Our History

Meet Eastside Welcome Club's First President

 From a talk given by Pat Pogue at the inaugural luncheon for EWC's 60th year, September 10, 2009

It was sixty years ago, in 1949, that the first meeting of our Club, which was originally called the Shaker Welcome Wagon Club, was held. At that time, Carolyn Warren was the Shaker Heights Welcome Wagon representative. In that capacity, she had been greeting newcomers to Shaker Heights for about about five years. In the time honored Welcome Wagon tradition, when she called on the new residents, she carried with her a decorated basket full of community information, maps of the area, and gift coupons from local merchants. After presenting these items to the newcomers, she would often stay to visit and to answer questions. It soon occurred to Carolyn that there should be some way of bringing all of those newcomers together, particularly since very few women were working outside the home at that time, and there was no easy way for them to meet others in the community.

So with the help of three friends, she telephoned all of the women whom she had called on during the previous year, and invited them to attend a luncheon at the Chagrin Valley Country Club. There were 30 in attendance at that first meeting. A sign-up sheet was passed around with a list of the officers who would be needed for the Club to function successfully, and all of the positions were quickly filled by volunteers.

For many years after that initial meeting, the monthly meetings of the Club were held at Higbees Department store downtown. Just to give you an idea of how times have changed, the price of the luncheons at that time was $2.00, the women all wore hats and gloves, and most of them stayed after the luncheon and program to play bridge.

Eventually, Carolyn moved to the suburbs east of Shaker Heights, where she became the Welcome Wagon representative for Pepper Pike, Hunting Valley, Gates Mills and Orange. She retired in 1986 after 43 years of welcoming newcomers. Even after she retired Carolyn was always vitally interested in our Club, and it gave her great pleasure to see that it continued to flourish over the years. In the eighties and nineties, it was rare for there to be fewer than sixty women in attendance at each of the monthly luncheons.

Following her retirement, Carolyn always attended at least one of our luncheons each year, usually the one in May which often featured a fashion show, and she would invariably bring two or three guests with her. Incidentally, she was always the driver on those occasions. At our luncheon in May of 2002, which was just two weeks before her 100th birthday in early June, we had a special celebration for her, and of course a birthday cake. There may be several of you here today who were attending our luncheons that long ago, and had an opportunity to meet her.

I think you can tell by the sparkle in her eyes that Carolyn, who was born in 1902, was no ordinary individual. She was spunky, energetic, and always full of fun. I was interested to learn, when reading through some articles supplied by her cousin and a grand-niece, that she actually changed her name. Her maiden name was Schryver, and her parents named her Caroline May. However, she changed Caroline to Carolyn, because she preferred that pronunciation, and she changed her middle name, May, to June because that was the month when she was born.

Her great passion, in addition to The Welcome Wagon Club, was golf, which she had played since she was sixteen. She was still playing three times a week in her eighties, but slowed to twice a week in her nineties. I know for a fact that she still played golf when she was ninety-nine, because when I helped her to her car following the 100th birthday celebration that I referred to earlier, I saw the golf clubs in the trunk of her car. She had driven herself and her guests all the way from the Breckenridge Retirement Center in Willoughby where she lived then, to the Skating Club, where the luncheon was held. She actually passed her driver's license test at age 98, and was thrilled to know that she was therefore entitled to drive for four more years.

Carolyn passed away in 2003 at age 101, having outlived three husbands. As a tribute to her passion for golf, her memorial service was held at Barrington Golf Club. While she was in hospice care, and the end was near, her grand -niece, Sharon Margiotta, stayed with her night and day. The two of them were very close, and Sharon told me that both she and Carolyn believe that it is possible for people who have "crossed over" to communicate with loved ones still on earth. In fact, shortly before she died, Carolyn said to Sharon, "You've always been my guardian angel, and now I'm going to be your guardian angel." She told Sharon that when the time came, she intended to give her a sign that she had crossed over, and that all was well. Two days after Carolyn died, there was a knock on the front door of Sharon's home in Bainbridge, and there stood a women with a basket who said that she was on her way to a newcomers's club meeting and had become lost. The woman said that she had somehow been drawn to Sharon's house, and had felt sure that there would be someone there who could give her directions.

That incident seemed to Sharon to be as clear a sign as there could possibly be that Carolyn had kept her promise.

Carolyn, if you're looking down on us today, and Sharon assured me that you would be, we salute you and thank you. Because of your inititative and effort, hundreds--probably thousands-- of newcomers to this area have been able to meet new friends and to feel at home in their new community. Please rest assured that all is well with this club which you started so many years ago.