Meeting Minutes

The May 23, 2024 meeting held at the Hope Baptist Church was called to order at 10:00 am by President Laurie Elmore. The Homemakers Hertiage Club hosted the meeting. Kathy Stieg welcomed everyone, offered the invocation and gave a brief history of Ridgway. We began with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Club Collect. 

Roll Call was answered with the # of members in each club and the # present. 

Willard Homemakers 10 members Members present 4

Albion 400 9 members, 1 present, 1 guest, Diligent Doers 10 members, 3 present and 2 guests,

Homemakers Heritage 19 members, 16 present and 8 guests, MSU Extension Carter County Agent 1

The minutes were read. Motion made by Meghan Phillippi and seconded by Thebea Thomas to accept minutes. Motion carried. The treasurer report was given with $2,138.69 in checking and $25.71 in savings. A motion made by Tessa Tauck, second by Catherine Richards to accept report. Motion carried. 

Nita gave the scholarship report.  $718 was taken in at Fall Council. There is $5,623.07 in the account now. Jaren Lingle from Fallon County and Kendall Kittelmann from Carter County won the scholarships for 2024.  A thank you was read from Nic Buerkle, 2023 scholarship winner.

We had a moment of silence for those who have passed on.

50 year members were discussed again. Laurie has found some Extension pins/ 50 years on them to award to the 50 yr. members who are Dorothy Padden from Diligent Doers, Shirley Barth from Baker Homecraft, Alice Kay Schweigert from Willard Homemakers and Kathy Stieg from Willard Homemakers and Homemakers Heritage. A motion was made by Meghan Phillippi and second by Tessa Tauck to award the pins and reimburse Laurie for the pins ($66.51). Motion carried. 

Amanda Williams, Carter County Extension Agent, gave an updated report on the Council scrapbooks. She has them in her office in Ekalaka. 

We discussed the scholarship. The committee suggested that since we have a large sum of money in the account that we should either raise the amount we give ($500) or give 2 scholarships in each county. After much discussion Molly Barkley made a motion to give first place $500, and second place $250 with the committee having the option to adjust the amounts according to the sum in the account. Motion carried. 

In March of this year, the Extension in Carter and Fallon Counties separated. Amanda Williams is the Carter County agent and Fallon County is in the process of hiring another agent. There was a big discussion on how we should handle the Homemaker's Council from now on. Meghan moved and Tessa seconded it to keep the counties together as much as we can since we are not affiliated with the Extension Service. They only act as a resource for the Council. Meghan Phillippi volunteered to set up an online news group so we can all keep informed of the programs and resources out there for us. We will address this discussion at the fall council meeting. 

Amanda announced programs that extension is hosting this Spring. Fall Council will be hosted by Puptown Wranglers. The meeting was adjourned. 

Andy Hall, pastor of Hope Baptist Church, prepared and served a delicious dinner of beef brisket, cheesy potatoes, green beans, spinach/strawberry salad, garlic toast. For dessert we had an ice cream buffet of a variety of toppings. All very delicious.

Throughout the day we purchased tickets for the bucket auction and bid on the silent auction items to raise money for the Scholarship. There were 4 really nice baskets of a variety of useful items and a very large selection of silent auction items- books, plants, games, food items, videos, and many others. 

Homemaker's Heritage had brought many different items upcycled from common things found around most homes and displayed them for all to admire and get inspiration from. Drinks and cookies were available all day and lots of good visits. It was a very enjoyable and informative day. 

Sharon Higgins, Secretary.

*The programs for the MSU Extension Service are available to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. Issued in furtherance of cooperation extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cody Stone, Director of Extension, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717*