The Tribune

The Bahamas Mothers’ Club is holding its first service of thanksgiving this Sunday.

The celebratory service is scheduled for 4pm at St Gregory the Great Anglican Church, Carmichael Road, where Canon Sebastian Campbell is the rector. The public is cordially invited to attend.

The Bahamas Mothers’ Club and non-profit organisation founded almost 90 years ago by the late Frances Butler nee Thompson, affectionately known as ‘Mother Butler’. In the days when there were no social workers, she began her paraprofessional work among her people. Her offspring include the late Sir Milo Butler, first Bahamian Governor General of the Bahamas, and the late Jane Bethel, proprietor of Bethel Brothers Morticians. In 1928, she along with a number of ladies, formed two clubs, one in the western district and the other in Fox Hill. The western club became the main branch and began to hold its meetings in a building on the western side of Goal Alley, off East Street.

The chief purpose of the club was to collect used clothing, food and furniture to be distributed to the poor and needy following the hurricane of 1929. Nursery schools were set up to aid working mothers. As years passed, the Mothers’ Club became an institution in Over-the-Hill communities, and its motto, “Love, Charity and Service,” was well demonstrated.

There are presently three branches of the club in New Providence: Fox Hill, Adelaide and the main branch on Goal Alley.

The practice of selecting a ‘Mother of the Year’ has been ongoing since the club’s inception. The award is given to the mother who has raised an admirable family and is involved in community work. The general public is invited to send in nominations for this annual award.

Nominations are also being accepted for the ‘Oldest Mother’, one who is generally a centenarian or as near to that age as can be found, and the ‘Most Unselfish Mother’, one who has no children of her own but has raised other people’s children. The winners will be named and honoured during the annual pre-Mother’s Day Service scheduled for May 5. The current ‘Mother of the Year’ is Faith Roxbury.

Nomination forms are available from any member of the Mothers’ Club or by contacting the Club President Eurydice N Dean.