Gabe Stark
Reporter

For generations, the Southside Farm Club has served as more than a monthly meeting. The club, which traces its roots to 1939, began as a way for rural farm women south of Trenton to come together for education, fellowship and support.

More than eight decades later, members say the purpose remains much the same, even as farms, families and daily life have changed.

The club is connected to the rural area south of Trenton near U.S. Highway 65, including the area around May Corner and Foster Corner. Some members also referred to the area as Rabbit Ridge.

Members recently gathered to reflect on the club’s history, their years of involvement and the friendships that have kept members active.

Ellen Dolan, who has been involved with the Southside Farm Club for about 30 years, said the club has remained meaningful because of the connection between neighbors.

“I am not a club person,” Dolan said. “I don’t like women’s organizations or organizations in any form. I fight conforming, but when I was invited to the Southside Farm Club 30 years ago, the food was excellent, the friendships were good and they were my neighbors.”

Dolan said the club has helped preserve a sense of responsibility among neighbors, even when members do not always share the same opinions.

“We all don’t think alike and we all have different opinions, but above all of that is that we do care about each other,” she said.

Marie Dolan, who has been a member since 2013, said the club helped her become more connected after moving to the Trenton area.

“When I came here, I was kind of a newcomer,” Marie said. “This was a chance when I was invited to get to know my neighbors that I probably never would have known before.”

For many members, the club’s greatest value has been members showing up for one another during difficult times. Marie said members were among the first to support her after her husband Terry died.

“The first people that showed up and contacted me were members of the Southside Farm Club,” she said. “They brought food, came to the funeral and visitation, and that really means a lot.”

Jackie Altenderfer said the club also supported her family after the death of her husband’s mother and during other difficult years.

“Southside Farm Club called right away and wanted to know what they could do to help,” Altenderfer said. “Some of them came and stayed at the house while we were at the funeral, and they brought food and called and checked on us.”

Sue Brewer, who joined the club in 1983, recalled how the Southside group welcomed her family after they moved to the area from England. She said neighbors helped unload a 40-foot container of the family’s belongings, and Robin Meservey later invited her to join the club.

“Everybody in the club has been very supportive and very happy to help you relocate from a different country,” Brewer said. “It has been a wonderful part of my life.”

The Southside Farm Club has marked several milestones through the years, including its 50th anniversary in 1989 and its 80th anniversary in 2019. Current members said the club continues because it adapts while holding on to its original purpose: neighborliness, shared knowledge, food, friendship and support.

As the club looks back on more than eight decades of history, members said the Southside Farm Club remains rooted in the same values that shaped its beginning.