GLADBROOK – Alpha Study Club met at Peace Church on March 25, 2025, with Sue Storjohann as hostess. President Deb Wentzien opened the meeting with a reading on “Right Hand, Left Hand.” We also played right hand, left hand passing around a wrapped gift while following Deb’s instructions.

The Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports were read with a balance of $565.28 in the Treasury. There were no bills this month.

Under Old Business, Deb inquired if the librarian’s gift had been taken care of since she missed a couple of meetings. Lisa reported that it was done.

There was no New Business.

Our next meeting will be at Deb Wentzien’s home on April 22 with Jo Anne Sash as reviewer.

The meeting was adjourned.

Pam Thomas reviewed the book “When Women Ran 5th Ave.” by Julie Satow. The 20th century American department store was a palace of consumption where every wish could be met under one roof. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings but inside women ruled. In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller came to her husband’s department store as a housewife tasked with attracting more shoppers like herself and wound up running the company. Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor championed American designers during World War II becoming the first business women to earn a $1 million salary. And in the 1960s, Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel re-invented the look of the modern department store. With a preternatural sense for trends, she inspired a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers as well as decades of copycats.