Club News

Seven members of Log Cabin Questers met at Dodici?s on July 7.

Sheila Gerot presided. The meeting opened with the group reciting the Quester Invocation. Treasurer?s report was unchanged from last month. Old business included discussion of the check to be presented to the local DAR. New business included program and hostess sign-up for the upcoming 2017 program year. Oct. 7-8 will be the Quester Fall Fling in Denison, and the State Day will be April 7-8 in Davenport. Karen Lyons reported on a recent visit to the Quester glass display at the Brunnier Gallery on the Iowa State University campus.

Billie Nickolan presented the program on Iowa pioneer medical plants. She took the group on a journey through Washington County, as it was being settled in 1830-50. It was the responsibility of the pioneer women to maintain family health. This task required the knowledge of proprietary medicines, medicinal animal, vegetable, and herb preparation that could be used as cures for various ailments. She specifically chose 14 plants that can still be found today either as wild plants or growing in a flower garden. Examples of such plants included: may apples, butterfly milkweed, joe pye weed, bee balm, and catnip. The roots of some plants were dried, and used as a tea or tincture; some leaves could also be used to form a poultice for injuries. The bark of the dogwood tree was used for malaria during the endemic in Iowa in the 1830s.

Billie, hostess of the meeting, treated everyone to a delicious dessert from Dodici?s. The next meeting will be at 1:30 p.m., Aug. 4, at the Log Cabin site in Sunset Park. A representative of the DAR will be on hand to tell about their recent work on the cabin, and upcoming plans.