Staff writer
At least 60 women attended Guest Night last week at Burdick United Methodist Church. The church women sponsored the event.
A light meal prepared by the women was served free of charge in the fellowship hall. It was followed by a program in the sanctuary.
According to Janet Matz, the organization’s president, the event has been held the third Wednesday in April for many years. She joined the group when she married and moved into the community.
“I’ve been married more than 30 years, and it was done then already,” she said.
Vice president Diana Jost said the event began as an afternoon tea, but as more women joined the work force, it was changed to the evening and renamed guest night.
“I think it’s an outreach from our church,” Jost said. “We don’t have many active members but we have a nucleus of people who accept the challenge to work together, and it works.”
Karen Carlson is the secretary, Carla Engler is the treasurer, and Nancy Riggin is the outreach chairman. Everyone pitches in to come up with a meal menu and a program.
Last week’s gathering included Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, and Presbyterians from throughout the area, including many from Marion.
For Arlene Bowers of Marion, the event was like a homecoming. Her husband, Vern, was the pastor of the church from 1980 to 1986.
“The Burdick women are such a neat bunch of ladies,” she said. “They were such a blessing to us. Guest night is such an inclusive thing. It’s a blessing to get all the women of the different congregations together to socialize and share their faith.”
Leona Hajek, a Catholic from Lost Springs, has attended the event several times.
“I enjoy it tremendously,” she said. “It’s nice to get out and socialize and see other people I don’t see very often. The program is always inspiring and interesting.”
After an uplifting video and an inspirational reading by Matz, Diana Jost presented a program about antique kitchen utensils and gadgets used by homemakers generations ago. She displayed the items one by one and explained their usage. Some in the audience also brought and described items.
In other years, the program was about aprons, bonnets, quilts, and other things of interest to women.
Everyone left with an antique fork as a token of the event.
“Women need to get together for fellowship and worship,” Jost said. “We just do it for the love of God.”