By Sarah Landers
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
The Midway Woman’s Club is this year’s winner of the
Community Spirit Award from Midway University, honoring nearly a century of
community involvement.
This is the fourth year the award has been presented as part
of the annual Day for Midway celebration to celebrate the close connection
between Midway University and Woodford County. The university said it chose the
Midway Woman’s Club for its long-term service to the Woodford community.
The Woman’s Club has accomplished many volunteer projects
and has supported countless efforts to benefit the county over the years,
including the Midway Free Public Library, Northside Elementary School, Woodford
County High School, and the Midway Fall Festival.
"There is no other place like Midway and we're
fortunate to have neighbors and community partners like the Midway Woman’s Club
that are invested in our town and its possibilities," university President John P. Marsden said in a press release for the Oct. 10 event. "We are pleased to be
able to honor this worthy group and their giving spirit."
The Woman’s Club was established by a group of 42 Midway
women who first met in 1922 and adopted the slogan “For the Good of Our
Community.”
“That good over the years has included wrapping surgical
dressings during WWII, organizing a health education program for the county,
supporting local schools and students, and sponsoring candidate forums for
local and national elections,” Woman’s Club President Genie Graf said in an
email.
Some of the organization’s most popular recent events include
the Not-So-Scary Halloween Haunted House, an annual home and garden sale, and
the annual Christmas decorations contest.
The club hosts political forums, staffs the Kids Vote booth
at elections, sponsors an annual scholarship for a Midway woman high-school
graduate, and has speakers at its monthly meetings, which are open to the
public. Some recent speakers have included former Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen and
minister-columnist-author Paul Prather.
Not only has the club benefited the community, the members gain
from their involvement. Today, the club sustains around 30 active members, club
treasurer Katie Vandegrift said. Some members are new, and some have stayed
with the organization for several decades.
“The Midway Woman’s Club has been a gathering place for
Midway women,” Graf explained, “for women affiliated with Midway, where women
find commonality, where we find we are not so different, where we can find
friendship, where we find purpose in helping to support and build our community
into a place that we are humbled to call home.”
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