Active from the start Charter member sees changes in Prairieton Homemakers' Club By Tammy Ayer Tribune-Star She wore a deep green taffeta dress, black patent-leather pumps and a large round brooch pinned near her throat. With her dark wavy hair pulled back from her face, she smiled slightly as she studied an issue of ``Better Homes and Gardens.'' It was 1949, and young newlywed Lois Morgan posed for a picture in her apartment along with Kay Strassler and Barbara Snider, fellow charter members of the nearly new Prairieton Young Homemakers Club, as they prepared the next lesson. Morgan, 70, the only charter member still living, remembers the moment well. ``We really dressed up then,'' she said, laughing a little at the memory of the shiny dress and equally glossy shoes, an outfit that stood out even in the days when dresses were de rigueur for ladies. Nowadays, club members arrive at the monthly meetings sporting T-shirts and tennis shoes, sweatshirts and jeans. But for the most part, that home extension club - among 26 in Vigo County - has stayed the same, even while the world around it has changed. After growing up as Lois Francis in Prairieton, on June 19, 1948, she married Earl Morgan of Prairie Creek, whom she'd known ``my whole life.'' Both were 21. She joined 20 other young women in forming the ``Prairieton Young'' on Dec. 22, 1948. A group of older ladies already made up the Prairieton Home Science Club. At that time, the couple lived in the apartment above the white frame building that housed their Morgan Farm Store; it's now Carolina Upholstery. Four years after they married, when Earl was drafted into the Korean War, the Morgans sold the store and Lois lived in Terre Haute another four years, during her husband's wartime service. Forty years ago, they moved back to Prairieton. In 1992, only a year after he had retired after 35 years as manager of Indiana Wholesalers in Terre Haute, Earl died. Today, Morgan remains in their home, which sits on an acre at the edge of a field swaying with breezes, a home filled with her favorite things - several paintings of poppies, a corner cabinet filled with Ruby and Crown glass, another plain, massive wooden corner cabinet crafted by Earl's grandfather. As a breeze wafts from the back yard into the kitchen and plays among the multicolored bottles crowding the windowsill, Lois turns the thick grayish pages of a brown scrapbook embossed with gold trim. The pictures within move from black and white to more recent, color shots, but always portray a group of smartly dressed women, young children held close in their arms or seated near other children. Morgan's children, Lou Ann Pence of Terre Haute and Cindy Morgan and Scott Morgan of Indianapolis, arrived in 1954, 1956 and 1959. She's also the proud grandmother of four and awaits the arrival of two great-grandchildren, one later this month and another in February. But in 1948, as a young wife who ``wasn't a very good cook'' and had to contend with a treadle sewing machine, no running water and heat provided by two coal stoves, Morgan welcomed the opportunity to learn more about homemaking. ``The club was started for people to get educated a bit about homemaking, but it was a social need more than anything else. We were all about newly married or younger,'' she recalled. Now - as then - the club of about 20 gathers in different members' homes on the first Wednesday of every month at 10 a.m. for the meeting, lesson and lunch. Among its many activities, the club makes stuffed dolls for children and heart pillows for heart patients in Union Hospital. Members also collect good used clothing and furniture for the Council on Domestic Abuse, and host a style show every year. ``But our biggest thing every year is the Christmas party,'' Morgan noted. ``Half of the club entertains the other half. It's really fun.'' As the traditions continue, the changes stand out starkly. In 1949, the annual dues were 63 cents; they're now $5. In the club's early years, ``there were working women, but there were very few working mothers and wives - that's really changed,'' said Morgan. ``Now we have lots and lots of nutrition programs, others on how to keep your home safe from crime, house repairs, car repairs,'' she added. ``You can't go and learn how to make noodles when crime's right at your back door.'' Another witness to some changes, club president Peggy Green - a member since 1977 - says Morgan remains a welcome constant. ``I think Lois is great. She's always there when anyone needs help and she's just a good friend. She gives so much of herself to other people,'' Green said. Over the years, Morgan has remained a club member who has made a difference, Green added. ``She's someone you can depend on. If Lois says she is going to do something, you can rest assured that it will be done.'' Never one to sit still for long, Morgan - also a member of the Honey Creek Garden Club - sings in her church choir, makes dried flower wreaths, teaches a Sunday School class, travels with a Bible study group, ``Senior Seekers,'' and makes rag rugs and placemats from scraps of old clothes for the fire department auxiliary. And she serves as president of United Methodist Women at her church and hostess chairman of the Christian Women's Club. But the ``Prairieton Young'' occupies an extra-special place in her heart. ``I am better educated by going there,'' said Morgan. ``And I know a lot of people in all the other home extension clubs - the friendships is the best part. ``If there's anything that's stayed stable, it's this club.'' Published in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star originally. Found at: http://www.egroups.com/archives.cgi/PrairieCreek message 52. From: Kim Holly Date: Mon Oct 18, 1999 9:54am Subject: FW: Prairieton / Morgan Also available on the Tribune-Star WWW site.