Delphi Study Club ended the 2020-2021 year with a luncheon hosted by the Social Committee April 13 in the Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.
Preparing and serving the meal were committee members Ann Cales, Beverly Frazier, and Carolyn Ott. Pale green table appointments, runners of ivy interspersed with small potted live flowers, and plates with a floral pattern carried out the spring theme. Special guests were Jayden Ott, 2021 Delphi Study Club scholarship recipient, and her mother, Lauri Ott. Education Chair Linda Brown presented Jayden with a scholarship certificate of award.
Carolyn Ott reviewed Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West with Mary Lynn Kotz. For 28 years, West served first as assistant to the chief usher then as chief usher of the White House. Working under six Presidents, West directed operations and maintenance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and supervised every activity in the presidential home.
Ott summarized the different personalities and projects of the six First Ladies from Eleanor Roosevelt to Pat Nixon. The Roosevelts used the White House like a grand hotel. Since FDR was confined to a wheelchair, Eleanor was his eyes, ears and legs, reporting to him daily. The Trumans were a close-knit family who lived simply. Bess, a down-to-earth person, brought White House furniture out of storage to decorate the residence and was supportive of her husband.
Mamie Eisenhower loved pink and adored pomp and grandeur. She was greatly interested in her staff. She and Ike treated the presidency as a business, working 9 to 5 and taking weekends off. Jackie Kennedy began redecorating the White House her first day there. She formed the White House Council on Antiques and designed a playground for her children.
Lady Bird Johnson was over shadowed by her husband but was involved in a whirlwind of activities. She continued Jackie’s project to restore the White House and initiated the beautification of highways project. West retired two months after Nixon took office, so he reported only that Pat had no White House project but wanted a corps of volunteers to help others.
Attending the luncheon in addition to the special guests were Evelyn Coyle, Gayle Kuchera, Vivian Pemberton, Marjilea Smithheisler, Brown, Cales, Frazier and Ott.
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