WEST POINT — The Woman’s Club is normally busy with their meetings, their events or one of the several yearly donations they make to local organizations and individuals. Earlier this year, however, they were able to take time to honor one of their members.

Sharon Rypkema, the hostess chairman for the club, received the West Point Woman’s Club Woman of the Year Award, a prestigious award given to the member that exemplifies the club’s mantra of helping others.

“We nominate [the winners],” said club president Elizabeth Lester. “Everyone turns in a nomination and we pick the top three. Then we vote on the top three.
It’s whoever you think has been in the club a while, attends all the meetings, whoever does a lot of work, is upbeat.”

According to Lester and the rest of the club, Rypkema meets all these criteria and more, as she is an active member of the club who gets involved with all the work they do. She lives in West Point, is married to Dennis Rypkema and plays an important role in the club’s activities.

“That’s how Sharon is,” Lester said. “She is a tried and true member who deserved to win. We all made a point to make sure that she got it.”

Her award winning comes after the club’s resurgence in 2018. According to the current president, the club was low in numbers for a time.

“Just in the last couple of years it was starting to fizzle a little bit,” Lester said.

With less than 10 members at one point, the club got back on its feet with new officers taking over in January. Now, they have 23 members and Lester reports they are in the process of recruiting several more, including Point University students and other younger women.

The higher number of members means that the club can do more for the community. Members raise money year-round for scholarships, specific donations to places like Hawkes Library and other non-profits.

The West Point club is just one of the many Woman’s Clubs around the state of Georgia and the country, all of them inviting any woman with an interest in civic service to join. Those interested in joining locally can come to the clubhouse at 1200 6th Ave, West Point, Georgia on the second Tuesday of every month at 1:30 p.m.