History
December 5, 1919 marked the birth of the Brookbury Homemaker's Club, which consisted of a number of women from the area. In 1920 the Club changed its name to Women's Institute. Miss Cecilia Coates, a pillar of the W.I. for many years, bought a piece of land and a building from Mr. James Dougherty for $150 in 1921, which she then donated to the W.I. The cost of renovating the building to be used as a Women's Institute Hall would have been too great for the small group, so it was decided to use the original building for a horse shed and have a new structure built for the Hall. The first meeting was held in the new Hall on June 17, 1922.
Cement steps were added to the front entrance of the Hall in 1928. In 1949, it was wired for electricity, and in 1959 they remodeled the kitchen and installed a water system and gas heater. The Hall was the scene of many dances; Halloween, New Year, and Easter parties; dinners, and card parties over the years. In the earlier days, it was used for basketball games, euchre parties, a variety of socials (pop corn socials, box socials, sugar socials), Christmas tree entertainments, and plays/skits performed by local and outside talent. It was also rented by people of the immediate and surrounding communities for receptions and showers.
In 1997, the Women's Institute disbanded and turned the Hall over to the community of Brookbury, at which time a committee was formed. Not much has changed since the W.I. days in the way of what our Hall is used for. We hold an annual potluck supper; sponsor various fundraising events (see the Fundraisers page for current activities); members of the community have held card parties, and it has been used for many wedding showers and receptions, as well as birthday and anniversary parties.