Madison Catholic Woman’s Club plans 100-year anniversary celebration |
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All women of the Diocese of Madison are invited to join the Madison Catholic Woman’s Club for its 100-year celebration to be held at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, 702 S. High Point Rd., Madison, on Tuesday, May 6. A social at 9:30 a.m. will begin the day with coffee, pastries, and historical exhibits. A Rosary is scheduled at 10:40 a.m. with Mass at 11 a.m. followed by a luncheon. Bishop Robert C. Morlino will preside at the Mass, which will be a Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the patroness of the club. Concelebrants will include Fr. Roger Nilles, the club’s current spiritual director, and priests who served as previous spiritual directors. Lori Lonergan will be the cantor at the Mass and Josephine Cowen will be the accompanist. A program, “A Walk down Memory Lane,” will begin at 1:15 p.m. All past spiritual directors and past Christian Achievement Award recipients are especially welcome. Paid reservations must be received by April 23. Cost is $22 per person. Make checks payable to MCWC and send to Teri Kinney, 5117 Comanche Way, Madison 53704. For more information, call 608-246-8508. Guests are welcome. The facility is barrier-free. |
Thanks to Madison Catholic Woman’s Club members Ann Furhman and Syl Kimberly for historical information provided for this article, along with an archived article by Helen Matheson Rupp published in the Catholic Herald on the occasion of the club’s 75th anniversary in 1989.
MADISON — In 1914, three women met in Madison and conceived plans to form a Madison Catholic Woman’s Club (MCWC) with a great eagerness to do good work.
Mary Adams, Mrs. E. T. Adams, and Mary O’Connor encouraged 100 women to join them at a meeting held at St. Raphael School hall in downtown Madison. Eighty-five more women joined them as charter members of the new club. Dues were $1 a year.
First service project
In 1915, the club launched its first major project: service to what was then Madison’s neglected minority, the Italian immigrant community in the Regent-Brooks-W. Washington Ave. area, which was known as the “triangle.”
This “Italian Aid” project would continue for over 40 years, until the neighborhood was bulldozed in the path of urban renewal.
Celebrating 100 years
Today as the MCWC prepares to observe its 100th anniversary with a special celebration on Tuesday, May 6, it can rejoice in a notable record of charitable work undertaken, in addition to spiritual, educational, cultural, and community activities.
Barb Kutchmarek, chairman of the club’s anniversary celebration, commented, “I am so happy to be part of this 100-year anniversary celebration. Having served as co-president for two years and working with many of the wonderful members of MCWC, I felt we could make this a remarkable event and provide many memories for the members, both old and new.