When Betty Goodsell attended the first Cochrane Activettes meeting in 1978, it was – though unknown to her at the time – the start of a four-decade and counting legacy in town.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” she said while chuckling. “We were a small group and we were just feeling our way, like everything that starts, you have to learn to find your niche in a place.”
Now, as the Activettes stare down 40 years of service in town, Goodsell reflects on the charity, acts of kindness and growth of the group, while it gears up for celebrations to mark the milestone anniversary.
“You know it’s been an awful wonderful way of belonging to the community,” she said. “You name it, I’ve pretty much been on every position of the executive.”
Goodsell is the last founding member with the Activettes, though she has cut back on her role in recent years.
Among various roles in the past, she chaired the first Share Your Christmas – a hamper program for families in need in Cochrane, and for 20 years, she was chair of the Clothesline, the volunteer based second-hand store in town which the Activettes bought from another organization back in 1994.
“When we first started it, we used to have to support it because it took a while – quite a while – for it to take off,” Goodsell said. “We worked at it and worked at it and, as I said, we had to support it by paying its rent and we finally had to make the decision to move it into a new location, we gave it six months. It’s hard to believe when you look at it now that we supported it and now it is one of the major fundraisers of the club, supporting all sorts of different things in town because the money that’s raised goes back in the community.”
The last 30 years represented the group’s most significant achievements yet. By 1985, it had already won International Women’s Club of the Year and Citizen of the Year.
By 2007, the Activettes added Community Builder of the Year, Citizen of Vision of the Year and Volunteer Club of the Year to its roster of awards.
The charity plays a large role in the start up of various groups in town as well.
It regularly applies for grants, such as the Wildrose grant, to kick-start groups including the Cochrane Youth Organization (now known as the Cochrane and Area Boys and Girls Club), Home Treasures and Cochrane Minor Baseball.
The group contributed to the United Homecoming Fund, appliances for the Homestead, Cochrane Food Bank (one of its main operations today), Cochrane High School Solar Energy Project and flood relief in 2013.
“When you look at those kinds of things, those are byproducts of where the club started. It’s marvelous to see how successful those have become,” said Goodsell, who has seen both the town and the Activettes evolve over the years.
“We certainly – in all these years – have seen huge, huge growth in the town and so much has changed and yet it’s still kind of the same. We’re still that small community in some ways.”
As she takes a few steps back from her involvement, Goodsell said she still looks for small ways to contribute including providing gifts for seniors who might otherwise not have anyone looking after them during the Christmas season.
“I like taking it easy and look back in pride at where they’ve been and where they’ve gone and where they’re going to go. And I can see their future – they’re just always going to be a good part of this community.
The group continues to gain steam today and now has more than 40 volunteers and counting.
The Activettes’ big celebration has yet to be announced.
However, the group met Jan. 3 to discuss potential ideas and hinted that it will be a community-wide event.
