Women’s Club, Down East Singers, Friendship Methodist Church Lay Leader, the Friendship Book Club…these are just some of the things Charlotte Gulezian has been involved with for over 25 years. And she’s not even 90 years old (which she’ll be in February). She and her husband retired in Waldoboro in 1995 from Merrimack, Massachusetts. Like Waldoboro, it was a small, working town. There, Charlotte opened and ran one of Massachusetts’s first non-profit childcare centers. Her husband, who passed in 1999, was a high school guidance counselor. They raised six children. So, you could say that education and the welfare of children have been important to Charlotte. And in Waldoboro, that’s meant being in the Women’s Club. The original Women’s Wednesday Club was founded in 1890 by Mrs. Eugenia M. Waltz and Miss Lizzie Austin as a literary club to help with the long winter months. But when it joined the national Federation of Women’s Clubs, its purpose expanded to suffrage, war efforts, scholarships, the Lincoln Home, and women’s assistance. In recent years, its mission has centered on education and the annual scholarships it awards to RSU40 students to further their education, whether college or trade school.
When I first read about the Women’s Club in the paper after moving here, I said, “Any group who gives scholarships, I support.” So, I joined.
Being on the scholarship committee has meant the most to me. Just to read all the stories of these kids. You want to help them all. You know difficult things are happening, but to know they are happening right here…
I don’t want to get specific, but there are people who have very hard situations who need all the help they can get. They are young people who are not giving up, who are working at it. Our help makes a real difference. I did an analysis of the money we’ve given away in scholarships over the past 25 years. It’s an astounding amount.
But the Women’s Club for me has also turned out to be more than fundraising and giving scholarships – we are a group of women that get together, from all spectrums — economic, our faith, politics, whatever. But we don’t talk about those things, except, for example, to express our sorrow over the shootings in Lewiston.
Instead, we talk about who is in the hospital. Who needs help. Maybe it’s something simple like somebody needs a ride. We’re a club of support. And any kind of support is positive. We care for each other. I wish we had more members, that’s all.
It was partly because of the Women’s Club that I started braiding rugs. That, and a woman named Frances Hauck – she had died, and her daughter came to the meeting and said, “I have all my mother’s wool, does anyone here want to make braided rugs?”
Well, I had watched my mother-in-law do that for years. I said, “Sure, I’ll do that.” But I hadn’t done it myself, really. I was working back then and didn’t have the time. But being retired, I could.
I learned by doing, trial and error. You’re making a braid, which is pretty simple. But, getting the braid tight is the trick. I’ve made plenty of mistakes which then I pull it out and re-do. You sort of figure out the technique as you go, like lacing the braids together and keeping the curves flat. It takes time.
Some people do rugs with one or two colors, but I like the old-fashioned way, with lots of colors to make a beautiful combination. I love looking at what wool I have to work with and figuring out what would look good. I like the plaids because they give it texture. But I make sure to carry one or two colors throughout the rug. I think that holds the design together.
Each year I make a rug for the Women’s Club raffle, which is perfect because there’s not many people who can afford a hand-braided rug. When you think of the hours and then the wool, I think one would cost about $1,000. A raffle solves that issue – anybody can buy a raffle ticket! And it’s for a good cause.
And, because of the publicity around the raffle and the rug, women have been contacting me asking if I’d like their wool. When I first started, two elderly women from Friendship got in touch with me. They couldn’t braid anymore and it broke their hearts. But they were happy to see their wool used. And that’s how it is. Every year at least a few people come forward to give me wool, and often it’s already cut up and rolled and in beautiful condition. They are always excited to see it used, and that’s very gratifying.
Their gifts are critical because there aren’t any woolen mills anymore where you can buy remnants. So where do you get the wool? I’ll take wool from anyone who wants to give me some.
I braid every day. It keeps my hands strong. But I can’t do it for long because they cramp, so I generally work an hour, an hour and a half, while I’m watching the evening news or when I have spare time. I like to watch a lot of sports, so I’ll braid and watch a game. Basketball, hockey, football, baseball, tennis. I really like tennis.
I try to do everything in moderation. I do a lot of different things, and I like the variety. But I don’t go overboard on any one of them. I guess that’s been my model, even from before I retired. I’ve always paced myself.
So, it might be an hour mowing the lawn mixed with a little time spent stacking wood or working in the garden or kayaking. Like with the braiding. I’ll put it down and pick it up again the next day. And I think that has kept me healthy, for which I am very grateful.
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