Club News

Martha Washington Questers 1032 met on May 21, 2015, at the home of Jane Fehr. President Linda Newlon led the group in the Questers Invocation. Attendance included 10 members and a new member, Sharon Hough. Two members were absent.

Linda, who will serve as the new historian, has the historian books from past historian Gerry Schmidt.

Janet Peterson had made arrangements for a trip to Centerville on Friday, June 19. The group will have lunch at the One of a Kind Tearoom, then take a trolley tour and do some shopping in an old mansion called the Bradley House. Eleven members indicated interest. Those attending will meet at the Hy-Vee parking lot at 8:30 a.m. Janet and Linda will drive.

Linda shared some pictures from the tree which the club members decorated at Conger House for Christmas. The August meeting will be on Aug. 28 at the home of Linda Newlon, with a program on Pyrex dishes. A signup sheet was sent around for next year?s meeting places and programs.

The program was given by Linda Newlon, who told about her life in Alaska. Her parents were from the Washington area, but after World War II they went to Alaska for better job opportunities. Linda was 5 years old when the family moved. They had a 1952 Hudson automobile pulling a trailer, and drove to Alaska. Anchorage had only three paved roads when they arrived, and the family lived in a small home with only two rooms and no running water. After living in a few small homes, they finally moved up and into a home with running water and lots of room. While Linda lived there, Alaska was not yet a state. The citizens paid taxes but had no vote, so in 1959 Alaska became a state. The biggest change in their lives came in March 1964 when a huge earthquake hit Alaska. Linda was in the downtown area and held onto a parking meter while the street buckled under her and buildings came crashing down. None of her family was hurt, but the town was destroyed. She met her husband in Alaska, even though he and his family came from Brighton. She said that she had to travel 4,000 miles to marry a man from another Iowa town, and they have been married for 51 years.