The I P F(unny) Club

The Fairview Congregational Christian Church is no more. It lasted more than 100 years but the little country church three miles south of our home place was sold and dismantled a couple years ago. Attendance and support for what had once been the centerpiece of a community dwindled down to a few members - most of them elderly. There just weren't enough young people to keep it going.
The youth group was still well attended when I was growing up. It was known as IPF which stood for Iowa Pilgrim Fellowship (I think! Maybe it was International Pilgrim Fellowship?) Smart aleck teens that we were, we just referred to it as the I P Funny Club. But not in front of the minister nor the parents, of course.

Each month two of the mothers were assigned to bring refreshments. One of Mom's biggest pet peeves was a kid bringing back his plate with a napkin covering something he hadn't eaten and saying, "Thank you for the delicious refreshments, Mrs. Lynam."
Once or twice a year we would go to Triangle meetings at another church. That meant three church groups got together on a Sunday afternoon. I remember one in Orient only because our minister let me drive his car home from the meeting. I had just turned 16 and gotten my driver's license.
Next in size were Rallys when several churches met. I remember one in Atlantic because of how much larger the church was than ours and because I was running for district secretary. I don't think I wanted the job very badly because I was relieved when Connie Pigg was elected. Connie was nice, pretty, popular and her name was pronounced with soft g's; Pijj, not pig.
The only time I remember going to a conference for all of Southwest Iowa, it was held in Council Bluffs. That was a big deal because we stayed overnight with host families. My host was the caretaker at a cemetery. It was fun the next day to say "I slept in a cemetery!"
Not all IPF meetings were fun. One night at church the other girls were whispering and giggling. They laughed when I tried to join in then ran off leaving me feeling very lonely and hurt. Mrs. Vogel saw what was going on. She put her arm around me; said some words to make me feel better; put the Fellowship into IPF.