Celebrating 50

THE ROSS VALLEY Women’s League has woven its way through many names and experiences to get where it is today: a women’s organization that, according to its mission statement, is “dedicated to effective leadership, positive social interaction and the financial support of Adopt A Family of Marin.” Here’s the story: “It started in 1965,” says RVWL spokesperson Cathy Pickering. “That’s when they named themselves the ‘Jack and Jill’ branch of the Marin General Hospital volunteers, focusing fundraising efforts on the hospital’s pediatric programs.” According to Pickering, the ladies conveniently met once a month at 1 p.m., while their children were napping. In 1967, the group held a dinner dance for 300 in the showroom of Campbell-Bishop Chevrolet in Corte Madera. “Couples danced amid the new Chevrolets,” says Pickering, “and supposedly the crowd of 300 overflowed into the service bays.” The group would go on to support MGH’s Adolescent Recovery Center in 1968 and by the 1990s had morphed into KIDS W*A*Y (Women’s Association for Youth) and shifted support to the Cancer Care Center after the recovery center closed. By 1997, three years after officially becoming the Ross Valley Women’s League, it had selected the worthy Adopt A Family of Marin as sole focus for financial support, and this year it celebrates 50 years.