Do you remember the days when there were seven homemaker clubs in Mathews County? They were known then as Home Demonstration Clubs, and if you were a member or if you just had your name listed at the Mathews Extension Office, you received a monthly newsletter containing recipes, gardening, cooking and household tips. They always closed with an inspirational remark.

Mildred P. Hudgins served as home extension agent in the Mathews Cooperative Extension Service for Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) from 1973-1993, and these letters were part of the many educational, practical and helpful services she rendered during those 20 years.

Recently the Central Village Homemakers, the very first club organized (and one of only two remaining, Cobbs Creek Homemakers being the other), honored Mildred. The club made her queen for a day, recalling these newsletters and serving a lunch using the recipes printed in these publications as far back as 1974. Gaylia Hudgins had luckily filed these ne...