Our History
Twins Club . . . The First 35 Years!
The first meeting of the Central Valley Mother of Twins Club was held in July 1972. With only six members, the club met at member’s houses. Rita Haynie, one of the club founders, remains an honorary member. The first Newsletter was mailed in January 1973 to the club’s growing roster of 13 members. By 1974 there were 24 active members and the club paid for 6 people to go to the Twins Club National Convention.
Our Library started in 1975 and in 1976 birthdays and anniversaries were listed in the newsletters. Active members totaled 34 and the club was invited to join the Northern California Mother of Twins Club, but did not join the National organization until later (1983). In the remainder of the 1970s and the early 1980s the club instituted regular activities such as the semi-annual clothing exchange, secret pals, mom’s night out and the traveling box. In 1982, there were 30 active members and the meetings were being held at Valley Children’s Hospital.
The Club officially joined the Southern California Mother of Twins Club in 1983. Dues were raised to $15.00 and a Memorial Fund was established for Becky Keith, a former member who died in a plane crash. In the late 1980s the club expanded it’s regular activities to include a Chafee Zoo outing, an Adult Twin Panel discussion, Family Socials and Children’s Holiday Parties.
In August of 1992 the Club’s 20th Anniversary Party was held at Wolf Lakes. By February of 1993 the club’s roster had grown to 49 members! The club moved its meeting place to Saint Agnes in January 1994. By the end of 1994 the dues were raised to $30.00 and the club now included 53 members. In 1995 the name of the newsletter was changed from the “Twinsey Report” to “Double Talk”. By the end of the year the club had 62 members. In December 1995, Becky Keith’s mother donated an engraved silver pitcher to be used to collect donations for the Becky Keith Memorial Fund. In 1996 the club got a voice mail phone number (559-265-3995). On June 21, 1997 the Club celebrated its 25th Anniversary at Woodward Park.
By the end of the 1990s and the start of the new millennium, mentoring for new moms was instituted as well as providing meals to families bringing home their infant twins from the hospital. In 2001, Meghan Dayka’s twin girls were featured on the front page of the Fresno Bee Kid’s Day Newspaper as being the first and only twins ever to be put in the same isolette at Valley Children’s Hospital. The Dayka twins proved to be a medical success story as well as a healthy re-assurance to future families in the club with premature twins. In 2002, a representative from BabySafe gave an eye-opening information session on child-proofing your home. By 2003 the club had established several traditions with their activities and social events, including the Mother’s Day Tea which was a spring event not to be missed. In 2004 the club moved its monthly meetings to Clovis Community Hospital. In 2005 the club continued with traditions such as clothing exchanges, secret pals, holiday parties and mom’s night out.
By 2006 the club had started new traditions such as infant play dates, a silent auction at the Spring BBQ and began working on creating a club website. In November of 2006 one of the club’s previous members’, Aime Bogle, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband and five children, which include her 6 yr. old twin girls. She is missed by all.
By March 2007 the club had 35 members who voted to change the club’s name in order to be more “all-encompassing”. The club was expanding its regular activities to include not just moms but dads too and was also reaching out to families with more than twins (i.e. triplets and higher order multiples) so the new name, The Central Valley Multiples Club, was better suited for the organization. In April 2007 the club raised over $3500 to donate to the March of Dimes and participated in WalkAmerica at Woodward Park. On May 11, 2007 the club celebrated its 35th Anniversary at Bicentennial park with current members and past members.