Members of Alice Book Club (left to right): Mary Jo Fiveash, Joanie Price, Nettie Webb, Pat Leach, Jean Kohn, Shirley Bartle, Helen Reed
Dianna Lucas
Alice Book Club recently made a generous donation to the Friends of the Library (FOL) in memory of Libby Tidwell. She had been a member of the club since 2006. A previous donation was made to FOL in memory of Kay Murray in 2020. Kay had been a member since the club’s beginning in 2005. It is a tradition of the club to make memorial donations for members who pass away.
Each time the Friends of the Library receives a donation, either in memory of or in honor of someone special, a book is purchased for the library. A bookplate is affixed to the faceplate recognizing the memorial or honorarium.
Alice Smith established her namesake book club with its first meeting in March of 2005 at a meeting at the Wildwood Inn. Helen Reed is the last surviving original member. Since then, the 10 to 12 neighborhood ladies who form the club have taken turns hosting their monthly meetings. The host chooses the restaurant and the book to discuss and facilitates discussion by briefly reviewing the book and providing discussion questions. Each December they exchange the book for a Christmas party with a White Elephant gift exchange.
Alice Book Club is a somewhat informal organization, with no dues or officers or specific types of books required. The ladies do agree to spend at least 30 minutes discussing the book. Otherwise, friendly conversation might consume most of their time together. The members of the group are all neighbors and close friends, but sometimes only see each other at their monthly meeting.
All of the members admit they have been introduced to books they would not have read if they had not been suggested by the book club hosts. Everyone seems happy to have their horizons expanded and learn something about themselves and their neighborhood friends in the process of a book discussion. And when you think about it, isn’t that what books are all about?