Club 100

I have decided that I want to give something back so I thought about charities, organizations I could approach and realized there is always so much awareness there.  Then I thought about the forgotten, the looked over, the elderly.  I approached a nursing care center to see if I could photograph their residents.  I did not know that a company comes to them like they do in schools and they have picture day.  They also charge the family alot of money for one photo.  The director and I talked some more and she really liked my work after reviewing my webiste.  I casually asked the median age of their resident and she said she has some in their 30's and one turning 102 next week!  That's when the idea clicked and I began Club 100.

I met Ms. Lala Bell Tawry and was honored to photograph her as she told me about her life.  She was born in 1908 in Arkansas. 

We can learn so much from these folks if we just take the time.  She had seen the prohibition, depression, seen 5 wars, the attack of Pearl Harbor and the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima.  She started work at the age of 12, making $1 a week that supported her mama and 8 brothers and sisters after her dad was arrested for making whiskey during the prohibition.  Marriage took her to


West Texas where she worked as a cook, a gardener and a housekeeper on a large ranch while married to her second husband. Her rules for the cowboys: leave the boots outside the door or clean them before entering, no hats at the table, face and hands washed before sitting at the table and good manners are a
must.

She still enjoys a good cup of coffee and lights up when a child is near.  What was amazing, was although she had a hard life, I asked her what the happiest time was and she looked up and said "I was always happy"