CLUB SPOTLIGHT: Le Bonté
LeBonté representative Carol Pate (left) presents a donation from the club to Dr. Laurie Lawson of the 4C’s.
By Carole Kelly
Le Bonté Women’s Club members completed the organization’s year by supporting the Clinton Community Christian Corporation (4C’s) backpack program and the Clinton Schools’ Life Skills reception honoring recent graduates.
Closing the club year, Dee Dee Newman, president, and Amy Flournoy, vice-president, reviewed the club’s projects and its history.
“Our membership has always supported civic efforts,” said Flournoy, who serves as coordinator for actions targeting community projects. “The recent celebration of the Life Skills class graduation is a time of recognition for the students’ efforts and for the dedicated families and teachers. The backpack and school supplies project represents support of the 4C’s annual effort for students from kindergarten through grade six.”
The club was founded in 1974 as a federated organization and chose its name from a French phrase which loosely translated means “kindness and benevolence.” Volunteer service benefitting the community is the primary goal, along with recognizing women’s past achievements and promoting literacy. A variety of community projects has been completed over the years. Memorabilia such as yearbooks, newsletters and scrapbooks with details of club projects and activities have been placed in the Clinton-Quisenberry Library.
Photos from a reception the club members host annually for graduates of the Clinton High School Life Skills classes
“Club records with names of officers, members and projects relate our history in Clinton,” notes Flournoy, a member for over forty years. “Fund-raising events such as teas featuring outstanding dishes have sponsored scholarships and literacy projects,” she added.
According to Newman, one of the most popular projects celebrates the March birthdate of famed children’s author Theodor Geisel, or Dr. Seuss.
“Sharing books by Dr. Seuss and reading to groups of boys and girls are two of our favorite things,” she states.
“Although the membership roster has changed over time, many members have dedicated years of service,” says Newman, whose daughter Nicole was an active member serving as secretary until she moved out of state. “The enthusiasm of members has not waned as we continue support of civic projects.”
Photos from a reception the club members host annually for graduates of the Clinton High School Life Skills classes
Serena Calhoun and Janie Fields, both retired teachers, coordinate scholarship awards.
“We have different fields represented in our membership list, but over the years quite a number have been teachers,” Newman points out.
A November 18, 2021, “Le Bonté Update” newsletter quoted Flournoy, who was president at the time: “The continued efforts of our Le Bonté Women’s Club are an inspiration to me. The times, yes, they have changed, and our efforts have undergone some changes.”
She explained that moving from meetings in homes to sites with more available seating and parking afforded more membership openings.
“We want to continue our efforts to contribute to the community,” Flournoy noted. “Projects have included the 4C’s, Salvation Army shelters, Soul City Church, St. Thomas Head Start Center, CARA Pet Supply, Operation Christmas Child and the Life Skills class. We continue brainstorming to discover projects we can support, and we participate with other groups in worthwhile community efforts.”
Photos from a reception the club members host annually for graduates of the Clinton High School Life Skills classes
She cited a Clinton Courier photograph and cutline a few years ago showing members working with Alzheimer’s Association staff in sponsoring an educational presentation with St. Dominic’s New Directions personnel.
“Working with other organizations is a great way to expand our efforts,” she concluded.
Members traditionally close meetings reciting a prayer, or “collect.”
“The history of Mary Stewart’s writing and sharing the personal prayer is a special story,” explains Flournoy. “The word comes from the Latin collecta, meaning ‘the gathering together of the people.’ She wrote it in 1904 as she began her first job as principal at the local high school in Longmont, Colorado. As a part of the rapidly growing women’s club movement, she offered the prayer for publication in a woman’s magazine, the Delineator, to unite women working toward community goals. ‘A Collect for Club Women’ has been reprinted in many countries, including in our own yearbooks and in the Le Bonté newsletters,” ‘Flournoy says, adding that over the years reciting the prayer, she finally realized she had memorized it.
Le Bonté Club Presidents*
- Genta Boone
- Joan Matthews
- Carrie Carlson
- Barbara Powell
- Rosemary Aultman
- Elizabeth Hannah
- Kitty Brogan
- May Lou Robertson
- Wanda Singletary
- Janet Lee
- Ann Wyatt
- Janie Fields,
- Marilyn Conerly
- Pette Montgomery
- Peggy Pickel
- Mary McCartney
- Liz Payne
- Carolyn Boyd
- Serena Calhoun
- Paula Wimbish
- Donia Evans
- Amy Flournoy,
- Ruth Ann Broome
- Becky Wright
- Carolyn Hood
- Freda Hartness
- Jean Jeff
- Ellen Guillory
- Carole Kelly
- Lourie Hollingsworth
- Dee Dee Newman,
- From 1974, as listed in the club yearbooks
The Collect:
“Keep us, oh God, from pettiness. Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed. Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous. Let us take time for all things. Make us to grow calm, serene, gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid. Grant that we may realize it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things of life we are at one. And may we strive to touch and to know the great, common human heart of us all. And, oh Lord God, let us forget not to be kind.”
