The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-11-11
THE FORTN|GHTLY
OBSERVED FIST
BIRTHDAY
Anniversary Celebration Satur-
day Evening
TALK BY MRS. WATSON
1865 Guests Present to Help Com
memorate the Founding of
the Club.

The Fortnightly observed its twenty
first birthday anniversary with a
celebration III the parlors of the Sec
ond Congregational church Saturday
evening, which was one of the
pleasantest social affairs in the his
tory of the club.
1he celebration began at six o
clock, the guests being received by
Miss Hilda Pratt, president of the
club, Mrs. w. j. WATSON of Water
bury. the guest of honor and presi-
dent of the Vermont State Fedora
ton of Womens clubs and some OF
the other officers OF the club, Mrs. Il.
Livingston Sibley, Mrs. William w.
Burke, Miss Florence A. Walbridge,
and Mrs. George S. Mills.
Mrs. r. S. Drysdalot Mrs. Joseph M.
Ayres, Mrs. George G. Bond, Miss
Edith Dewey and Miss Harriet We'll
ling of North Bennington acted as
ushers, all of whom wore small bou-
quets of laurel.
At $50 refreshments were served
at small tables, music be-
Sunday school orchestra. Covers
were laid for 165, at each
place being a fern. At at large table,
arranged on the small platform at the
front of the room, were seated, Mrs
WATSON, Miss Pratt, Mrs. Mills, Mrs
Burke, Miss Walbridge, Mrs. Sibley
and Mrs. Philip Schuyler, who acted
as toastmistress. The platform was
banked with pine boughs, a large sill
yer vase of pink chrysanthemums
being used as a centerpiece for the
table. Candles in soft green shades
added to the artistic effect. At an
other large table, which was also
prettily decorated with pink chrysan-
themums, Mrs. Henry T. Cushman
and Mrs. Henry S. Bingham poured
coffee.
The menu was as follows:
chicken salad sandwiches
coffee
strawberry ice cream fancy cakes
candy
Those who assisted were the Miss
es Sarah and Mary Shaw, Brigie and
Gertrude Mcclure, Ursula Frost OF
Brooklyn, n. Y, Florence Ward,
Dorothy Houghton of North Benning-
ton, Martha Pratt, Julia LOOMS,
Anna Shufelt, Edith and Eunice
Lyons and Mary Wells.
The exercises which followed were
carried out in a pleasing manner,
some of the responses being witty
and humorous, while others took up
some of the more serious aspects of
the occasion of the club reaching its
majority. Mrs. Schuyler, in her open
ing remarks gave brief tribute to
Mrs. Charles II. Seymour, the clubs
first president Mrs. Joseph NJ.
Ayres then read letter from Miss
Jennie Valentine, who left Saturday
for a trip abroad and who was one
of the first members of the club. The
letter follows:
Dear Fortnightly:
AS one of your godmothers ! am
privileged to leave a message of
memory and of hope for you on this
your birthday.
Surely one must be growing old
who can recall distinctly and clearly
events of twenty-one years ago, but !
can. officiated ioyously at your
christening. for II was easy to see
that you were a precocious infant
no magician was needed to discern |
latent powers of no mediocre sort |
and | foresaw then what these years |
have brought to pass-a clean, whole |
some youth, and a coming of age free |
from the stain of wild oats sown or |
of grievous mistakes made. Any, |
oh .,,,1I 1
safely predict a glorious, undishonor- |
ed career for child possessing such |
elements of strength as you did then. |
Your intellectual endowment includ- |
ed perspicacity and executive effici- |
ency (Mrs. SEYMOUR; scholarly |
taste and training Mrs. Severance:
cleverness and alertness of mind |
Mrs. Ritchie); poetic genius mrs |
Olin Scott versatility of talents |
(Mrs. Charles jennings: literary /
knowledge and aptitude for writing |
and reading Mrs. Valentine): pro-
nounced intellectualism (Mrs. Per /
kins); bright mentality (Mrs. +. H. |
Scott: and even other gifts which I
could not fail to cause a notable ca
reer. Your childhood was no play |
0uA a HtAAVu VI MOIha YOU i
reversed the usual order and worked |
early and now sit luxuriously and /
hire the work done Read the early l
records IL you doubt my statement 1
that most OF the members worked /
most OF the time those first construc- /
tive years. the same names appear /
over and over-l find the names Of 1
two members who took part in eight /
that first year You put /
good solid labor and many hours Of 1
study into those. home made pro
chairmanship was no
sinecure. yet Il was seldom refused.
such was the faithful devotion Of 4
your serious youth. Now you say a
ready NO" even IL asked to find .
someone 10 do the the talking-and 1
an unfortunate toastmistress is met
by negatives from so many she in
vites to contribute to tonights good 4
cheer that she is forced to turn to a
travelling godmOther for word.
Yes-yOurs was a splendid and virile
childhood and youth. Today your
full manhood is reached and reached
creditable with earnest officers in
charge; manhood should not be a