The Story 
Charter Members Past Presidents
The group raised money by conducting bingo games at the Valley Mid-Winter Fair. The location of these festivities was Fair Park, now the site of RioFest.
The grand opening of the League Thrift Shop on South F Street was June 30, 1950. That year, the League furnished the Children's wing of the Lon C. Hill Library.
Clothing drives, canned good drives, and the Thrift Shop continued as the main projects of the League. A story hour at the library began. League members assisted wit the opening of the TB Hospital in 1955. The group also furnished a ward and maternity rooms at Valley Baptist.
In 1956, the Service League "Pinafore Girls" were organized. They helped in the polio ward at the hospital.
In 1959 the Service League began a joint project with the Crippled Childrens' Society. League members volunteered at an outpatient clinic for children crippled by polio at the Crippled Childrens' Cottage.
Other projects over the years included story hours at the library, a summer reading program, modeling at the Cotton Style Show, and preparing floats for the Christmas parade. League members acted as hostesses when the Tourist Center opened in 1962, helped with the south Texas Artmobile, and assisted with the Rio Grande Valley Music Festival Pops Concerts. Money was raised for these projects in large part with Charity Balls.
In 1970, the League began restoration of the historic Lon C. Hill Home and on January 30, 1972, the home was officially opened. Tours of the home became another project of the League.
A pre-school center for the deaf, a Follies Revue, and a contribution toward a new animal shelter are other past endeavors of the League. In 1977 the first scholarship to a Harlingen High School graduating senior was presented.
In February 1969 the Junior Service League purchase the Water Board Building on the corner of Jackson and Commerce Streets. Since that time, this building has been the home, downstairs to the Thrift Shop, and upstairs to Party Props, where decorations could be rented. In 1984 the League Building was accepted as part of the Main Street renovation project in Harlingen, and both the exterior and the interior of the building were renovated. An historical marker was placed on the League Building May 25, 1986. During 1989, the upstairs was further renovated to provide a headquarters which includes a board room, administrative office, computer room, library, conference room and storage.
March 1982 was the date of Harlingen's first RioFest. Co-sponsored by the League, the City of Harlingen, and the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce, RioFest is a three day international arts festival attracting approximately 35,000 visitors annually.
In October 1985 the Junior Service League of Harlingen became the Junior League of Harlingen; the two hundred sixty-third member of the Association of Junior Leagues. Since our affiliation with AJL, we have experienced many changes. Our membership has grown; we have expanded our training efforts; and attended many conferences and seminars that provide invaluable resources for our organization.League members continue to support an increasing number of community projects and organizations with volunteer hours and program funding.
The 1990's found the Junior League of Harlingen with new and interesting challenges. With it's focus being children and education, the league has been involved in several projects including RioFest Children's area, Youth Leadership Harlingen, Ronald McDonald House and community Partners "Rainbow Room". The 1990's also saw an end to the Junior League Thrift Shop and the birth of the one day "Attic Sale". Rio Riches, the first cookbook created by the Harlingen Junior League, was also completed in the 1990's and has continued to show success all over the country. The most recent way's and means project has been Stationary Sales, which promises to be a big money maker for the Harlingen Junior League. Another high point of the nineties was when HJL hosted the statewide annual SPAC conference in Austin. This was a real jewel in the HJL crown.
Charter Members Past Presidents Top | *Vera Baker (L.R. "Bob") *Marian Berly (Sid) *Peggy Bush Bickley *Mary Bleakney (Phil) Lois Bodenhamer (Don) Bernadine Brittain (Graham) *Maudie Boggus (J.L.) *Frankie Bush (W.E.) *Mary Busa (Jack) Marian Carr (J.A.) *Marion Cocke (Hill, Sr.) *Sue Coneway (Al) Maurine Crockett (Stanley) Dee Davis (E.C. "Ned") *Kitty Davis (Frank) *Virginia Ewing (Paul) *Dorothy Frush (R.W.) *Blanche Gallagher (George) Mary Ellen George (Paul) Frances Giffin (E.D.) |
Charlotte Gump (Harry A.) Sue Hawkins (E.L.) *Jo Hurst (Evan) *Annie Jackson (Roy) *Betty Jean Jennings (Stuart) *Willie Bee Kipp *Florence Kirby (John) *Margaret Kirksey (J.W.) Marie Kornegay (Ed) *Peggy Kroeger (R.J.) *Sunny Murphy (Dan) Betty Murray (Menton, Sr.) Lou Evelyn Myers (Robert) *Louise McDonald (E.D.) Betsy McElwrath Betty Lou Nickell (David) *Peg Olcott (Cornelius) Doris Packard (John) Helen Parce (Charles) |
*Bertie Lee Penry (Bill) Mary Annice Perry (M.H.) *Margaret Petch (F.G.) Sarah Phillips (Hawthorne) *Pauline Pratt (Eldon) *Jane Rabel (A.B.) *Louise Rowsey (Gentry) *Olive Schlotter (Charles) *Betty Sherman (Kenneth) Thelma Schvab (Otto) Betty Smith Stevenson *Jeanne Stuart *Joan Teege (Robert) Mary Lou Wade (Herbert) Dorothy Washmon (Charles) *Wanda Wharram (K.L.) *Tita White (M.J.) *Charlotte Young (Harvey) Lorelle Youngblood (J.L.) |
Charter Members Past Presidents Top | 1947-49 Mrs. Mary Lou Wade 1949-50 Mrs. Helen Webber 1950-51 Mrs. Mary Annice Perry 1951-52 Mrs. Bertie Lee Penry 1952-53 Mrs. Joan Teege 1953-54 Mrs. Mary Bray 1954-55 Mrs. Lynn Hamilton 1955-56 Mrs. Cornelia Junkin 1956-57 Mrs. Betty Jackson 1957-58 Mrs. Betty Youker 1958-59 Mrs. Ann Willeford 1959-60 Mrs. Louise Griffin 1960-61 Mrs. Jane McGill 1961-62 Mrs. Nell Hester 1962-63 Mrs. Monnie Burkholder 1963-64 Mrs. Barbara Weaver 1964-65 Mrs. Kay Owens 1965-66 Mrs. June Motheral 1966-67 Mrs. Joan Jones 1967-68 Mrs. Joan Cocke 1968-69 Mrs. Betty Farris 1969-70 Mrs. Pat Deaton 1970-71 Mrs. Donna Bonner 1971-72 Mrs. Beverly Searle 1972-73 Mrs. Mary Helen Harris 1973-74 Mrs. Lynn Murphy 1974-75 Mrs. Janice Labar 1975-76 Mrs. June Toland 1976-77 Mrs. Lois Day 1977-78 Mrs. Nancy Fennegan 1978-79 Mrs. Carolyn Reininger 1979-80 Mrs. Jeannie Fletcher |
1980-81 Mrs. Cary Curtis
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Charter Members Past Presidents Top