New women’s club president sets kindness as her theme
Michelle “Mickey” Stewart ends all of her exercise sessions by reminding her participants to be kind to one another. It’s how she plans to end all of the meetings she heads as the new president of the Intermediate League of Butler.
Stewart, of Butler, is a longtime member of the league, having started in the Junior Women’s Club of Butler before joining intermediate in her 40s. The leagues, which are part of the Greater Federation of Women’s Clubs, are service-oriented groups contributing financially and through service to area causes, with LifeSteps and the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program being Stewart’s examples.
Stewart led her first meeting as president at the end of May. However, the club kicks into gear in September under Stewart’s direction. She has spent the summer getting acquainted with the club’s committees and the people who are part of them, and planning guests for the club’s monthly meetings.
Her theme of kindness will also tie in with helping children — whom the state organization is focused on this year — and people who are food insecure.
“My theme is going to tie in with the food underserved … that's a big concern of mine also, people who have no food,” Stewart said. “Any way that I can kind of get involved, raise money to make sure we can get food out to the community.”
The Intermediate League of Butler changed its bylaws within the last few years, going from one-year terms to two-year terms for its officers. While other longtime members of the club have been president more than once, this is the first time for Stewart, who said the confidence of her colleagues led her to accept the position.
As a longtime member of the group who landed on most of the league’s committees in her previous years, Stewart said she is familiar with each of their roles and is confident that the people who sign up to join them will be able to lead them well. She said she has the final say on who is the chairwoman of each committee, but her work is cut out for her because of the way the committees are organized.
“I have been on membership program, the antique show, the arts committee, education and libraries, environment,” Stewart said. “They are standing committees. We have a form and they say what committees they want to do and they try to accommodate that. Everyone fills out a paper; it's a lot, it's like playing chess.”
The summer will mainly be filled with this type of administrative work, but Stewart said the Intermediate League also maintains the Gateway Gardens, which are at the intersection of New Castle Street and Hansen Avenue in Butler. The Butler Garden Club works with the Intermediate League over the summer to make sure the plants in the garden are thriving. Stewart said she would be working there herself a few times over the summer.
In addition to the regular work of the club, Stewart said it is her side mission to promote the club to the point where a majority of people know what it is and what it does. She said the annual antique show is one of the main drivers for club awareness — at least in Butler — but spreading the word about its other initiatives will help get more people invested.
Stewart said that if she can grow the club at least by a few members, her presidency of the Intermediate League will be a success.
“That's a concern of mine too, how we get more visible, how people understand more about what we do,” Stewart said. “We got a few new members last year, that was a good thing. We are always looking for members.”
