Salt Creek Questers share stories of their lives
Salt Creek Questers, Arlington Heights, is a 54-year-old chapter and proud of that heritage. The Salt Creek Questers were the second chapter chartered in Illinois; the first chapter disbanded, so it is now the oldest Questers group in the state. Although the club no longer has any charter members, they have some very longtime members and are equally proud of the newer, younger members.
A little over a year ago, a club member mentioned that she had attended a program at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. The speaker had discussed "Writing Your Memoirs" and that program motivated Salt Creek Quester members to do the same. The club discussed the goals and issues of writing memoirs, and agreed that during the next year, members would present their memoirs during club meetings. It was stressed by the club's liaison that members should approach this as documenting the things they wanted their grandchildren to know about, both family history and personal stories.
As the program committee scheduled events for the 2014-2015 year, they included eight members, who had agreed to write and present memoirs, two each at four scheduled meetings. These presentations were interspersed with speakers on Celtic crosses in Illinois, the Christmas luncheon and charity auction, a presentation on printed feed sacks and a tour of a an early 20th century mansion.
The instructions for the memoirs was to describe 10 years of your life in a half-hour presentation. Some of the members wrote out their history completely and read it at the meeting while others wrote down topic sentences as reminders and gave a free-range oral history. Club members have learned that they have grown up in different decades and different areas of the country. Some have been raised on farms, others in cities or suburbs. Some have known secure, comfortable childhoods, others have faced more difficult times.
At the beginning of this program, one or two members didn't want to participate, now, seeing the diversity, the challenges, the joys, everyone wants to share a story. Club members have heard eight memoirs this year, helping them to understand American women and one another more fully. They still have five more memoirs to go, and some are requesting they have the opportunity to report on another decade in their life, so the project will continue into next year.
This year has been an odyssey for Salt Creek Questers. They have always enjoyed one another, but now they understand more fully how each of them arrived at this point in life; which has increased their respect for one another exponentially.
• Submit 'Your News' at www.dailyherald.com/share.