Mi'Ono still serving Sanborn

SANBORN-There’s no doubt about it, the Mi’Ono Club has a blast.

And, closing in on 53 years, the Sanborn-based women’s service organization shows no signs of stopping.

With only five of the original members still remaining in the club today, they’ve decided to take a look back at the memories and experiences they have shared over the years.

Getting started
The Mi’Ono Club began in 1956 after a member of the now defunct 20th Century Club — a service group composed of older women — expressed a desire to have the younger women in Sanborn involved.

Composed of 12 Sanborn women, all in their late teens or early 20s, the group settled on calling themselves the Mi’Ono Club, which stands for Monday is our night out.

“We actually hold our meetings on Wednesday now, but we used to have them on Mondays,” said charter member Jeanette Endorf.

Endorf, Bernice Dorman, Ardis Dummett, Colleen Lowery and Jamie Postma have been in the group since the beginning and remain the only original members still involved.

Funding projects
For the first five years of its existence, the Mi’Ono Club was a federated organization, but group members quickly found that the money they raised was not going to better the town, it was being sent away.

“We wanted to do good in Sanborn,” Dummett said. “We knew there were a lot of projects we could help out with, especially with the school.”

So, the group opted to quit its affiliation, allowing more projects to be done in the community.

The first such project happened in 1962, when the Mi’Ono Club purchased four rocking animals for the Sanborn City Park. At $75 a piece, the colorful aluminum animals situated on springs, took the club awhile to raise money for.

“We worked for six years to raise the money for those,” Endorf said.

But, that was only the beginning.

While the rocking animals are no longer at the park, the Mi’Ono Club has many other projects to show for.

In its 53 years, the organization has purchased a scoreboard and built a concession stand for the football field; painted playground equipment in the Sanborn City Park, purchased curtains for the Sanborn Golf & Country Club, purchased large appliances for the Sanborn Community Center; built dugouts at Brady Field and Miller Park; put in the water system at Brady Field; planted and maintained flowers at Main Street Park; planted flowers in pots along Main Street; took part in story hour at the Sanborn Public Library; purchased chairs and the first water slide at the Sanborn Swimming Pool; collected for the United Nations Children’s Fund; adopted a Sanborn family for Christmas each year; annually supported the Sanborn Fire Department, Sanborn Ambulance, Sanborn American Legion and Sanborn Public Library; donated $1,000 to both the parks and recreation department and the Sanborn Preservation Society; and commissioned for a large train mural to be painted just off of Main Street.

The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School District also has been a priority for the Mi’Ono Club. The group annually has given $50 to an eighth-grader with perfect attendance and $50 to one randomly drawn honor roll student and contributed to the high school after-prom party.

“You name it, we’ve done it — community servicewise,” Dorman said.

But, where do the funds come from?

Multiple times a year, the Mi’Ono Club members don the blue and pink shirts they purchased with their own money and set up stands around town. The organization also has raised funds by hosting basketball and softball games, holding Tupperware parties and selling concession items at volleyball games and Little League events.

Mi’Ono pride
The Mi’Ono Club has seen 62 members since 1956.

The group always has limited its membership. After starting out with 12 members 53 years ago, the organization upped its membership limit to 18 in the early 1960s.

Having monthly meetings eight times a year, the group uses its off months to enjoy overnight trips to destinations all over the Midwest.

The five charter members still involved could not imagine a better organization to be involved in.

“It’s fun,” Postma said. “We always have a good time.”

All the while giving back to the community.

“People in the community support us very well,” Lowery said. “They do appreciate us, so we try to do things that will benefit everyone in the town.”
This article appeared in the May 16, 2009 edition of The N'West Iowa REVIEW