Thursday Morning Club turns 39 today

Amy R. Spurgeon

NEWPORT BEACH -- Back in September 1960, the wife of a retired

Corona del Mar doctor decided to form a ladies club that promoted

friendliness and community involvement. Florine Roper called her club the

Thursday Morning Club -- for the day and time the ladies would meet.

“We are a bunch of women who just like to be friendly and have a

positive attitude about things,” said member Marilyn Reich, 74, of Costa

Mesa. “Every city should have a women’s club.”

Members will meet today at the Balboa Bay Club to celebrate the club’s

39th birthday. Women of all ages will gather in the main ballroom to

enjoy lunch and a fashion show.

The club, which has held monthly luncheons at the Bay Club for most of

four decades, includes groups that focus on traveling, golfing, walking,

stitchery and bridge. The club also raises funds for local charities such

as Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves and Women Helping Women. They also put

out a monthly newsletter called “The Clarion.”

But Reich worries that the nonprofit organization is facing a decline

in membership. In its heyday the group boasted 600 members.

“I don’t know if the younger gals are finding other things to do or if

they are working,” Reich said. But the tradition of daughters joining

their mothers’ club has stopped in the last 10 years, she said.

Reich said the club tries to keep its members challenged by

encouraging involvement with community activities. She said the group

hopes to hold a fund-raiser and holiday party this year.

The club is mostly for women living in Newport-Mesa, though anyone in

Orange County can join. The club’s monthly entertainment luncheons are

held on the second Thursday of the month at the Balboa Bay Club. For more

information, call (714) 546-2244.