Rich Township honors work of senior mothers
Luncheon celebrates legacy of diversity, sacrifice through decades of volunteerism
Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin summed it up well. “This first title I recognize is being a mother,” she said. “That’s the best title. The rest of the titles go and people forget about it. Being a mother is the best recognition you can get.”
Chalmers-Currin said those words to more than 100 senior mothers during an appreciation luncheon Thursday at Red Star restaurant in Matteson. Rich Township hosted the event for south suburban women who are longtime volunteers in their communities and who helped pave the way for women such as Chalmers-Currin, state Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin and others to thrive in the 2020s.
There were three themes to the event: honoring senior mothers; recognizing those mothers who have volunteered to make their communities better; and honoring those mothers who helped incorporate diversity in their communities.
Chalmers-Currin said she appreciated the women, many whom did not receive accolades or recognition when they were volunteering in the 1960s, ‘70s,
‘80s or ‘90s. And the fact they served while being mothers was even more significant.
“They were still able to take time out from their busy schedules to volunteer,” the mayor said. “These women here are the backbone. I’m a mother. We’re all mothers. When we have women involved in politics, we have a
different way of handling things. When you are a mother, to have to balance how kids work together and fight together. It’s the same in government.”
The group was given noisemaker kazoos and made a racket when they were encouraged to toot their own horns.
Pearline Taylor, 87, of Country Club Hills, had a big smile after tooting her horn.
“It’s beautiful, very nice,” the longtime church said. “There is a lot of history in this room. It’s very good for the elderly.”
Park Forest native Linda Odom, 59, is an author who lives in Woodridge but spent a lot of time in the south suburbs working with children. That helped shape her career writing children’s books.
“I work for the children, that’s what it’s all about,” Odom said. “We have to teach them positivity because there is too much negativity out there. It’s up to us to change their mindset.”
Lea Kirby-Hill, 67, a Country Club Hills resident who morphed her volunteer work into running Kirby Rehabilitation, Inc. to helps preserve families. It has offices in Riverdale, Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest and Markham, and will open in Matteson and Dolton.
“It’s hard being a mom, but it’s not hard to volunteer,” she said.
Rich Township Supervisor Calvin Jordan marveled at the sacrifices these women made.
“We have a lot of strong women and a lot of leadership,” Jordan said. “I can tell you that having these women here makes me want to do my job. Let me tell you something, we have a big senior base, and they will call you and tell you what they want. They will tell
you.”
When it comes to diversity, Rich Township Trustee Jackie Small remembers being a part of a Black family moving into predominantly white Country Club Hills 35 years ago. She had a white neighbor involved with a domestic incident, but she said police came to the Small residence asking if she was the battered woman.
“They made a lot of assumptions back then,” Small said. “There was a lot of racial profiling and racism.”
She said what is happening now is moving forward in diversity with women and African American women being elected to various offices.
“Just seeing the women in this room and watching the change has been very interesting,” Small said.
Meyers-Martin, a former mayor of Olympia Fields, scanned the room and said she saw women who helped people like her get to where she is today. She said breaking into government and politics was not easy for an African American female.
“People were in place for 40 years, but they never groomed anybody,” Meyers-Martin said. “It was difficult. It was challenging to get someone to step into those shoes.”
She said there is a group of young people who are civically engaged, and she wants to be able to pass as much wisdom as she can to the next generation.