The City of Frankfort proclaims October 5, 2026, “Zonta Club of Frankfort Day” as members past and present honor seven decades of support for women and girls.
By Russ Kaspar, Kaspar Media | Clinton County Daily News
FRANKFORT, Ind. — Seventy years to the day after 25 Frankfort women came together to charter a local Zonta club, their successors filled the dining room at Arborwood, the former Frankfort Country Club, on Monday evening, October 5, 2026, to celebrate the Zonta Club of Frankfort’s 70th Platinum Jubilee.
The evening brought together current members, past presidents, Zontians from neighboring clubs, and local and state officials for dinner, a look back “Through the Years,” candlelight recognition of the club’s past presidents, and a proclamation from Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets naming the day “Zonta Club of Frankfort Day” in the city.
“I think it means a culmination for myself of nearly 40 years of supporting this organization, others that have supported it longer than me, and all that we do to help in our community and around the globe,” said club President Jeni Royalty, who organized and MC’ed the celebration.
A record of giving
Royalty said the club’s local impact is measured both in dollars and in hours of hands-on service. Since 1992, the earliest year for which she had records readily available, the club has given more than $30,000 to at least 20 Clinton County organizations, dedicated nearly $50,000 in scholarships to women and girls in the county, and contributed nearly $36,000 to Zonta International’s global service projects.
“With 36 years of giving not included in this, can you imagine the impact over our 70 years?” Royalty asked the audience.
Organizations the club has supported over the years include Ability Services, adult literacy and children’s library programs, the Clinton County Hospital, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the Open Door Health Clinic, the Paul Phillippe Resource Center, the Pregnancy Resource Center, Rainbow Haven, the Way Out Sober Living Home, Clinton County United Way, the WeCare Recovery Home, Camp Cullom, the YWCA domestic violence program, Girl Scouts, and Friends of the Frankfort Library, among others.
Greetings from near and far
Area 4 Director Rachel Milburn, a member of the Frankfort club and its 2024–2026 president, read a message from Brandy Harrington, governor of Zonta International District 6, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Harrington, who was traveling, noted how different the world looked for women in 1956.
“Opportunities for women in education, the workplace, leadership, and public life were far more limited than they are today,” Harrington wrote. “Yet one thing has remained constant: the need for women to come together, support one another, and use their collective voice to create positive change.”
Royalty also read a letter from Zonta International President Fernanda Gallo Freschi, sent from her home in Milan, Italy. “Since October 1956, the Zonta Club of Frankfort has truly embodied what it means to lead with purpose,” Gallo Freschi wrote, citing the club’s new Young Women in Leadership and Service awards and its Zonta Says NO to violence against women advocacy.
Royalty said she was moved that the international president had researched the local club closely enough to mention those programs, along with a $5,000 Zonta centennial grant the club helped the YMCA secure in 2020.
Letters were also read from two past presidents unable to attend: Beth Keele, a two-time president now living in Nebraska, and Megan Sheets.
“It is easy to feel shielded in a rural conservative community,” Sheets wrote. “Through Zonta, I felt empowered to take part, however small, to eradicate and bring justice to those atrocities far from our peaceful environment.”
Guests included members of the Zonta Club of Indianapolis — Eleanora Medve-Powell, Jean Patton-Gotshall, Kandace Kinker and Tania White — and the Zonta Club of Lebanon, including Judi Wilson, Kay Geisler, Lisa Richards, Pam Anderson and Suzi Stephens. Three past presidents who are no longer members but, as Royalty put it, “still have the heart of a Zontian” — Flossie Swearingen, Marilyn Chittick and Tammy Moss — were also in attendance.
The world of 1956
Before the presentation, Royalty set the scene for the year the club was founded. Dwight Eisenhower was president, Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, and Elvis Presley had his first Billboard hit with “Heartbreak Hotel.” Gas cost 22 cents a gallon, a new car about $2,000, and an average home about $11,000. The average yearly wage was $4,450 — “with our sisters earning far less than their male counterparts,” Royalty noted. “Seems like some things never change.”
Through the years
Zonta International traces its roots to Buffalo, New York, where the first Zonta club was organized in 1919. The name Zonta comes from a Lakota Sioux word meaning honest and trustworthy. Today the organization counts more than 25,000 members in some 1,070 clubs across 65 countries. Aviator Amelia Earhart, who later served on the faculty at Purdue University, was a Zontian, and Zonta’s Amelia Earhart Fellowship was created in her honor in 1938.
The Frankfort club was chartered in October 1956 with 25 members. A May 1957 photo — the only image the club has from its earliest days — shows the founding members at a luncheon in a local plant cafeteria. Royalty said she enlarged the photo and counted 25 people, “including hats and hairdos.”
Highlights from the club’s seven decades included:
– **1964:** The club gave its first award, $50, to an outstanding commerce student from a Clinton County high school — years before Zonta International introduced a similar award.
– **1966:** The club donated benches to the county commissioners for the courthouse, a gift the club repeated in 2021.
– **1971:** The Frankfort Z Club, a service club for high school students, was chartered.
– **1981:** More than $1,000 was given to Clinton County Hospital for equipment.
– **1982–1986:** Members supported Zonta International’s project to drill water wells serving 350,000 people in Sri Lanka, a project longtime members still remember.
– **1987:** The club introduced a career advancement scholarship for women continuing their education, awarding two $500 scholarships in its first year.
– **2004:** The Clinton Prairie Z Club was chartered; its members immediately made Christmas cards for local nursing home residents.
– **2006:** The club celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Elks.
– **2015:** Members joined about 100 Zontians on Monument Circle in Indianapolis for the first statewide walk to raise awareness of domestic violence.
– **2023:** Area 4 helped host Zonta’s North American Interdistrict Meeting in Indianapolis, drawing 199 members, including the full international board.
Membership peaked at roughly 90 in 1989. Today the club has 31 members “and counting.”
The club’s longtime chicken noodle dinner remains a signature fundraiser, and members have also worked the hot dog tent at the Frankfort Hot Dog Festival. In 2026 alone, the club hosted a luncheon for residents and staff of the WeCare Recovery Home, sponsored the new Golden Z Club at Purdue University — inducting 12 charter members in February — packed 24 meal bags for local seniors, and sponsored the “Women Who Shape Tomorrow” Women’s Expo at the Frankfort Public Library.
Honoring the leaders
As each decade was presented, the names of that era’s past presidents were read and candles were lit in their honor — white candles for those who have died and burgundy candles for those still living. Living past presidents in attendance stood as their names were called.
The club’s first president was Flossie Burford, who served from 1956 to 1958. Its most recent past president is Rachel Milburn, who served from 2024 to 2026 before Royalty took office.
“Zonta Club of Frankfort Day”
Mayor Judy Sheets, herself a Zontian, read a proclamation recognizing the club for 70 years of volunteering “time, talent, and resources to improve the status of women through local service projects, educational scholarships, and powerful advocacy campaigns.” She proclaimed October 5, 2026, as Zonta Club of Frankfort Day in the City of Frankfort.
State Rep. Mark Genda, R-Frankfort, of Indiana House District 41, led a celebratory toast. Genda said his mother was a Zontian and that the names of the club’s past presidents represent “some of the most influential women that we’ve had in the city of Frankfort throughout the years.”
He added that the club’s work toward equality is not finished. “Godspeed in the next 70 years,” he said.
The evening closed with an anniversary cake trimmed with yellow roses and inscribed “Zonta 70th Anniversary 1956–2026,” decorated by member Marvel Albitz.
In members’ words
For many members, the club is about friendship as much as service. Dana Myers, president from 2022 to 2024, praised the camaraderie and the mix of age groups in the club, and said belonging to an international organization lets small clubs “do more or bigger things.”
Jenny Neal, who received her 30-year pin this year, said she joined for the chance to work with other women to better the community, and values Zonta’s international reach.
“We’re able to help women who do not have the privileges that we have in this country,” Neal said. “First, service — and then service to other women. So, lifting each other up.”
How to get involved
Royalty said Zonta, originally an organization for women executives, today welcomes “anyone who is passionate about helping other women and girls get equality and live a better life and live up to their potential.”
The Zonta Club of Frankfort meets once a month, on the first Wednesday, with a business meeting followed by a program. Those interested may contact any club member or visit zonta.org and search for the Zonta Club of Frankfort, which links to the District 6 website.
Members also plan to support the upcoming chili supper at Camp Cullom in October with a bake sale and silent auction items.
“We’re a very welcoming organization,” Royalty said, “and we want people who are driven and passionate about helping women and girls and serving their local community.”
