History of the GFWC Lake Placid Women’s Club
Written by Jean Parrish, Historian

Lake Placid Woman's Clubhouse 1950's

Lake Placid Woman's Clubhouse 1999

The Lake Placid Women’s Club was founded in 1928 by a group of civic-minded women who saw a need for charitable acts within the town of Lake Placid, Florida.  Martha Middlebrook was the first President and the names of the forty charter members read like a “Who’s Who” of the pioneers of this small town, located at the south end of the Lake Wales Ridge.  Dues for the first year were $1.00.

One of the first projects undertaken by this group of active ladies was to clean up DeVane Park, a plot of land created in the center of a road that formed a circle, with other streets taking off from there.  The women dreamed of a rock garden inside the circle, but there were no rocks in Highlands County!  Not daunted, the women brought rocks back from vacation trips until, in 1930, W. S. Sherman donated some coquina rock, and with $50.00 from the club, they made their rock garden.

The club met faithfully, first at the high school, then in the clubhouse at Lake June Park, later in the Methodist Church Annex, and still later in the Presbyterian Church until by 1948, they had saved enough money ($6,429.00) to build their clubhouse.  Consolidated Naval Stores gave them three lots on Main Street and they bought the fourth for $175.00.  The clubhouse, at 21 N. Main Street, was first used in September of 1948.

The history of the Woman’s Club is the history of our Country, with the activities of the club reflecting the needs of the community at the time.  Started just before the Great Depression, the women worked very hard to meet the needs of people out of work in the 1930’s.  They provided clothing for the poor and were called upon to help repair the high school roof, set up Well Baby Clinics, and keep a library available for the town.  They contributed to uniforms for the high school band (many times).  They held a Halloween Carnival as a fund-raiser for twenty three years, until the school asked to be allowed to take this fund-raiser over.

During World War II, they sewed for the Red Cross and wrote letters to servicemen.  They tried to have a hamburger sale every Saturday night to make money, but the Ration Board would not give them the meat stamps needed, so they held BINGO games instead.

The Club joined the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1946.  This affiliation gave the club ideas for service through six departments of interest: Public Affairs, Conservation, Home Life, Arts and Crafts, International Affairs, and Education.  Building on these areas, the Club still funds social needs appropriate to each of them.

The town Library, housed early on in the home of teacher Ethel Seaverns, found a home in the clubhouse for many years, with Marie Anderson as one of the volunteer librarians.  When, in 1985, a group of townspeople were able to raise funds to purchase a building to house the library, the Women’s Club created a garden behind the library and named it “Marie’s Garden”.  In 1996, the club was given a Community Improvement Award from the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs for funding “Marie’s Garden”, again, this time behind the new Lake Placid Memorial Library.

After the library moved from the clubhouse in 1985, $13,000.00 of renovations were completed to the building, creating a large kitchen, a men’s room, and storage.  The walls were paneled and the floors carpeted.  This mortgage was burned in 1989.

The Mural program of Lake Placid was given a boost in 1993 with the use of a prominent wall of the clubhouse for one of the first murals, “Dawn Patrol” by Thomas Brooks.  The club held an “International Dinner” in 2000 and an “Evening in Paris” dinner in 2001, both of which earned $1,000.00 to benefit the Mural Society.

No service club in Lake Placid can match the community spirit that has been displayed by the Lake Placid Woman’s Club over the past 73 years.  Where there was a need, the club answered the call, whether it be for food, clothing, a new roof on the high school, band uniforms, irrigation for Main Street, high school scholarships….on and on the requests have mounted over the years.  Each time, the Lake Placid Woman’s Club responded to the best of their ability.

The Club meets for lunch, a business meeting, and a speaker on the third Thursday of each month except June, July, and August.   Dues are currently $35.00 per year.

The name of the club was changed in the Spring of 2001 to reflect their association with the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, an International Federation.  The name is now GFWC Lake Placid Woman’s Club.