By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead (WCLA) is gearing up for their 100th anniversary this coming January, when they hit the magic century mark. The club has accomplished many excellent things through its members over the last 99 years; currently they support numerous excellent causes and they look forward to achieving even more in future decades.
They will be holding their centennial celebration at the same location where the WCLA held its very first meeting in 1926 at The Saddleback Inn restaurant (then called The Raven) in Lake Arrowhead in January. They currently have more than 85 members but hope to increase their membership to 100 by the centennial.
The members of WCLA are women who live in or have second homes in the mountain communities. They meet monthly for lunch at various locations throughout the mountain communities and learn about the events of the mountains and ways they can positively impact the area.
Over the past few years, at the WCLA meetings, the current members have been learning about some of their previous members and the impacts they have made on the mountain communities. For example, Past President Sarah Switzer had the tree shrine and Switzer Park on Highway 18 named in her honor and Paulina LaFuze wrote a two-volume book on local history (The Saga of the San Bernardinos) after she had been Landmarks and History Club chairman for many years. Mary Putnam Henck not only began the Lake Arrowhead School District, she has a school named after her.
Jeri Simpson thanking her 2024-2025 board of directors of the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead.
Currently, the WCLA is one of the 10 nonprofit organizations that run the thrift shop in Blue Jay. The club then receives a share of profits, which they donate to various worthy projects. The amount of their payments is determined by the volume of sales divided by the number of hours they donate to the store. The Club honored their 13 members who volunteered time working at the thrift store this last month. At this meeting, they received a check from the Mountain Thrift Shoppe for over $9,000.
“The reason we can donate to all the organizations, scholarships and projects we support on this mountain is our thrift store volunteer hours,” said Polly Sauer, a past WCLA president. The WCLA has been donating to the community for almost 100 years.
The WCLA July luncheon meeting was held at Leisure Shores Senior Center in Crestline, where they filled the Fireside Room with the luncheon catered by The Stockade restaurant. They were fascinated in the five-days-a-week schedule of multiple activities each day that the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club (CFSCC) offers at Leisure Shores. CFSCC members only need to be 50 years of age to join and it only costs $20 a year. They also offer numerous events and community activities, year-round, including the senior nutritional luncheon held twice a week at the San Moritz Lodge.
At the July meeting, Jeri Simpson, who had served as president for the 2024-2025 year, handed over the gavel to incoming president Polly Sauer. Simpson thanked her hardworking board of directors and presented each with a succulent plant. Her board included 1st Vice President and Membership, Kristin Countryman; 2nd Vice President, Programs & Venues & Parliamentarian, Polly Sauer; 3rd Vice President, Ways & Means, Linda Miller; Assistant to the President, Suzy Garrett; Auditor, Cindy Burnett; Secretary, Elizabeth Whitney-Olivas; Treasurer, Sarah Muecke.
Sauer – who will also serve as 2nd Vice President Programs & Venues – then introduced her new board, several of whom were continuing in their two-year appointments: 1st Vice President, Membership, Kristin Countryman; 3rd Vice President, Ways & Means, Linda Miller; Assistant to the President, Kirsten “Kiki” Oleson; Auditor, Cindy Burnett; Communications Director, Julia Gorajewski; Parliamentarian, Nicole Rafferty; Secretary, Elizabeth Whitney-Olivas; and Treasurer, Sarah Muecke.
Next month, the WCLA will be meeting in Cedar Glen for lunch where Sharon McCormick’s dancers from the Lake Arrowhead School of Dance will entertain on the patio and luncheon will be provided by RB’s Steakhouse. For more information on the almost century-old club, with contact information for joining, see the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead’s Facebook page.
President Polly Sauer (L) and the board of directors for the WCLA for its centennial year.
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