In 1954, 12 women formed an organization with the purpose of serving the Frankenmuth community by initiating projects for the betterment of the city.  To make their organization official they became part of the Home Extension group. As more women joined the group in 1968, the name was changed to the Frankenmuth Women’s Club.

This small group of women’s first major project was to spearhead a drive to raise funds for an outdoor community swimming pool in Memorial Park. That spring the group also volunteered their time by planting petunias along several city streets. During the summer, the ladies planted 700 rose bushes in the Rose Garden at Memorial Park and maintained them for many years until the city took over their maintenance.

The Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival began in 1959. During the week-long event, the ladies provided free city tours of Frankenmuth, driving the visitors around in their own cars. To the club’s delight, the car dealerships in town offered station wagons for this endeavor. Fees collected for the tours were given to the city to purchase more flowers, trees, and shrubs. The club continues to offer step-on guided bus tours of the city to visitors today. 

A life-size Nativity scene was installed in a downtown park near Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth for the 1964 Christmas season. The club’s next big project was hanging strings of lights on the trees surrounding the Nativity scene. Every year the women met to clean the wires and bulbs, test them, and replace any burned-out lights. Each November they took their own ladders and climbed as high as they could to hang the lights on the trees.

This informal, small club was the driving force behind getting the city their own library. In 1973, the Wickson - Link Memorial Foundation gave a large financial gift to the library fund in memory of James E. Wickson, Frankenmuth’s first City Mayor. 

The Frankenmuth Women’s Club went door-to-door asking for additional funds to complete and furnish the library. In 1974, the James E. Wickson Memorial Library was built at the corner of Franklin and Tuscola streets. In 1979, the Women’s Club bought additional furnishings for the library, and during the ’80s, purchased computer software, shelving, and additional books. The club still donates funds annually.

The club began selling geraniums to the community as another fundraiser, which continues today. They purchased the Jaws of Life for the fire department and later donated funds to upgrade the system. They also donated funds to help purchase an ambulance for the city. They began a high school scholarship fund for several young graduating seniors each year and donated funds to help build the high school track.

Realizing that they needed to earn money to make a greater impact in the community. The group hosted rummage sales, fashion shows, card parties and held quilt raffles. The club also began selling geraniums to the community as another fundraiser, which continues today.

The Frankenmuth Women's Club had the thankless task of testing hundreds of feet of Christmas light strands and their bulbs. About a dozen women met in the basement of City Hall and tested the lights brought to them by Dale, "Munchy" Meachfeild. The lights illuminated several city parks.

The ladies purchased a lighted marquee for Fischer Hall and donated funds to the Frankenmuth Historical Museum.

In 1993, club members envisioned the development of a site for cultural and educational entertainment for residents of the Frankenmuth area. Plans for the Memorial Park Improvement Project moved forward to include the band shell, concession stand, parking, paving, and landscaping of the area within Frankenmuth Memorial Park. Over $700,000 was raised from local businesses and residents of the City of Frankenmuth to finance the project. 

The Palmer Schau Platz was dedicated in Memorial Park and ready for the summer concerts in June of 1995. Three years later, with help from the Walter and Maria Palmer Foundation, a dressing room was added to the bandshell and the concession building was built. The bandshell was renamed the Palmer Schau Platz in honor of their benefactors. 

The club began their Edelweiss Award honoring a Frankenmuth woman who has distinguished herself in the areas of education, civic development, and social improvement.

The club began the Holiday Home Tour with five area homes decorated for Christmas and opened for ticket holders to walk through. The home tour is currently the club’s largest fundraiser.

We received a resolution from the City of Frankenmuth recognizing the club as working "for the betterment of the Frankenmuth Community for 50 years."

In honor of their 50th anniversary, the club gave a large donation to Spray Park, also located in Memorial Park, up the hill from the bandshell.

Today, the Frankenmuth Women’s Club has grown in membership to over one hundred members and continues to raise funds to support many community projects. In addition to the summer concert series, the club also raises funds in support of the Wickson Library, City Beautification, Frankenmuth Community Schools, Farmers Market, maintenance of the band shell, and other local projects as they arise.

With dedication and perseverance, the efforts of the 29 women who formed the club many years ago, are still carried on today by new members who are also committed to making Frankenmuth a better place to live.