Membership
Our Heritage
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For over 70 years, the Service League of Hickory, North Carolina has made aiding those in need the heart of its operations. Starting in 1937 with a group of ten charter members, the League has grown to over 300, and through the years has taken on many worthy causes in Catawba County, promoting the missions of Charity, Public Service, and Education. (full article/summary)
A major ongoing project, the Thrift Shop, was started in 1948. Selling used household items, furniture and clothing, it has provided items at a low cost to those who are in need. As the need for space increased, the Thrift Shop moved into several locations before it finally settled at its present site, located on Hwy. 321 in Hickory. Staffed by a Store Manager and League volunteers, it has thrived. Other projects over the years have included the League's highly successful cookbook, Market to Market, in 1983, followed by a second, Taste Without Waist in 1993. Another very successful fundraiser for the League, the Hickory Antiques Fair was initiated in 1963, and was an annual event for over 40 years, raising thousands of dollars to give back into the community. In November, 2006, the League debuted its newest fundraising effort, Kitchens & More, a tour of kitchens & homes in the Hickory area. Now in its 4th year, it has continued to grow and raise money for the League's various causes.
The League has always been committed to children and education, as evident by its very first project in 1937 of providing milk for underprivileged children in the schools. A new committee, the Backpack Program, was formed in 2009, to assist low income elementary-aged children in the Hickory City Schools. This program works in cooperation with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide backpacks of food each week to feed needy students through the weekend. Though the League's Scholarship committee, we have helped over 140 students to achieve their college education through annual scholarships, grants and merit awards, beginning in 1954. In the fall of 1989, the Scholarship Endowment Fund was established, giving out need-based scholarships and merit awards to high school seniors in Catawba County. The League also awards the Glenn C. Hilton, Jr. Scholarship, endowed in 1997.
Over the years, the Service League has been instrumental in the funding or start up of many community groups and organizations in the Catawba Valley. Among those have been the Catawba Science Center, the Hickory Foundation YMCA, Christian Cooperative Ministry, DDS Child Advocacy Center and Family Care Center. Community outreach has involved the Community Ridge Day Care Center, Family Guidance, High Hope, Council on Adolescents, among many others. The League's strong involvement in the community has been recognized and honored; in 1988 the League was awarded one of the WSOC-TV Nine Who Care Awards for Outstanding Service. We have also received The Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service and letters of recognition from Hospice, Hickory Community Relations Council, Hickory City Schools and the March of Dimes.
The Service League currently operates from a central office at 506 Third Avenue, NW, Hickory, funded in part by the City of Hickory.
1973
Did you know that the Catawba Science Center began as the Creative Museum for Youth in 1973? This Service League project began in the Cilley house on the corner of 3rd Ave and 4th St. NW, Hickory.
Source: Hickory Daily Record, July 25, 1973. Photo by Chuck Felts.
1977
Governor Hunt helps the Service League open the Community Ridge Day Care Center.
Source: Hickory Daily Record, September 14, 1977. Record photo by Bob Lupinek.
1978
Valley Hills Mall opened on August 14, 1978, with a gala benefit planned by the Service League. The event featured New York designers Charlotte Ford and Bill Blass. The 2000 attendees danced to the music of Peter Duchin and his orchestra.
Source: Hickory Daily Record, September 15, 1978.
1983
Market to Market, a cookbook produced by the Service League, became a reality in September of 1983. 10,000 copies were published at that time. People pictured in the photo are Helen Brooks, Carolyn Moretz, Dorothy Menzies, Anne Mitchell, Nancy Matheson.
Source: Hickory Daily Record, September 23, 1983.
1986
The Service League provided the Catawba Valley Science Center with the Starlab, purchased from proceeds from the sale of its cookbook Market to Market. Starlab is a forerunner of the Millholland Planetarium!
Source: Hickory Daily Record, January 18, 1986.
1986
Service League president Sylvia Kercher and Hickory mayor Bill McDonald officiate for the ribbon-cutting at the League house. (Left to right) Barbara Williams, Elaine Young, Ms. Brooks, Ms. Hilton, Councilman Neill Clark, City Manager B. Gary McGee, and Councilman Glenn Hilton Jr. look on.
Hickory Daily Record, April 15, 1986. Photo by Kim Simon.
1987
The Service League celebrated its 50th Anniversary on October 18, 1987, at the Arts Center of Catawba Valley. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of a concert grand piano to the Arts Center.
Source: Hickory News, October 22, 1987.
1988
WSOC-TV of Charlotte recognized the Service League with its "Nine Who Care" award and televised the presentation September 18, 1988. This award noted the following contributions the League has made to the community: the founding of the Community Ridge Day Care Center and the Family Guidance Center, the volunteering of time to the Catawba County Mental Health Center, the establishment of the Creative Museum for Youth (which eventually became part of the Catawba Science Center), and the giving of annual college scholarships.
1990
The Service League's Antiques Fair, held at the Hickory Foundation Center, provided attendees the opportunity to view and purchase antiques from dealers from throughout the Southeast. A special feature of the fair was always the homemade soups, sandwiches, and desserts provided by League members. C. O. Miller (director of the Foundation Center and honorary member of the League) and his wife Carolyn were instrumental in the many successful years of the Antiques Fair.
1993
The Service League offered its second cookbook, Taste Without Waist, a collection of recipes low in fat but high in flavor. Pictured here are Marty Cotton, Becky Simpson, and Donna Tripp.
Source: Hickory News, October 7, 1993.
1998
The League celebrated the Grand Opening of their new Thrift Shop location on August 11, 1998, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This event marked 50 years of service that the Thrift Shop has had in the community.
2006
Barbara Williams, Lynn Johnson, and Suzanne Hambrick, chair of the first Kitchens & More… tour in November 2006. Since its inception, Kitchens & More… has been the League's primary fundraising activity—and it offers the public an opportunity to view some of Hickory's finest homes while tasting treats prepared by the areas best chefs.