Members of the Fan Woman’s Club celebrate five decades of the organization (Photo courtesy Fan Woman’s Club)
Members of the Fan Woman’s Club mix and mingle in Janice Nuckolls’ elegant Monument Avenue home for their monthly meeting on March 2. Older members introduce themselves to newcomers, who are identified by specially marked name tags. Being kind to neighbors has long been a hallmark of the club, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in April.
Founder Polly Jefferson remembers walking around the neighborhood after work with friend Barbara McLeod Richards back in the early 1970s. “We would see other women out there who were our age, but we had no way of meeting them,” Jefferson says. Together with Page Taylor Hardage and Janet Congdon Coon, the pair launched the Fan Woman’s Club. By the end of 1973, 88 members had joined.
Today, membership numbers over 200 and includes both native Richmonders and transplants including Chris Peterson, the club’s president, who moved here five years ago from Springfield with her husband, Rich. After joining the club, she attended one of the its progressive dinners, where she “met a series of women who have become my dearest friends.”
Vice President Bobbi Walter moved here around the same time and soon joined the club. “Not knowing a soul in Richmond was daunting,” she says. “When Chris became president, her first and foremost goal was to foster friendship and inclusion in the club. … Career women, mothers of young children, retired women and everyone in between all have a place.”
Fees are just $35 per year, and members do not require sponsorship. The only limitation is geography: The club is only open to women who live in the 85-block historic Fan District.
Club members at a recent meeting (Photo by Jay Paul)
One of the club’s biggest achievements was attaining federal and state historic designations for the area in 1985. Members went door to door collecting information about the homes to include in their successful 273-page application to the National Register of Historic Places.
The club’s Neighborhood Improvement Committee leads beautification efforts. The black-green cast-iron trashcans found in the Fan were placed in 1994, when the club partnered with the city of Richmond to cope with pedestrian litter. The committee also led an extensive renovation of Meadow Park, unveiled in 1997, including a “Buy a Brick” campaign to help fund a brick pathway around the space. The park is a neighborhood gem where picnics, festivals and outdoor concerts take place.
In 2020, after the protests on Monument Avenue and the removal of the Confederate statues, the club changed the design of its historic brass plaques. The plaques once featured the Robert E. Lee statue but were replaced with a fan design, a reference to the distinctive street pattern that gives the neighborhood its name.
In the early days, members used to meet in the afternoon in church basements; new members were welcomed at fancy teas. Today, the club holds its monthly meetings in members’ homes during the evening to accommodate work schedules. “And we serve wine, too,” Peterson says. “I think the spirit is the same, but it’s been updated over 50 years.”
A newspaper clipping from the club’s first progressive dinner (Image courtesy Fan Woman’s Club)
Club traditions include a family picnic in June, a tasting supper in November and one of the year’s highlights, the upcoming progressive dinner. “Everyone’s ready to be social again — it’s been three years,” member Cindy Coco says, alluding to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on in-person gatherings.
This year’s dinner, “All That Glitters,” will start at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture for appetizers and drinks. There, Coco says, “You’ll get your dance card for the night. Hopefully, there will be some people that you know and a lot of people that you don’t.” Groups of three or more couples will rotate to homes for the rest of the evening’s courses. “The progressive dinner takes a ton of work, but it’s fun work,” Peterson says.
At the early March meeting, a prospective host wonders if her home is big enough. Club Treasurer Barb Dittmeier tells her not to worry. She recounts a time when a host was in the middle of home renovations and their dining room furniture had been moved away. “They threw tablecloths over sawhorses. It was so much fun,” she says. “So, your house doesn’t have to be perfect.”
After the business portion of the meeting, a speaker takes over; tonight’s is architect and steel artist Greg Holzgrefe. The members are riveted as he shares a slideshow of photos and facts from the annual walking tour he gives around Thanksgiving. Each year, he explores the history and architecture of a different part of town. In the Byrd Park section of the slideshow, many are surprised to learn that Shields Lake was once a chlorinated public swimming facility. “Two hundred thousand people visited the swimming hole in the summer,” he says.
Fan Woman’s Club President Chris Peterson (Photo by Jay Paul)
From their interest and questions, it’s clear that this group loves Richmond, especially the Fan. “I’m two blocks from the history museum and the VMFA. I can walk up to Byrd Park and Maymont. I go to VCU. When you’re over 60, you can take a class for free, so I take a class every semester. I love it. And since I started doing that, I joined their Cary Street gym. I like the restaurants,” Peterson says. “We absolutely love living in Richmond. It is everything my heart has ever wanted.”
Never miss a Sunday Story: Sign up for the newsletter, and we’ll drop a fresh read into your inbox at the start of each week. To keep up with the latest posts, search for the hashtag #SundayStory on Twitter and Facebook.
