Romeo Monday Club

I thoroughly enjoyed doing a tea presentation Monday night for about 20 ladies who are members of the Romeo Monday Club.

When I was contacted to speak several weeks ago, the contact person said they were a historical group, so I thought they were the Romeo Historical Society but I found out differently last night.

The history of Romeo Monday Club is very interesting.  It was founded in 1879 by a group of  Sunday School teachers, and is the second oldest women's group in Michigan.  It was originally called "Chautauqua Circle" before changing to Romeo Monday Club in 1892 in keeping with their Monday meetings.  

Chautauqua is a lake in New York and the nearby location of Chautauqua Institute, which offered a course of adult education studies that took four years to complete.  Several of the founding women completed the course.  

The club has a maximum of 40 members who meet once a month in private homes.  They host fundraising events to provide charitable donations to the community, and since 1907 have offered fine arts scholarships to Romeo high school students to further their study of fine or performing arts.

There was a brief business meeting at 7:00 p.m. before I spoke.

Renee hosted the meeting at her house, and was the contact person who invited me to speak. She and her family attend the same church as me.

In keeping with my topic, scones, fresh fruit and tea were served.  I had a yummy peach scone. I don't normally provide the tea when I speak, but I did Monday night.  I took my 55 cup urn and made the tea on site - Sweet Royal Delight, a black tea with chocolate, butterscotch and caramel flavorings.  It's a very good tea and was enjoyed by all.  The blend was created when Prince George [son of Prince William and Kate] was born, hence its name.

Each lady brought their own teacup and it was fun to see the different teacups.

It was a delightful evening, and I enjoyed the privilege of being their speaker.  It's always fun to talk about tea.  I passed out tea related quotes to ladies as they arrived and had them read them at the end of the presentation.  There was also a time for questions, most of which pertained to how tea is done at The Whitney.  I hope I have the opportunity to see some of them again there.