Four men closed a chapter in Augusta’s civic club history Wednesday as the Downtown Augusta Sertoma Club met for the last time.
Terry Leiden, Tommy Way, Choppy Woodward and Ralph Newman remembered the past for a club that was chartered in 1952.
“At one time, we had 50 to 60 members,” said Woodward.
They met at the Town Tavern every Friday for many years until that restaurant closed; then they moved to Sixth at Watkins until that restaurant closed. More recently they’ve had lunch at Fat Man’s Café at Enterprise Mill.
Sertoma was founded in April 1912 and is an acronym for the club’s mission – service to mankind. The focus of the downtown club was to raise money to help those with hearing impairments.
The group provided hearing aids and Teletypewriters, which is more commonly known as a TTY machines.
Ralph Newman recalled one woman who needed hearing aids for her daughter. The woman would later tell them how much it meant to her and her daughter who later died. When the daughter died, the woman returned the hearing aids so they could be refurbished and given to someone else.
“Grown men sat there crying,” he said.
While they helped other people, members also had a good time and made lifelong friends, they said.
They often banded together outside their meetings putting on events that raised money for their efforts.
They worked on such events as A Day in the Country, a country music festival on the Savannah River that was held for more than 30 years.
Among the stars who performed there included Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Earl Thomas Conley, Merle Haggard, Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins.
In 2008, Kellie Pickler was one of the headliners. That event drew 14,000 people, Woodward said.
At one time casino night fundraisers were really popular, and the club had all the items needed for a successful one, according to Leiden. They were hired for the event to raise money for their projects.
Another big event was the annual Pinch Gut Puffer race.
“It started at the canal and ended at St. Paul’s Church,” said Leiden.
It was patterned after a Revolutionary War route where soldiers in the Colonial militia would run messages.
The only problem with the route was random trains and a gate near the entrance to the Waters’ Edge subdivision, which needed to be unlocked before racers made it to that part of the route.
“We forgot about the key,” said Newman, but Leiden said he had bolt cutters just in case.
After dessert, the members of the club departed. Way is moving to Mississippi Friday, but he promised to return in November and catch up with everyone.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
