in 1974. 

“We came in from Massachusetts, and people were not used to that, and my kids were already at the middle school and the high school. But the women’s club ladies took me right under their wing,” Merzi said. 

Also in attendance at the February lunch was the Rev. Daniel Osgood, who knew all the women’s club members from the many decades his congregation shared the Meetinghouse with other town organizations. Osgood shared many laughs and memories.

The women’s club disbanded due to low enrollment in 2016, after too many members had aged out or passed away.

Carele, who is still totally indefatigable in her 80s, was one of the founding members of the Friends of the Greenfield Community Meetinghouse in 2019. She was part of the small Meetinghouse board that helped secure the $1 million CDFA grant the town has received to renovate the Meetinghouse, including restoring the community center in the basement to its former role as the heart of the community. 

The spirit of the Greenfield Women’s Club lives on. 

Do you have in idea for The Greenfield Beat? Email Jesseca Timmons at jtimmons@ledgertranscript.com.