About Us

Welcome to GFWC/ The Dove Society.  We have been serving the greater Skowhegan, Maine community since 1979, and are a proud member of the Greater Federation of Women's Clubs.  We are women of all ages, and from all walks of life who come together as unique individuals to honor the club's motto:  "Unity in Diversity". 

We are dedicated to community improvement through participation, fundraising efforts, fun and friendship.   Our  mission is to enhance the lives of others in our community through volunteer service.  Through this dedication to service, skills are exchanged, ideas are shared, and lifelong friendships are formed.

If you wish to connect to your community and have a side of fun and friendship and are interested in joining, drop us an e-mail - we'd love to hear from you!
thedovesociety@yahoo.com


Current Officers:
President:  Lisa Turner
Vice President :  Dawna Esty
Secretary:  Laurie Pease
Treasurer:  RaeLynne Knight
GFWC President:  Carlene A. Garner
GFWC/New England Region President:  Katherine White
GFWC/Maine Federation of Women's Clubs President: Suzanne Raymond
GFWC/MFWC District 2 Co-Presidents:
Carol Jarvais & Gail Pooler of GFWC/The Dove Society

Club Information

Meetings: Third Wednesday of Each Month from September thru May

Symbol: Dove In Flight

Club Flower: Purple Iris

Honorary Members:
Kay G. Warren: Past President GFWC/MFWC 1996-1998
Senator Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897-May 29, 1995)

Aboout The General Federation of Women’s Clubs

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs, one of the world’s largest and oldest nonpartisan, nondenominational, women’s volunteer service organizations, was founded in 1890 and chartered by the 56th United States Congress in 1901.

Headquartered in a National Historic Landmark building in Washington, D.C., GFWC has a long history of philanthropy, social and political advocacy, and community leadership.

More than 100,000 members in affiliated clubs in every state and more than a dozen countries work in their own communities to support the arts, preserve natural resources, advance education, promote healthy lifestyles, encourage civic involvement, and work toward world peace and understanding.

In 2006, GFWC and its members raised nearly $32 million on behalf of more than 230,000 projects, and volunteered more than 8.4 million  hours.

Visit them  online at www.gfwc.org.

GFWC is distinguished from other service organizations by the breadth of our outreach. Our programs span all areas of the lives of our members, their families, and communities: arts, conservation, education, home life, public affairs, and international affairs.

GFWC members create global change working on a local level—they select projects and programs by determining the specific needs of the communities in which they live and work every day.

GFWC members are true volunteers in action—in 2006, they raised nearly $32 million on behalf of more than 230,000 projects, and volunteered more than 8.4 million hours.

GFWC members have played a key role in promoting literacy in the United States. The American Library Association credits women’s clubs with establishing 75 percent of the country’s public libraries in the first quarter of the 20th century.

GFWC’s motto is Unity in Diversity. It was first used in a speech given by New York clubwoman Ella Dietz Clymer at a banquet for Sorosis, one of the founding clubs of GFWC, on March 20, 1889. Ella’s words, “unity in diversity,” expressed her hope that the women of Sorosis would “form a lasting union of the women's clubs throughout the United States and possibly throughout the world. We do not feel that sectional differences will separate us; on the contrary, we hope that these very differences will form a bond of sympathy.”

In 2006, GFWC and its members raised nearly $32 million on behalf of more than 230,000 projects, and volunteered more than 8.4 million hours.

GFWC members and clubs work on projects in six main areas: arts, conservation, education, home life, international affairs, and public affairs

The President’s Special Project for 2006-2008 is Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention. In the first year of this project, GFWC members initiated nearly 4,000 projects and raised more than $1 million to programs related to this cause.

GFWC was recognized on the floor of the United States Senate as “a gem among our midst” by Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) for our work in bringing hope to victims and survivors of domestic violence and abuse. (November 16, 2006)

In 1945, GFWC was one of only five women’s organizations invited to attend the conference that formed the United Nations.

The American Library Association credits women’s clubs with establishing 75 percent of the country’s public libraries in the first quarter of the 20th century.

Notable GFWC clubwomen include Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady of the United States of America, social reformer, columnist, teacher, and political activist; Jane Addams, founder of Hull House; Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic;” Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to ever be elected to both Houses of Congress, and the first woman to campaign for the presidential nomination of a major political party; and Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first female governor and the first woman to be appointed Director of the United States Mint.

In 1994, GFWC founder Jane Cunningham Croly was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. For her work in founding GFWC, Croly was said to have “set in motion the power of a vast, previously untapped and unorganized sisterhood of capable American women that would reshape American society

Notable milestones of the GFWC:

• 1868: GFWC’s roots can be traced back to 1868 when JANE CUNNINGHAM CROLY (1829-1901), a professional New York journalist who wrote under the pen name of Jennie June, attempted to attend a dinner at an all-male press club honoring British novelist Charles Dickens.  Mrs. Croly was denied admittance based upon her gender, and in response, formed a club for women.  She chose the name Sorosis, a Greek word meaning “an aggregation; a sweet flavor of many fruits.”
• 1910s: GFWC supported legislation for the eight-hour workday, workplace safety and inspection, and workmen’s compensation.  Members also supported prison reform legislation.
• 1930s: Having founded over 474 free public libraries and 4,655 traveling libraries, women’s clubs were credited by the American Library Association with establishing 75 percent of America’s public libraries. Supporting local libraries continues to be a Federation priority today.  
• 1945: GFWC was one of the five women’s organizations chosen to participate in the conference to form the United Nations.  At the conference, GFWC representatives supported the ratification of the United Nations Charter.  
• 1960: “Brighten the Night” was a nationwide Federation campaign for street lighting to prevent crime and accidents.
• 1961: GFWC’s “Women’s Crusade for Seat Belts” program resulted in the installation of more than one million seat belts over the course of one year.
• 1990s: GFWC actively supported the passage of the Violence Against Women Act; the Americans With Disabilities Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; and, legislation supporting handgun control.

A COLLECT FOR CLUBWOMEN
Written by Mary Stewart


Keep us, oh God, from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.

Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking.

May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face—without self-pity and without prejudice.

May we be never hasty in judgment and always generous.

Let us take time for all things; make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.

Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid.

Grant that we may realize it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things of life we are at one.

And may we strive to touch and to know the great, common human heart of us all.
And oh Lord God, let us forget not to be kind.

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