The Kernersville Woman’s Club (affectionately known as the “KWC”) meets once a month from September through May on the third Thursday of each month. Club meetings are normally held at the Kernersville Community House (abbreviated “KCH”), but are sometimes held elsewhere for special events and speakers. Club meetings begin at 6:30pm and end around 8:00pm. The KWC currently has about 50 club members—all women, ranging in ages from their 20s to their 80s, from a variety of backgrounds. The members of the Kernersville Woman’s Club vary in age and background, but are united in their desire to make Kernersville a better place to live. If you’d like to attend one of our meetings and discover the Kernersville Woman’s Club for yourself, please call Kathy Lambe at 336-406-0238 or you can reach her at klambe@me.com. Here are pictures and additional information about our meetings available on our Facebook page, which is updated frequently to include photographs of recent club meetings as well as ongoing projects and fundraisers.
The KWC has roots that go back to the beginning of the 20th century, when several Kernersville ladies gathered to form the Woman’s Embroidery Club. The Woman’s Embroidery club, in 1920, morphed into the Senior Woman’s Club and the Junior Woman’s Club, and those clubs functioned together throughout WWII and a few years following.
In November of 1951, the Kernersville Woman’s Club, sponsored by the Winston-Salem Senior Club, officially organized under the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (a national organization which governs many similar women’s clubs across NC and the US). Mrs. C. A. Stone served as a temporary chairman at the organizational meetings and Mrs. Sumter Bowen was elected the club’s first President on November 9, 1951. Charter night was held on February 21, 1952 and Mrs. Hugh Salmond, the President of the General Federation’s Sixth District, install our local club’s officers. At that time, there were fifty-seven (57) charter members—a list serving as a veritable Who’s Who of Kernersville at that time.
The Town of Kernersville has allowed the KWC to manage and maintain the historic Kernersville Community House, located at 405 Salisbury Street, which the KWC uses as its clubhouse. The Kernersville Community House Committee, a sub-committee of KWC members, have undertaken the redecoration, modernization, general maintenance and renting of the Kernersville Community House since construction was completed in 1936. Kernersville Woman’s Club members have done everything from sew curtains for the clubhouse (in the early days) to paying for and installing heating and air units to make the home more comfortable. The most current modifications to the KCH include access to free WIFI and electronic door locks.
In addition to maintaining the Kernersville Community House, the Kernersville Woman’s Club, as it is currently constituted, has since 1951 sponsored various projects benefiting the Kernersville community such as, in no particular order: