Back to Military Life

OSC and ESC to merge

Joint community club will debut in the fall

Merdeith Dusek, president of the ESC, and Stacey Phillips, president of the OSC, are starting work on the merging of the two clubs. The new combined spouses' club will be unveiled in September. Photo by Melissa Renahan

Email Article Print Article Share on Facebook Share on Reddit Share on StumbleUpon

"The entire Army community is changing, and the spouses' clubs are following suit," explained Officers' Spouses Club president Stacey Phillips, whose husband, Lt. Col. Michael Phillips, is a commander with the 308th Brigade Support Battalion, 17th Fires Brigade.

For the past two years, the OSC has shared building space with the Enlisted Spouses Club, and in that time, as a result of many Army Family Action Plan issues combining the two entities has been suggested and discussed. Finally, as of June 15 this year, the two clubs have officially approved the merger.

"In the end, we both do the same things and give back to the base, so why not join forces?" said Meredith Dusek, who has been the president of the ESC for just over a year. "We are hoping to remove the stereotype that it is just for wives."

Though no official name has been selected yet, it will most likely be something along the lines of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Community Spouses Club to further emphasize that the new club will be open to all of JBLM, including government service employees working on base.

As both clubs typically take the summer off and host no events, the new combined club will be unveiled in September, and Phillips will be at the helm. Dusek will be PCSing in the near future with her husband, Sgt. John Dusek of the 593rd SBD, 513th Transportation Company. Before then, the two women, along with other members of the club, will work to write a new constitution for the organization and also develop and plan new activities that will be of interest to the now more diverse group.

"We are combining the best of both clubs," said Phillips. That means they will keep both of the annual fund-raisers that the OSC and ESC used to do separately, the Holiday Bazaar in November and gift-wrapping service in November and December. Last year the two drives raised close to $27,000.

Together, the clubs have roughly 200 members, and the hope is to substantially increase that number this fall. The new dues will be between $15 and $25. For more information or to join the new, merged club, either visit www.fortlewisosc.org or e-mail Phillips at Stacey.Phillips@us.army.mil.  

Read next close

Resources

Samoyed needs foster home

Comments for "OSC and ESC to merge"

Comments for this article are currently closed.