The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 17

HDD Tuesday, July 4, 1995 The Pantagraph The Clio Club History alive after I 1 -el years 11 ill I if 1 Ji It i n- vk V. limnn.K Clio Club founder, Nannie McCullough Orme Dyson, was the widow of Brig. Gen. William Ward Orme, who served in the Civil War, having been appointed by Abraham Lincoln. She was a daughter of Col.

William McCullough, who was killed in battle during the Civil War. Clio Club members posed for a group photo in 1955. In back, from left: Sally Stevenson, Margaret Rust, Nan Evans, (granddaughter of the Clio Club founder) Helen Wollrab, Clara Agle, Alice Elliott, Dorothy Davis, Dorothy Burritt, Edith Kuhn. Middle: Helen Wells, Amy Heffernan, Sybil Hiser, Floy Fleming, Hazle Buck Ewing, Marjorie Dolan, Florence Funk, Helen Green, Liffy McCormick. Front row: Bede Felmley, Peg Sweitzer, Grace Holton, Alice Mulliken, Maeotta Funk.

By JAMES KEERAN Pantagraph staff If there's a thing the members of Clio Club have in common it is not necessarily a love of history. Although Clio is a club named after the Greek muse of history. What the women who belong to this club, celebrating its 100 anniversary this year, say they enjoy most about it is the it brings for them to associate with women they admire and respect. Sure, they enjoy the programs they hear at their monthly meetings, and they enjoy the hospitality to which they are treated. But the older women seem to enjoy the mentoring they give to the younger women, and the younger women seem to enjoy being mentored.

It's this admixture of generations combined with an appreciation for what has gone on before and what is yet to happen that keeps the club's membership rolls full at 25. "It's one of those things that's kind of passed down," said Jackie Dolan of Normal, who joined in 1957 and has been a member longer than anybody else. The club began on the afternoon of Dec. 5, 1895, when, said Virginia Evans Dunn of Normal, a group of cousins and daughters and friends met at the home of Nannie Lavina McCullough Orme Dyson. And it seems since the beginning that a daughter or a daughter-in-law always has been coming in.

Virginia Evans Dunn was the daughter-in-law of Nan Morgan Evans, who was the daughter of Lucy Orme Morgan, who was the daughter of Nannie Orme Dyson. All were Clio Club members, and, while she hasn't passed it on directly daughter lives in California. That makes it her stepdaughter-in-law is, as is Carol Dolan of Bloomington, who is the daughter-in-law of Jackie Dolan and the club's newest member. She couldn't be more delighted to be included in Clio. "It's a lovely way for me to get to know some of the people in the community," she said, "who share a wide variety of interests." The younger Dolan, who found herself elected secretary of Clio for 1995-96 when she missed a meeting, hasn't given a program yet, and claims to be "terrified" at the prospect.

But, by virtue of her secretaryship, she will be spared that rite of passage for awhile. A freelance advertising researcher, Dolan said Clio "gives me the same kind of stimulation that I was used to in the workplace." Forty years ago things were different. "I was a young mother with two little kids," said the elder Dolan, remembering when she received a handwritten invitation to join Clio. "It was a wonderful way to get to know some of the older women there were really just a lot of really interesting women in the program so I was very honored." That, of course, has not changed even in a hundred years, and neither has the loyalty within the membership. Nita Riss has been a member since 1985 and will be president the coming year.

She has given programs on political subjects and on such topics as Native American rugs, jewel ry and pottery. The programs, she said, and not only hers, are "really worthwhile." In the beginning and through the years, the club met as often as 18 times a year in members' homes. And there would be three papers at each meeting. "This early tradition," wrote Dunn in a 1987 history of Clio, "gave way later to only one paper plus a current event for the 15 meetings each year. Our present day practice is 10 meetings with one paper each and several cups of And always there would be pleasant conversation and friendship.

The original roll of 16 members was enlarged to 18, then 20 and finally 25. Somebody has to die or move away or quit (which never seems to happen) to create an opening. There are, however, 15 associate members, said Riss, members who are not regularly active in the club. "It's a lovi.ng kind of relationship," said Jackie Dolan of the way she feels about the women of Clio. "We take care of See CLIO, next page Penpals create special bond ft across the miles Today's Outlook By Renette Althouse Althouse lives in Lexington.

In the summer of 1972, 1 wrote the following letter to the editor of Child Life Magazine: how school was going, what our families were doing, and so on. As time went on, we became best of friends confidantes through those letters. Wendy and I were like What's your outlook? Deor Editor, I mil soon be 10 years old. I have one dog named Pal. I live on a farm near Colfax with my brother, Kent, and my mom and dad.

My hobbies are playing the piano and riding my bike. I like to read Child Life. Renette Petersen Colfax, Illinois the "city mouse" and the "country mouse." She was from a very urban area, between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. I was from a very rural area, six miles north of Colfax. Despite our differences, we "clicked." For the first few years, we talked on the phone to each other once a vpar- Readers are invited to be guest writers for The Pantograph's Today's Outlook column.

We are interested in readers who can provide On insight into wpmen's issues or a woman's perspective on public issues. If you are interested in writing for Today's Outlook contact: -nwiar This letter was published in Child Life magazine in the December 1972 issue. Was I excited! The next month, I received a letter from The Pantograph Features department (309) 829-9411, ext. 250. at Christmas.

Our letters, on the other hand, were frequent. After graduation, when I was 17, my parents let me Wendy Viden, 9 years old, of Glassboro, N.J., after she had seen this letter to the editor. She chose me as a pen pal as part of a class assignment to write to someone across the miles. Our first letters were simple mainly describing visit Wendy in person for the first time. Wendy and I arranged that at the Philadelphia airport we would each be wearing a yel-low T-shirt with our names on the front and "PEN See PALS, next page J- Tht PnttgrphDAVID PROEBER Renette Petersen Althouse has maintained a close relationship with pen pal Wendy Vlden Copenhaver..