[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1239-E1240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEFUNIAK SPRINGS 
                              WOMAN'S CLUB

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 2015

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the One 
Hundredth Anniversary of the DeFuniak Springs Woman's Club. Throughout 
the last century, the Club has served the local community, and I am 
privileged to honor and recognize their dedication to bettering the 
lives of the citizens of Northwest Florida.
   As one of the oldest civic organizations in the Florida panhandle, 
the Woman's Club was

[[Page E1240]]

unofficially formed in 1915 when a group of 5 resourceful and 
determined women representing each of the churches in DeFuniak Springs 
gathered at the request of the mayor to take on the beautification and 
sanitation of the town. The group, which would later become the 
DeFuniak Springs Woman's Club, set about establishing sanitation 
standards by improving drinking water and sewer systems, as well as 
working to make the town as aesthetically pleasing as possible. They 
were able to secure extra law enforcement officials to prevent the free 
roaming livestock, and they beautified the parks and train depot by 
planting gardens.
   Once their original purpose was met, the Woman's Club began to 
provide care to women and children, a mission that continues today. In 
addition to promoting good health and home sanitation, the Woman's Club 
has taken on projects to provide food for school children, library 
books, quality woman's clothing at discounted prices, and, as a sponsor 
for the Children's Advocacy of the Emerald Coast, support for child 
abuse victims.
   Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, it gives me 
great pleasure to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the 
DeFuniak Woman's Club in DeFuniak Springs, Florida. My wife Vicki joins 
me in congratulating all the members past and present on one hundred 
years of exceptional service to the Northwest Florida community.

                          ____________________