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Athene Club of Charleroi celebrates 120 years

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Athene Club of Charleroi are, from left, Ruth Corrin, parliamentarian; Joanne Pireaux, vice president, and Adele Hopkins, president.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

A book of the minutes of the Athene Club of Charleroi from 1907

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta addresses attendees of Friday’s luncheon celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Athene Club of Charleroi.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, left, and Adele Rozzi Hopkins, president of the Athene Club of Charleroi, stand on each side of a statue of Athene.

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Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Club members in attendance included Kathy Hega, left, and Diane Nonack.

CHARLEROI – The Athene Club of Charleroi, one of the oldest social clubs in the region, celebrated its 120th anniversary Friday, and did so in fine fashion.

A luncheon was held at Marian Hall at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish and featured a pop-up museum, which included history summaries dated to the club’s inception, minute books and an archival collection.

“There’s a lot of nostalgia,” said Adele Hopkins, the club’s 51st president. “It almost brings you to tears to think that these women for 120 years have not let this organization go.”

The club was founded in 1902 by 16 women interested in studying arts and literature, history and science, current events and parliamentary rule. It is named after the Greek goddess of wisdom.

“They felt they wanted to be involved in what went on in the world,” Hopkins said. “Their husbands were out there doing it and they were pretty much at home. They thought they would get together once or twice a month and talk about affairs and try to learn stuff. Boy, did they take off. “

Hopkins said she recently saw an article from the 1960s touting Athene as the “Mother of all clubs.”

Currently, there are 31 members, up from 12 just three years ago. The club meets at noon on the second Friday of each month from September through June. The meeting day was set in 1909. The club’s oldest member is Jean Roberts, 102. Mary Lou Mudrick, who joined in 1976, is the longest serving member.

Ruth Adele Corrin, 94, has been a member since 1993, when she retired as a teacher from the Charleroi Area School District. Her mother, Edith Breuer, like Corrin, was a past president. Corrin is parliamentarian for the club.

“It’s one of the nicest clubs around I think,” Corrin said Friday. “We’re active all the time. We try to support any of the things that go on in town.”

Membership is open to residents of the Charleroi Area School District, district graduates, spouses of district graduates or those who work in the area.

The club has long been involved in a number of charitable activities. Club members also initiated the discussion that led to the creation of the Charleroi Area Public Library.

“They’ve been a supporter since the beginning and it’s wonderful,” said Mary Oler, a club member and the new director of the library. “I think (being around for 120 years) is amazing. That’s a testament to everyone involved with the club.”

Athene also fostered the creation of the Charthene Club, a women’s organization that still exists, as well as the now-defunct Monday Musical Club and Trithene Club.

Members also host the annual Senior Girls Tea, which will mark its 75th anniversary in the spring.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta said the club will receive an official Senate proclamation honoring it as it celebrates the anniversary.

“The Athene Club has developed a strong reputation for the highest quality of service throughout its history by steady adherence to the principles of fairness, reliability and integrity and has become a leader in the community and a model that is worthy of emulation,” Bartolotta read from the proclamation.

All in all, it’s an organization that was started by women who wanted to be involved and continues with women who still have that desire.

“What I find most fascinating is that this organization came together 18 years before women won the right to vote, and well before any media, except for newspapers and magazines,” said Johnna Pro, a member who has been researching the club’s history. “Nothing in the records indicate they were vocal suffragettes, yet their actions in the first two decades and beyond show them to be incredibly dynamic women who were ahead of their time. They were smart, savvy leaders.”

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