For over 90 years, the Friendly 20 Club has brought women together in friendship, fellowship, and service to their community almost entirely in secrecy because for those who have belonged to the club over the years, the organization is about much more than recognition.
Being a member of the Friendly 20 is about remembering what came before you, assisting during hardships, celebrating during triumphs, sharing experiences, and recognizing the simple idea to nourish friendship that brought a group of women together in 1936 can hold true nine decades later – proving the club motto; real friendship is abiding.
“They want to help each other in the club, minister to each other in the 20 people that we have in the group because we have sickness, we have death, we have things that happen that's traumatic and some of us that's the only connection they have to the community,” said Zallee Campbell, a club historian and the current vice president.
In March of this year, members gathered and commemorated the 90th anniversary of the club’s organization.
“Visiting together was such a delight as we went through the old records and remembered many of the previous members and neighbors from years of old,” said Campbell. “Everyone was glad they had come to celebrate this milestone.”
The anniversary celebration offered an opportunity not only to celebrate the present but also to remember the women who established the organization so long ago.
More than a Club
The club's longevity is reflected in its records. Members have carefully preserved minutes and other historical documents from its earliest days which provides a remarkable record of the organization's evolution.
“It's been very interesting to read the meetings and know what they did during the years and the support that they give some of the organizations,” said Campbell.
The Friendly 20 Club was organized in 1936 by a group of women from the Happy Valley community which spanned local towns across modern day Lincoln, Payne, and Creek County lines. According to the club’s substantial historical records, Mabel Sturgeon (initially recorded as Mrs. George Sturgeon) invited several neighborhood women to her home on March 5, after visiting with them about the need for a small social club. Due to her initiative Sturgeon is noted as the club founder in its records.
The first official meeting of the club was held in the home of Bonnie Ladd (recorded as Mrs. Forrest Ladd) on March 20, according to a 1980 document created by Nora Smith – who was elected as the first club president. During the first meeting the group nominated and elected leadership and committee members, established term limits, set club expectations, and decided on a club name.
Names considered included Cotton Club, Hostess Club, Community Sunshine Club, Good Cheer Club, and Friendly Twenty which was ultimately chosen. Since then the name has been modernized to Friendly 20 and shortened to F20 in recent club documentation. The name comes from the choice to limit club membership to only 20 – a decision that remains to this day. Smith would later note that honorary membership was allowed bringing club numbers up to 25 at one point.
Additionally, during the meeting dues were set at 25 cents a year and office terms to six months. At this time, Smith was elected as president with Mary Brown as vice president, Leatha Robinson as secretary, and Mary Noltensmeyer as assistant secretary and reporter. Noltensmeyer, Helen McLaury, and Ladd were appointed to an entertainment committee. Leah Tannahill, Mabel Brown, and Lillian Blackburn were appointed to the first yearbook committee.
The club has preserved the names of its 20 charter members from 1936 – names that represent the beginning of an organization that continues to withstand the test of time. In addition to the aforementioned committee members and elected officers, club members were Founder Mabel Sturgeon, Lela Beall, Alice Dethloff, Lillie Drake, Hazel Fryhover, Rena Hemmer, Daisy Ladd, Vesta Morgan, Addie Robison, Kate Whipkey, and Laura Whipkey.
The club was designed as a place where women could meet, share ideas, relax, and enjoy one another’s company while finding opportunities to provide assistance to those in need. While the club’s specific motto remains friendship is abiding its broader motto describes the spirit of the organization as meeting in friendship, sharing interests, joys and sorrows, and trusting God for direction and guidance.
At the 90th anniversary gathering, Carol Watkins, one of the club’s historians, read a poem titled “Friendly Twenty Club Comes of Age.” Jeanette Hardick wrote the poem for the club’s 18th anniversary in 1954. An album of old photographs also was available for members to enjoy, bringing faces and memories from earlier generations back into the anniversary celebration.
More things change The same leadership titles have been in place as when it first began but with new members filling the roles. As of Sept. 8, the newest leadership of the club in addition to Campbell and Watkins are President Jackie Brockamp, Secretary/Treasurer LaVona Smith, and Assistant Secretary/ Treasurer Terry Rodgers. The number of committees has changed significantly. The yearbook committee has remained a staple but the entertainment committee has been dissolved. Now the club has a total of nine committees; yearbook, flowers and gifts, finance, projects, activity, cards, funeral, historian, and care.
Fellowship has always been at the heart of Friendly 20 but the club’s history also shows that its members have spent generations helping others. Campbell said Watkins and her are currently working on a scrapbook of what the group has done and what was happening in the world throughout the years.
“It's been interesting to go through the Depression with this late group of ladies, we've gone through World War II, the beginning of World War II. We went through all of the things that you think about during the '40s, where they had fires and people had burned out homes. We have had the Vietnam War, where they supported the Vietnam soldiers. There was an orphanage that they supported. They made quilts for people who lost their homes to fires. They gave baby showers to mamas that were having babies in the club or women who didn't have anything that were having a baby,” said Campbell. “They gave sunshine boxes to elderly people that were kind of shut-ins… Ninety years is a long time.”
One of the first projects documented in the club's early days by Smith was the making of “Friendship Quilts”. Members embroidered their names on blocks that were assembled into quilts for club hostesses. Over time, the project expanded to include quilts and other items for people in need. Smith recounted that quilts were provided to families whose homes had burned and clothing being made for families in need. Smith credited Alice Dethloff (reported initially as Mrs. John Dethloff) with the creation of the quilts for many years.
“She worked long hours with some assistance of others, to provide a good supply of quilts,” said Smith.
Smith went on to say the quilts had become too costly to keep up with for a small group and that the project would have to be replaced with something else.
During the 1950s and 1960s, members donated Easter and Thanksgiving dinners and other items to an orphanage south of Perkins. The club also has a long history of supporting community activities by sponsoring Halloween parties, New Year’s watch parties, Father’s Day suppers, waffle and oyster suppers, picnics, and ice cream socials. Members hosted weddings and baby showers and even entertained the community with free plays.
According to Smith’s records, during World War II the club adjusted its activities to the circumstances of the time. This led to meetings being held only once a month to conserve rationed gasoline. Members also pieced wool lap robes for the Red Cross and made donations to the NSO (National Service Officers) program at this time. The regular schedule was resumed in 1947 but restructured once again in 1964.
“Now we close our summer meetings with a picnic in June and begin meetings in September,” said Smith in 1980.
Campbell noted the club year continues to span from September to June with organizational meetings being held each month until June when the club participates in a social outing.
More they stay the same
Although Campbell said she has only been a member of Friendly 20 for a year she has found comfort in the similarities and differences of the group.
“It is a diverse group of women with diverse backgrounds and ages,” she said. “We have different locations. We live in different towns. I would say, we’re all born again Christians, we all love the Lord and include the Lord in our thinking but without preaching it.”
This year, at the beginning of September, members gathered for the club’s first meeting of its 91st year. The club currently has 16 active members and meets on the second Tuesday of each month, except in July and August, at various locations ranging from restaurants to different members’ homes. Campbell emphasized that there were four member slots currently available and anyone interested could contact club leadership through their recently created Facebook page.
The club’s traditional colors are purple and gold with violets and daffodils as its flowers and the maple tree as its emblematic tree. The club scripture of choice is Psalm 133; “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity”. Its song is “Home Sweet Home,” a fitting choice for an organization whose history is rooted in neighborliness and belonging.
Today, Campbell said the club continues its tradition of helping others through projects such as sending get-well and sympathy cards, providing funeral meals, adopting nursing-home residents, collecting items for nursing-home bingo, and donating food and other needed items to organizations and individuals throughout surrounding communities.
Campbell said the club has members across several communities including Agra, Ripley, Cushing, and Stroud. Membership is open to women within the surrounding communities including Drumright and Yale. Their 2026-2027 year began at the beginning of September and their remaining meetings are scheduled for Oct. 13 and Nov. 10 with a date to be determined for their December meeting this year. In 2027, meeting dates are Jan. 12, Feb. 9, Mar. 9, Apr. 13, and May 11 with a June field trip to be determined.
From 20 women meeting in a Happy Valley home with 25cent annual dues to 16 members continuing the tradition today, the Friendly 20 Club remains true to the words that have guided it through the decades.