Kum Join Us Extension Homemakers Club met Feb. 3 in the fellowship hall at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Borchers, with Amy Pierceall serving as hostess.

The meeting opened with members reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and club creed.

Roll call was announced by each member saying something nice about the person sitting to her right.

Olga Otte read the minutes. Michelle Wood reported there were enough donations to fill four girls and four boys backpacks.

Members helped fill out the Volunteer Community Support Report and discussed items in the Tell-A-Homemaker.

Achievement Night will be May 14 at Cornerstone Community Church.

Terri DeVoe brought her collection of antique evening bags. She said bidders might pay up to $1,900 for certain mesh bags. She talked about the different names for the bags and how they were used. The chatelaine, or women of the house, needed only one big enough for the mistress of the castle to carry her keys. Later the reticule became bigger with drawstrings and means to be fastened to a belt.

A handschied was used to carry an essence bottle, perfume being necessary to mask some of the odors the owners might come into contact with. In the early 1900s, people may have made their own crocheted bags.

Terri had 17 bags with her and three pictures, one of them of her Grandma Bessie with her purse. She has bags from Germany, United States, Belgium and France.

For devotions, Amy Pierceall read from “Attitude of Gratitude.”

The hostess served chocolate cake and gave flower seeds as hostess gifts.

The next meeting will be March 3 at the fellowship hall with Linda Booher as hostess.