Greenfield History Club meets, discusses Valentine's Day holiday

    The Greenfield History Club, celebrating its 86th year, met February 13th at the home of Kathleen McMullen. Following holiday-inspired refreshments, the meeting opened with members and guests reading the club's collect, written by Ferne Benner.  Kaye York-Longworth, president, relayed greetings from members currently in Florida, Dayton, and Kazakhstan.

    Answering roll call with a Valentine memory were: Mary Ann Larkin, Kathleen, Gwen Stanton, Kaye, Lee Ann Ross, Libby McGuffin, and Linda McMullen.  Minutes of the last meeting were read by Mary Ann for secretary, Sue Duff.  It was announced that the club's 2010 Greenfield Historical Society membership had been paid.  The latter's next event is a dinner, March 7th, at the Grain & Hay Building.  The club's March meeting will be at Sue Duff's home.

    The program, "February Pot-pourri," presented by Kaye, included prose and poetry highlighting Black History Month; the birthdays of George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln; and the history of St. Valentine and February 14th celebrations.  Kaye related "Love Stories" of several well-known Ohio couples including Miami University graduates, Mike and Frances Struewing DeWine; Annie Oakley and Frank Butler; and Thomas and Eleanor Worthington.  The program closed with a brief history of chocolate in the United States and also the 1930 Three Musketeers candy bar, which began as a tri-flavored confection, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate, was changed in 1940 to all chocolate, and is now available in a whipped-reduced- fat bar, one of which was given, frozen (a new idea), to each guest to sample.