MAUMEE – The Toledo Chapter of Girl Friends celebrated their 65th anniversary at Brandywine County Club and Golf Club. The Girl Friends also hosted an Empowering Women in the workplace brunch. At the Brandywine Dinner dance where most of the women were dressed in gold, over 200 people enjoyed a decadent meal of salmon or chicken, as well as a reasonably priced cash bar.
Caroline Lewis was the chair of the dinner dance. The DJ kept the dance floor active with line dances, while greetings were given by Lisa Dubose, the Girl Friends president, and Dr. Marie Bush, a past Girl Friend President. Elgin Rogers gave a resolution from the State of Ohio and Mike Ashford gave an address on behalf of Lucas County.
The National President of the Girl Friends, Elizabeth (Beth) Espy, flew in from Atlanta to speak. Espy has roots in Toledo; her grandfather was Dr. Duffy, a dentist and a member of Toledo Boule. Espy’s grandmother, Helen Duffy, was a founding member of the Toledo Girl Friends, a group sponsored by Detroit and Cincinnati Girl Friends.
The Girl Friends is one of the oldest social organizations of African American Women in the United States, founded in New York City in 1927 with the purpose of facilitating friendship, social activities, and local civic services. The Toledo Girl Friends was installed November 12, 1960.
The Toledo Girl Friends have an Endowed Scholarship at UT, they have sponsored the Alvin Ailey Dance Troop here in Toledo, and they have partnered with The Buffalo Soldiers, Kitchen for the Poor and Mom’s House, as well as many other Toledo civic projects. They are a member of the NAACP, Toledo Art Museum and UNCF.
