Fortnightly Club held a tea honoring the club's past presidents at the home of Betty Land of Louisville on Thursday, May 8.

Past Presidents include: Mrs. J. H. Campbell, Mrs. Joe Bennett, Mrs. J. L. McCracken, Mrs. W. K. Lawrence, Mrs. Ellen S. Wooduard, Mrs. Henry McGraw, Mrs. W. J. Neuman, Mrs. James R. Giffin, Mrs. D. L. Fair, Sr., Mrs. James T. Brown, Mrs. Julian Gaither, Mrs. Joe T. Cook, Mrs. G. W. E. Bennett, Mrs. R. E. Kennington,II, Mrs. Sid Jordan, Mrs. Guy Taff, Mrs. John Rundle, Mrs. Robert Land, Mrs. J. L. Gully, Mrs. James L. Jones, Mrs. Lester Stubhlefield, Mrs. Gwynne T. Brunt, Mrs. W. M. Mounyer, Mrs. J. E. Calloway, Mrs. A. R. Hull, Mrs. J. K. Suttle, Mrs. Grafton G. Bennett, Mrs. R. E. Clark, Jr., Mrs. John McIntyre, Miss Cecil Moore, Mrs. William H. Hight, Mrs. Presley Horton, Mrs. E. Frank Cody, Mrs. Dewitt G. Crawford, Mrs. Frank L. Reich, Miss Arthurine Allman, Mrs. W. A. Strong, Jr., Mrs. J. D. Koon, Mrs. Henry Fair, Jr., Mrs. Dwight Hickman, Mrs. John A. Crawford, Sr., Mrs. Charles Thomas, Mrs. William R. Parkes, Mrs. Robert Land, Mrs. Frank L. Fair, Jr., Mrs. Gene Stringer, Mrs. H. 0. Fancher, Sr., and Mrs. Audrey Massey.

A candle was ignited by Land in remembrance of the past presidents who have passed away.

Several of the past presidents recalled the enjoyment, cooperation and hard work of their service as president. Many also noted the decorating and creating of the Christmas floats from years past. Mrs. Gwynne T. Brunt noted the showmanship of the float created during her service which entailed a huge float with a globe at the center with children dressed in native clothing of several countries.

Land, Diane Saulters and Beverly Smyth served as hostesses for the event.

On January 21, 1909, a group of ladies of Louisville met together for the first time in an organizational meeting of the Library Club in Winston County. At the time and many years afterwards the Fortnightly Club was the only literary club in the county. This name was chosen because its first president, Mrs. J. H. Campbell, had belonged to a club of the same name in Meridian.

The young Fortnightly Club was pioneering the organization in community service in Winston County. It sponsored many projects for the young people of the area and led the way in many activities.

The Fortnightly Club joined the Mississippi Federation of women's Clubs in 1915 and is the oldest federated club in Winston County. In the years that followed, the Fortnightly helped organize and federate nine other clubs in Louisville. During the 1930's all of the federated clubs were united to form the Woman's Club. When the Woman's Club disbanded the Fortnightly stood again as the leading organization in Louisville. Its influence and prestige reached new heights in the succeeding years, and the Louisville Fortnightly Club is today recognized as a leader among the clubs of Mississippi.

For 73 years the Fortnightly Club has honored Louisville High School's outstanding seniors at graduation. In 1925 the Fortnightly Club presented a gold medal to Arnell McMillin for a theme entitled, "The Influence of Radio on the Future." Two years later this award was changed to the English Medal and was given to the senior who had the highest English grades in the four high school years. Lois Carr Forster won the first English Medal. This year will be no different as the fortnightly club has chosen the recipients of this awarded.

In 1940 Mrs. D. L. Fair, Sr. presented the first Belle Fair Medal for Excellence. Dink Chapman was selected by a faculty committee as the first recipient of this award. Each year since, some deserving senior is chosen on the basis of character, the Belle Fair Medal for excellence.