Wickes and the Polk County Home Extension Clubs, Past and Present

SUBMITTED BY MAXINE HOLMAN –

The Wickes chapter of the Extension Homemakers Clubs has been an active part of life in Polk County for decades. We could not determine the original date it was founded, but we do have scrapbooks for the Wickes Home Demonstration Club, as it was called then, as far back as 1952.

At that time, almost every community had a club, with a total of seventeen in Polk County. The County Home Demonstration Agent traveled throughout the county and presented educational demonstrations in the various communities. Homemakers were seeking information that would help them primarily in the home. Few women worked outside the home, and the major program focus was on food production, food preparation, and food preservation. Today, with most women having to work outside the home and having little free time, there are only four EHCs in Polk County.

The women in the Wickes club in the 1950s often met at the Wickes School Home Economics Building and took on projects such as canning pears, and planting shrubbery around the building.

At Club meetings, the women shared their ideas and studied topics such as how to use sewing machine attachments; home furnishings and how to decorate their homes; making bedspreads and feather comforters; making gloves, purses, and hats; canning food; decorating cakes; child care, and many other useful things.

Today, the EHC members are still active in improving the lives of people in Polk County. Some of our recent projects have included teaching dolls for children facing surgery, making preemie baby blankets, and quilting lap robes for nursing homes and rehab centers.

The EHC clubs participate in the Polk County Fair. This year we will raffle a quilt donated by Nancy Philpot. Proceeds from the raffle will go toward building a safe sidewalk around the Educational Building at the Polk County Fairgrounds.

If you are interested in joining any of the Polk County Extension Homemaker Clubs, get in touch with Kim Hughes, County Extension Agent, at 479-394-6018, or email her at khughes@uaex.edu.

About Author

Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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