Esther Robinson, a member of the Zelienople Travelers' Club, reads a program from a club tea, held recently to mark the group's 100th anniversary. The group was formed as a way for women to learn about geography.

ZELIENOPLE — A local women's group is celebrating 100 years of learning.

The Zelienople Travelers' Club, begun in 1906 by ladies with names like UPMC Passavant and Baldinger, marks its centennial anniversary this year.

The club's original purpose was to open up the world to ladies of the early 20th century, who were largely prohibited from traveling, by having members take turns giving detailed monthly presentations on the culture, geography and way of life of a particular country or region.

Each month's presentation necessitated extensive research into the area chosen for the presenter, then the information was shared at the eagerly anticipated meeting.

"In 1906, they called themselves "armchair travelers," said seven-year club member and Zelienople children's librarian Kay Howard. "It was a way to give women a chance to explore the world."

The club, which does not really travel, has largely stuck to their predecessors' format. The only real deviation is that annual and monthly presentation subjects are not limited to studying regions of the world.

Howard explains that a committee chooses a broad annual topic, which is then broken down into a subtopic for each month. The 2006-07 annual topic is "What a World We Live In," said Howard, and the two-person monthly presentation topics include items like health issues, new appliances and decorating. Howard did a presentation on banned books, and a musical theme one year saw a presentation done in the Jeopardy format.

"We had a mermaid give a presentation on pearls," Howard said of one memorable meeting. "You just research and come up with some things. It's a fun way to learn."

The club meets monthly during the fall, winter and spring at members' homes. In the interest of keeping meetings simple for the hostess, a bowl of candy passed around at the beginning of the meeting is the only refreshment served.

Howard said she joined the club after years of being intrigued by ladies coming to the library asking to locate material for their presentation research. Then a friend asked her to come along to a meeting.

"It's such a friendly group, and it's such fun," said Howard.

Former Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School kindergarten teacher Alice Lee Paul joined the Travelers Club after her retirement in 1992. Paul said she always wanted to join the group, but did not have the time during her career years.

"It sounded like an interesting group, and it is," said Paul. "Very interesting and rewarding."

Paul said she enjoys the varied presentations and always marvels that each set of presenters can interpret a single subject differently.

"Three people can do the same topic and you'll get three completely different presentations."

Paul said to celebrate the club's centennial, she did a presentation on the history of the Zelienople Travelers Club a few months ago. As part of her presentation, Paul read the minutes from a 1906 meeting.

"It gave me goose bumps holding that book and reading the things that were written," said Paul, who recognized some of the names from her emigration to Zelienople in 1946.

Some of the names in the book include Emma and Lillian Passavant; Mrs. Anne Henderson, whose husband co-founded Robinson Industries; Mrs. Harry Yockey, who owned a drugstore on Zelienople's Main Street; and Mrs. Warren Wilson and Mrs. Brant Wilson, the wives of brothers who served the borough for years as a doctor and a dentist, respectively.

Howard said while many of the 30 current club members are getting on in years, there does exist a new crop of avid learners who she feels confident will lead the club into a new century.

"New members are always welcome," she said.

For more information on the Zelienople Travelers Club, call president Sue Ann Whittick-Duff at 724-452-3241.