Neighborhood Club faces new century,
taking on Community Ed classes

Editor's note: This story has been updated, and clarifies two passages from its original version, concerning the club's now-eliminated registration fee and new course offerings.

With its centennial just a year away, Grosse Pointe’s Neighborhood Club has decades of service to its credit. It co-sponsored the Pointes' first library in 1915 and assisted in organizing the first hospital in 1917. During the Great Depression, it served as a public welfare center and later as a USO center during WWII. Now, there’s a new chapter upon the Neighborhood Club with its adoption of the public schools' recently displaced Community Education division.

Budget cuts forced Grosse Pointe Public Schools to cut the popular classes, and the Neighborhood Club gladly stepped in to help.

“Our board and staff put forth an extraordinary effort to provide our residents with these programs,” said John Bruce, executive director of the Neighborhood Club. "The instructors of all these classes have also worked with us to keep the fees low and help offset the incremental cost to the Neighborhood Club.”

 Speaking of costs, the Neighborhood Club has eliminated its $57 annual registration fee.

 “Our board’s decision to eliminate our registration fee is indicative of our desire to provide healthy activity for residents of all ages,”  Bruce said.

In order to accommodate this financial luxury, the Neighborhood Club has had to cut costs in other areas and transition to a paperless office.

“We want to make it affordable for people to try new things,” said Amy Roy, marketing and communications director of the Neighborhood Club. 

Some activities offered through the community education department are Zumba, dog training, junior golf and many others. 

“Some people have taken the same program for years,” Roy said. “We want residents to find that one hobby that keeps them active and enriches their lives.”

Programs like computer classes not only serve as recreational activities, but also enhance skills needed for employment, which is helpful on a resume in these troubling economic times.

The fall community education programs run from September or October through December, depending on the activity. To make program information more accessible, the Neighborhood Club has created a Facebook page.

“We wanted people who sign up for activities to have a way to find registration dates,” Roy said.

“The Neighborhood Club’s 100th anniversary is coming up, so we’re also encouraging people to share old pictures, tell stories and join in on the discussion boards.

“For me, it’s interesting to look at how the Neighborhood Club has been around for generations and to see children with their grandparents who knew of the club when they were just children as well.” 

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