NORTHVILLIANS,

I truly hope you are enjoying your summer in the Ville. It is outstanding to see Northvillians and visitors strolling around our town taking in concerts, eating at restaurants, and grabbing an ice cream. Enjoy the season to the fullest and take in one of our 46 concerts.

This week I wanted to touch on one of the older organizations in town that is part of the DNA and fabric of our community – the Woman’s Club (oldest Branch in the State). We will explore this and some of our other women’s organizations in town.

But first, let’s take a look at what’s going on today:

Events/Info

• Dancing in the Ville – Town Square, Wednesday evenings 6:30-8:00 PM. Arthur Murray teachers provide lessons for a variety of dance genres (all levels).
   
• Summer Concerts every Friday & Saturday at 7:00 PM – Downtown
   
• Eclipse Victorian Base Ball Games – The Team plays at Ford Field. Link
   
• Mill Race Village – Open Summer Sundays (1:00 PM – 4:00 PM), 215 Griswold St.
   
• Farmers’ Market – Take in Northville’s Award-Winning Market, Thursdays (7/Sheldon)
   
• Music at Maybury on Mondays, 7:00 PM – Enjoy these concerts in July & August
   
• Elections (Tues, August 2^nd) – Prepare now for our Election Primary…Link for Northville City residents and Link for Township residents
   
• Food & Wine Festival @ Ford Field August 12-13. Check out link for details - Link
   
• Beautification Commission – See signs around Town for the award winners.
   
• COVID Test Kits – Packages available Free at Northville District Library (212 W Cady)
   
• Police Dept. Accreditation – Congrats to the entire City of Northville Police Team for being awarded accreditation from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP). Our Police Department is one of only 47 agencies in the state to achieve accreditation, out of a total of 582 separate law enforcement agencies!  
   
• Art House - City of Northville Plein-Air “Paint Out” was July 22-24, reception July 30^th - Link

Now let's take a look at historic social & support groups for Women in Northville...

• The Northville Woman’s Club will be celebrating its 130^th anniversary this year, one of the oldest groups in the state and truly an impressive milestone. The Club was started by Lucy Stout Dowd, "a woman of rare intellect,” for scholarly endeavors and to study women of history, literary works and current events.
   
• In 1891 the group was known as the Circle of Friends. In 1892, the group reorganized as the Northville Woman’s Club. Folks whose names are on our streets were charter members: Dubuar, Randolph, Carpenter, Ambler, Ely, Beal, Yerkes, & others.
   
• 1893 – Club records showed over 70 voting members. This was just after the Federation of Women’s Clubs organized in this country. The Club owed its gathering place to its second president, Dr. Mary Lapham, who bequeathed the Ladies Library Association building (the Church in Mill Race Village today) with a proviso that the Northville Woman’s Club always be allowed to have their meetings there free of charge.
   
• Over the years, the Woman’s Club has done so very much for the community – in the WWI era, contributions went to the National defense fund, the War Victory commission, and the Red Cross.
   
• In 1921, the Northville Record reported Woman’s Club members taking a streetcar to Detroit to tour the Institute of Arts and network with other women in the State.
   
• During the WWII era, the Woman’s Club held a tin drive and collected over TEN TONS.
   
• Throughout the years, the group has supported a plethora of causes in the community and continue to host educational seminars covering a variety of topics, including the State of the Community and History Nights.

• Mothers’ Club (inception 1936) has donated to youth causes. Originally, members placed milk bottles in local stores to collect funds to buy milk for students in need. Two of these “milk locations” were my grandfather’s Electrical store (Northville Electric) and my other grandfather’s Barber Shop. Additionally, they purchased books, supplies and band uniforms, provided Girl’s State scholarships and also funds for the Scout Recreation building (Art House today).
   
• The Mothers’ Club was the sponsor and founder of the Cavern teen club, who met in the lower level of Old Village School on Main Street. This locale also featured bands on weekends in the 60’s, including a new young musician from Ann Arbor named Bob Seger.
   
• Meetings of Garden Clubs, Beautification Groups and Victory Garden Growers were held in town for our active women.  In 1936, Northville women joined the Women’s National Farm & Garden Association with the branch being sponsored by Mrs. Henry (Clara Bryant) Ford, who also served as the National President. 
   
• The Beautification Commission of Northville (one of our 27 boards & commissions) recently awarded their Beautification Honors to select downtown businesses.