Senior Citizen’s Will Give Up Meeting Place
Today there are twelve unhappy “old men” for the Old Men’s Club, located at 104 East Main Street, was forced to close its doors and these men are now without a meeting place. The irony of the situation is that construction has just started on the Greenburg building on the east corner of the square, and the Old Men’s Club had a choice location for the “sidewalk” engineers to sit and watch the work progress.
On November 7, 1943, just ten years, eight months ago, a group of elderly men got together and organized the “Old Men’s Club.” They agreed upon a charge of $1.00 per member, and with this money paid the rent on their own room to Miss Laura Belle Warder, owner of the Warder building.
At the peak of its existence the Old Men’s Club had over 60 members. The club never elected officers, but John Gray was one of the organizers and has been the guiding light of the club since its organization.
The club in the past ten years has numbered among its members, George Ingles, last living Civil War veteran in Southern Illinois, who passed away at the age of 96 and W.D. Sinks, who was also 96 years of age when he died. Carroll Miller is now the oldest member of the club, having reached his 90th birthday. John Gray, founder of the club is 88 years of age.
In the years of the clubs existence the “old men” have assembled to read the papers, play cards, and discuss every topic under the sun. During the election years political discussions have been the order of the day and the results of many elections have been predicted at the club.
Gray points with pride to the fact that in the life of the club not one cent has been gambled in the club. All of the games are “just for fun.” Liquor has never been permitted in the club and swearing and vulgarity have been prohibited. Only two members have been ejected for vulgarity in the life of the club. There has never been a fight of any type of disturbance in the club.
The club room has been rented to a newspaper agency and today there are 15 unhappy “old men” who have no place to meet, play cards and discuss the current issues.
Sam’s Notes: John Gray was the brother of Nannie Gray Parks and Joab Gray. The Gray and Parks families worked livestock on the family land on the eastern side of Marion past the County Fair Ground out to around the Creal Springs Road intersection and slightly beyond. This land, at one time, likely abutted the Goodall property to the south on Creal road, a family from which they also descended.
(Article by Paul Frick, Marion Daily Republican, May 7, 1954)