The Zebulon Woman's Club. "Oh, yes," you might say. "That's the group that owns the building where people have wedding receptions."

And, yes, you'd be correct.

But there is so much more to the Zebulon Woman's Club, as I found out last week.

The group celebrated its 85th birthday Tuesday night with all the trappings you would expect on such an auspicious occasion.

There was cake. There were balloons. There were presentations. Speakers came from across the region to celebrate the milestone.

Now all that might sound just so woman-clubbish. And, yes, I guess it is.

But take a little closer look at the Zebulon Woman's Club and you'll find a catalyst for change in this town.

The group formed when the town of Zebulon was little more than a teenager itself after a group of women got together and decided the town needed to pave its streets.

They fussed and hemmed and hawed. The men who ran the town listened - as all wise men do when a woman speaks with purpose.

Later the Woman's Club began Zebulon's first public library after they closed in a screened porch on the club house to properly store the books. It's hard to understate the importance to any town of its library. If you've ever taken your child to a storytime, or picked up a book for your own reading pleasure, from the Zebulon Library, you should find a member of the Woman's Club and thank them for what their predecessors did.

The Woman's Club remains active today. Several club members were part of the effort to preserve the Wakelon School and turn it into a muncipal complex. That project draws praise from preservationists across the county. The effort is being recognized next week at a celebration in Raleigh hosted by Capital Area Preservation.

And I suspect that project is of particular importance to several club members who taught there, went to school there or both. At least two of the club members, I know, are former teachers, including Jenny Privette who was my P.E. teacher in sixth and seventh grades. Peggy Wilder taught elementary school for years and always makes it a point to ask about your children.

Members of the Woman's Club give of their time in ways large and small. They keep a garden at Guardian Care. They help sponsor blood drives and Kid's Voting events.

While some of that work is more visible in the community than the rest, the group doesn't end its contributions at the city limit sign.

Club members are active in the larger Woman's Club organization, known as the federation.

Some Zebulon club members have been state officers. Others have served on statewide committees that require a significant amount of time and commitment. And, just as they do in the local club, these folks are interested in using the Woman's Club organization to make all the communities they serve better places.

In Zebulon, it would take all your fingers and toes to keep track of the ways the Woman's Club serves the greater community.

And the pay, by the way, is the standard volunteer rate. $0.

The payoff, however, is worth all the money in the world.