Pilot Point’s Nineteenth Century Club has a new president, Kate Major, and a few exciting changes ahead.
For over a century, the club has served the community in numerous ways, surviving World Wars, the Great Depression and other significant points in history to continue its mission.
“When you go to see old pictures of Pilot Point, [the] Nineteenth Century Club was probably there too,” Kate said.
The club’s purpose is to “improve quality of life in Pilot Point through community service, education, volunteerism, leadership, civic involvement, preservation of local history and support of future generations through scholarships.”
Major added that the club hopes to have more fundraisers to help raise money to offer another scholarship opportunity for graduating seniors at Pilot Point who are going to a trade school.
“Probably the biggest thing that [the club] does is it pulls together a group of women across Pilot Point that all have a desire to make Pilot Point a better place to live,” Kate said.
She has been a member of the club for over four years and learned about it through Kay Sprout, the club president at that time.
But when she initially heard about the club, she imagined it as an “old ladies club,” until she went to visit herself.
“I went, and I got a chance to meet some of the best people that I know today. … The name sounds old, but it's not an old ladies club,” Kate said.
Fast forward, the club was struggling to find a new president to succeed the former president, Paula McCoy. So, with the support of her fellow club members, she decided to throw her hat in the ring.
“It was affirming,” Kate said. “It was knowing that I might be in the right place for such a time as this.”
As the new president, Kate was tasked with creating a motto; she reflected with her husband, Chad Major.
“My husband helped me come up with the motto. And I said, ‘When you think of the Nineteenth Century Club, what do you think of?’ Because I knew what I thought,” Kate said. “And he said, ‘I think of strong women.’” Kate took that suggestion and turned it into her motto, ‘Strong women, making our commUNITY stronger,’ with unity being in all caps.
“We do have a lot of strong women in our community,” Kate said. “We have a lot of women that have just been in the community, maybe for the last five or six years, are very active in making Pilot Point a better place to live, as well as those that have been here for a long, long time making Pilot Point a better place to live.”
To continue its mission, the club has changed its meeting date/time to the second Tuesday night of the month to make it more accessible for future and existing club members.
“It's been getting a little bit harder for those that are working to be able to join us, and we're trying to make sure that we keep the club young and vibrant,” Kate said.
To learn more about the Nineteenth Century Club, which runs from September to May, there is a free kickoff event at Starbright Center for the Arts in Pilot Point to join the ladies for the free screening of Steel Magnolias at 2:30 p.m. Aug 30.
“I'm hoping all our members come, and they bring friends, and we do a good job of filling up the theater,” Kate said.
She encourages others to set their preconceived notions aside to see what the club has to offer.
“I've never run into such a committed group of women to do the right things for Pilot Point,” Kate said.
