1 week Ago By Mark Shaffer
Published 12:00 am Monday, April 14, 2025 By Mark Shaffer The Ironton Welfare Club met for their annual spring salad luncheon on Thursday. (Mark Shaffer | The Ironton Tribune) The Ironton Welfare Club met for their annual spring salad luncheon on Thursday. (Mark Shaffer | The Ironton Tribune) The Ironton Welfare Club met for their annual spring salad luncheon on Thursday.
(Mark Shaffer | The Ironton Tribune) The Ironton Welfare Club met for their annual spring salad luncheon on Thursday. (Mark Shaffer | The Ironton Tribune) Ironton Welfare Club has annual spring salad luncheon to fund kid programs On Thursday, the Ironton Welfare Club met for one of its annual fundraisers, the spring salad luncheon, which the club has held since 1962 or 1963. Over the past 106 years, the club expanded their mission to do more, but all their works are geared toward helping children.
The spring salad luncheon is exactly what it sounds like: salads of every type, from lettuce to pasta salads to chicken salads to Watergate salad and cranberry salad. And as is traditional, the event was held at the First Church of the Nazarene on Fourth and Pleasant streets. President Marianna Dalton said the club has continued over the past century because “our club members are hardworking, they understand the need to help children in our community and they are willing to stick together without bickering or without questioning one another’s beliefs or politics in order to keep this club together and continue the mission.
” In her opening remarks to the gathered club, Dalton thanked everyone for attending and for being a partner in the projects that directly or indirectly improve the lives of children in the community. She listed the numerous groups that the club donates to, including Tools 4 Schools, Backpack Buddies, Sue’s Kids and Two Hearts Pregnancy Center. The Ironton Welfare Club has many civic projects including the Eddy Awards, Ironton Freshie Award and scholarships for non-traditional students enrolled in Ohio University’s nursing program and Collins Career and Technical Center.
“Scholastic achievement has historically been something our club members have worked to encourage,” Dalton said. “In the distant past, we made sure needy students had milk — healthy bodies, healthy minds.” Now, the Welfare Club encourages academic excellence by rewarding sixth grade students who score higher than others on the Eddy Test and award the Freshie Award to high school freshman who maintain a B average or higher in all subjects.
“We also support local churches as the endeavor to meet the needs of children in our community,” Dalton said. As for her favorite club event, Dalton said it is the annual talent show. “It’s because we auction off beautiful wreaths, decorative items and food, everything,” she said.
“It makes it a lot of fun.” The group was formed on Valentine’s Day in 1919 and their first mission was to make sure that all the children in Ironton got milk everyday. They continued that until the federal government started a milk program in schools in the 1970s.
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