The Ukiah Saturday Afternoon Club (formerly the Saturday Afternoon Club) was formed in 1904 by local women to support cultural growth and appreciation, promote civic responsibility, and cultivate their individual talents and leadership.
The Club was formed when a small group of women met for the purpose of organizing a literary and social club. Their intention was to provide educational and cultural improvment for the women of Ukiah. In 1906 twenty women were attending the meetings twice a month, many of them arriving by horse and buggy. The Club became federated in 1906. Literary landmarks, current events, music, and the arts were subjects studied by the members. The Club was instrumental in securing Ukiah's first library building donated by Andrew Carnegie.
Two of their members were selected to be on the first Library Board. The Club also provided benches for McGarvey park, a drinking fountain for the school, and planted trees around town. They organized clean-up days for the city and prompted the paving of the streets. They supported the local Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls youth organizations. These are just a few examples of the community support the Club gave in the past years.
In 1923 the members bought the Methodist Episcopal Church which was built in 1885. The members used this building for their social events. In 1978 they started renting the building out to the public. The Clubhouse became a well known landmark in the city of Ukiah. Many people have attended parties, weddings, receptions, musical performances, political gatherings, fundraising events, dances, social and cultural events. In 2007 the building was sold to a local woman who has continued to have the Clubhouse serve the community as a gathering place for many different functions.
In 2009 the Club became a non-profit with the official name of Ukiah Saturday Afternoon Club. The USAC has been supporting women's history events, our homeless shelter and community food support services, local children's programs, creating and distributing scholarships at Mendocino College and Ukiah High School, and the community arts. We meet with all members four to five times a year and the board meets monthly. The members are informed of all board discussion and decisions by a monthly copy of the board notes. We work in collaboration with other non-profit organizations to raise funds to help our community. With the sale of the clubhouse we gifted the Community Foundation of Mendocino County $40,000 to perpetually fund grants in improving the lives of women and girls in our community.
Though we have sold the building we are still an active club working in collaboration with other non-profits in Ukiah and Mendocino County. Our Mission Statement focuses us on promoting programs that make our community a better place to live. We concentrate on educational, historical, and cultural support of programs that improve the quality of life for the people in our county.
