Local ladies come together to celebrate Women in Graceville

The Graceville Woman’s Club along with the United Women of Faith hosted a Celebration Tea Sunday, August 27 at First United Methodist Church. Samantha Angerbrandt began the program by welcoming all those in attendance before asking Pastor Jerry May of First United Methodist Church to lead them in prayers of gratitude and growth.

A collective group of women in the community came together for a celebration honoring great women in Graceville’s past, present, and future. Angerbrandt continued the program speaking about the reason for the occasion. Starting with the women that came together to create the Graceville Women’s Club 100 years ago. Women that also “ventured into the community through education and business as well,” creating idealistic pathways for all the women in the Graceville community that followed them thereafter. She ended noting that the day was also for celebrating the promising future of the many local young ladies and their bright futures including the Graceville Lady Tigers basketball team. A talented group of young athletes that “made it to State for the first time in 25 years this year,” explained Angerbrandt. She then turned the podium over to the Graceville Woman’s Club President Mrs. Deanie DeFelix.

Mrs. DeFelix thanked everyone for coming out in the August heat. She expressed excitement for all the chance to celebrate all the special ladies of the community and honor the importance of the contributions of women to the community. DeFelix then introduced guest speaker, Minister Victoria Scofield who had visited Graceville’s First United Methodist Church as a fill-in pastor for a short time. DeFelix continued that Scofield currently has the responsibility of starting a new church in the Grand Ridge area, which is no small challenge “getting anything started off the ground from scratch is not always easy.”

Scofield began by stating that she did “get to enjoy being [in Graceville] for a few weeks leading up to the new pastor getting here.” She went on to acknowledge that the world has lost the art of storytelling in the church, as it “used to be that people didn’t read the bible, they heard the bible.” For generations before the scripture was written down, people learned about the tradition by hearing.

Scofield then told the story of “two ladies in the bible that are workers with a lot of talent and a lot of gifts,” much like the ladies that were in attendance she explained. “In the bible we call talents, gifts,” she commented. Going on to say that if God gives you a gift, you should spread it throughout the world.

Scofield was a dental hygienist for 20 years. She was sure she would be doing that for the rest of her life, but God had other plans that called her down the path she is on today. She has been serving the church since she was about 12 or 13 years old. Her grandfather was a Methodist pastor for 55 years and she “always followed suit.” Scofield thought her calling was to serve behind the pastor, thus she can identify with those that are serving their community as a worker behind the scenes.

The two ladies in the Bible Scofield wanted to talk about were Mary and Martha, who Jesus came to visit in their home. The two ladies prepared for the guest with determination with Scofield noting hospitality, especially in the Middle East, is something that is considered dishonorable to lack. She continued that Martha put in a lot of work to prepare wonderful food, while under the pressure of having a man of God coming to speak in their home. Scofield notes the amount of work that it takes to pull off such hospitality, running it parallel to the work of the women in attendance before continuing the story. She went on to state that Martha knew Jesus was a big deal, but her sister Mary was not working or worried, she was just sitting on the floor at Jesus’s feet. Scofield commented on the lack of effort on Mary’s part as frustrating for Martha. Frustrated, Martha asked Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all this work by myself? Tell her to get up and help me,” explained Scofield, shocked at the notion of telling the Lord what to do. She goes on, “And the Lord says, ‘Martha, you are worried and upset about many things but very few are needed, or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her’.” Scofield went on to say that “sometimes we have to get an attitude adjustment.” She went on to ask the room if they could imagine when Martha gets corrected by the person she is hosting? With Jesus stating that Mary was choosing better, He did not say what Martha was doing was wrong. Scofield continued that if the world did not have all these active women out there working all these jobs, doing all these things, and winning all these games, repre- senting the community, churches would be pretty empty. She then asked the room, “How many women does it take to run a church?” With FUMC Pastor Jerry May commenting, “all of them, absolutely”. Scofield continued, “I have a feeling that many of the young women in the room today are Martha’s… It takes effort to do all these things we are recognizing today, but we must make time to be at Jesus’s feet. Because if we do not take the time to be a Mary as well, we will become angry and bitter and pick out other people’s flaws as a Martha. For if Martha has been in tune with Jesus in that moment, she would not have cared about what Mary was doing. When we are in tune with what God has called us for, when we are taking time to be at Jesus’s feet, we can go out in the world and be Martha and succeed in our mission and ministry. That does not mean that everybody works for the church, that means that everybody works for Jesus. We have to have time first to be at Jesus’s feet or we lose sight of the end goal.” She finished, “We get so busy with everyone wanting something from us, especially as mothers and pastors. If we are out doing work without a mission or a ministry, it’s pointless. If we are not seeking God first, everything we do after that is pointless.” Encouraging all to take time to be with Jesus before she wished them all God’s blessing.

A short break was then taken so guest could enjoy some refreshments and treats. Graceville Woman’s Club President Deanie DeFelix then continued the program speaking on the significance of the decor- ations. She started, “[The Woman’s Club] recently lost one of the most wonderful Woman’s Club leaders that we could hope to ever have, Linda Wheatley.” To honor Wheatley and the many other great women who had passed, DeFelix set up a tribute table noting she “especially had Linda in mind, but it also represents all the ladies that have been with us.” She continued noting names that she recognized from their place in the community although she never knew them. She noted, “One of the reasons we are here today is to keep everybody aware of the contributions and the difference that the Graceville Women’s Club makes in our community. One thing the Women’s Club is most known for is sponsoring the Miss Graceville Pageant, and we are so thankful to have our queens and everybody that has been a part of that over the years. Proud to be connected to this program and doing their best to choose young ladies that will represent us in the best light. The light that Linda kept going in our organization, I really do not know if we would still be here today if she had not pushed us to keep working at staying alive.” DeFelix finished noting how thankful she was for all that were in attendance before reminding them that there were many others that have contributed to keeping the Graceville Women’s Club legacy alive.

Samantha Angerbrandt, Woman’s Club member and Graceville Pageant Co-Director then spoke. She noted she had been a member since around 2015 to 2016, helping on the pageant committee becoming director a year after, and noting that her and 2015 Miss Graceville Cheyenne Smith now co-direct the pageant together with a great group of women and volunteers. Angerbrandt went on to speak about what the Graceville Woman’s Club had done for her including allowing her to meet some of the strongest women in the community “that have built a legacy by forging a path, fulfilling the needs of the community.” She went on to say that while a lot of people just associate the Graceville Woman’s Club with the pageant, it is so much more than that. She went on, “For me, my favorite part is the City of Graceville float that goes into the National Peanut Festival Parade. My first year, we placed fifth out of the over 150 float entries. That was the first time a Florida float had won an award since Graceville had it in 2012. The theme was farming and military go hand in hand to protect America’s land.” She continued speaking on the following year, 2018 and how it had been “A tough year with Hurricane Michael.” Even with the hurricane just two weeks prior the Graceville Woman’s Club still had to have a float ready. While it was hectic, this was one of Angerbrandt’s happiest moments. She noted that the theme for the float that year was “Linemen, diamonds of the panhandle”. It was created to give recognition to three linemen who had worked with West Florida Electric Coop for storm cleanup and sacrificed their lives to restore “our lights and our lives that year.” She continued, “Seeing people stand up and applaud this float in recognition of their sacrifice was one of the greatest things I have ever been a part of in the Woman’s Club.”

Angerbrandt continued the program recognizing the Graceville Lady Tigers 2022-2023 basketball team. Noting the team made it to compete at the state level, an inspiring tale of perseverance. The Graceville Women’s Club presented the Lady Tigers team with a medal honoring their grit and success during the season. Assistant Coach Joy Fountain was also presented a medal honoring her for supporting the Lady Tigers and the exemplary character she possesses as the assistant coach that helped take them to the final four.

Graceville School junior and basketball team member, Brianna Adams basketball player and Little Miss Graceville circa 2014 took to the podium to talk about the Graceville Lady Tigers and what it is like to be a young lady in the Graceville community. She started, “It is such a good time to see all these ladies and sit in fellowship with them.” She continued that going into the school year, the basketball team was challenged with inconsistencies within the district that left them wondering if they would even have a Graceville School to play for by the end of the year, as rumor would have it. “But that didn’t matter” said Adams as she gave credit to her teammates who showed up all summer long and had fun putting in the work to improve as a unit. She noted, “This group of girls has been playing together since middle school. Last year was a little unexpected, we worked hard, we grew throughout the season, and I feel like we peaked at the end of the season.”

Adams continued that getting to state for the first time was a huge accomplishment for the team and Coach Habali, who Adams described as “an amazing coach”. She continued, “But what meant the most to me was, we had several playoff home games we hosted, like the district tournament and both regional games in our gym in Graceville. We were surrounded by our entire community, and we had so much support that it brought tears to my eyes when I went back and looked at pictures from those games. The athletic community we have here in Graceville came out to watch and support us, as a young lady in our community that meant so much to me.” She finished giving thanks to all that showed their love and support to the basketball team.

Miss Graceville Emilie Franklin then spoke briefly on what it has been like preparing for the National Peanut Festival Pageant and her experience in the Graceville community. Originally from Avon Park, FL, relocating to Graceville to attend the Baptist College of Florida to study business, Franklin is now in her senior year. She commented that she started competing in pageants at 15 years old but had been involved behind the scenes before that. She spoke about working with a women’s ministry called Beauty Fit For a Queen, noting it was more than just a pageant ministry, helping women grow an appreciation for the women God meant for them to be. Franklin found her love for community service through pageantry. She commented when moving to Graceville she felt somewhat isolated to the college as an outsider in the local community, which led her to compete in the Miss Graceville Pageant to get herself out there and become a part of the tight-knit Graceville community that she plans to remain a part of after she finishes earning her degree at BCF. “I love this town and want to stay here for the rest of my life. I want to serve the local community” as she did back in Avon Park explained Emilie. Representing the rising generation of Graceville women and hoping to utilize the modern-day princess program for support in doing so, Franklin is excited for what the future holds. She finished adding that the program is versatile and can be utilized in both school and churches “because everyone is a princess whether they wear a crown or not”, explained Emilie Franklin.

The program ended with DeFelix thanking all in attendance. If you are a woman in the community over 18 and interested in joining or learning more about the Graceville Woman’s Club, please contact Samantha Angerbrandt at 850-263-6015.

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