Coming to a new duty station or joining the military community while leaving a previous tribe of family and friends can be daunting for a spouse. Fortunately, the Fort Cavazos Spouses' Club gives spouses an opportunity to make new friends while giving back to the community.
The Spouses' Club hosted their annual Super Sign-Up event Aug. 29 at Samuel Adams Brewhouse to kick off the start of their year. It is their huge push for membership in
the organization.
“We kind of do a lot of things for the community and within the community,” said Nikki Strong, president of the Spouses' Club. “This is just to make sure that everybody in the community has a friend, has something to do and just can kind of continue to build support and camaraderie.
“We wanted (the Super Sign-Up event) to set the tone for the year,” she continued. “We wanted it to be fun. We wanted to be informative. We want people to come in and kind of feel the vibe of the club and learn about all the things we do, so that you know how you want to be involved.”
Many spouses in attendance were there to join the Fort Cavazos Spouses' Club for the first time. Some said they had been a part of spouses' clubs at other installations and loved joining for the camaraderie.
“So, I actually work out with a lot of the women that are on the board,” said Shannon Younkin, an Army spouse. “They all talk very highly of the Spouses’ Club, and they’re very involved.
“And so that’s kind of what I’ve been wanting to do since we came back here, because this is our second time being stationed here,” she continued. “I really wanted to try to meet new people and get more involved.”
Many spouses also were wanting to be part of the organization to give back to the community. The club hosts three big fundraisers a year: the Holiday Bazaar in November, Wild West Night in March and the new holiday social in December. The group also does event rentals and organizes Operation Deploy Your Dress, which provides formal wear for women and men for military functions. All their proceeds go toward their grant programs, giving back to the community and scholarship program.
The Spouses' Club offers sub-clubs members can be part of, including the Bunco club, book club and the wine and spirits club. But the No. 1 detail the Spouses' Club wants people to know is the club is open to any spouse, from active duty to Department of Defense civilians, international military, National Guard, reservists, retired and unmarried Gold Star Spouses with valid DOD ID cards working or living in the Fort Cavazos area.
Angie Phillips, an Army spouse who is currently in-processing here, has been part of spouses' clubs for nearly nine years. She never felt it mattered what her husband’s rank was.
“Every club is very different wherever you go,” she said. “I was just at Fort Knox (Kentucky), and it is not an enlisted base. There’s a lot of enlisted there, but there’s a vast amount of officers there. So just by demographics of the base, you’re going to have more officer spouses than enlisted spouses. So due to that, I was, I believe, the only enlisted spouse for sure on the executive board, and maybe the two or three in the governing board.
“The entire time I was there it did not matter one bit my husband’s rank or anything like that,” she continued. “What matters is us showing up to the organization, raising money so we can give it away to spouses, to dependents, to local community charities — that’s all that matters.”
Phillips went on to express she never felt it mattered when they were at Fort Cavazos previously. The Fort Cavazos Spouses' Club made every effort to be very inclusive to spouses of all ranks.
Another great benefit of the organization was the option to choose the level of involvement, without the pressure to participate in all the activities, conveyed Amanda Bifulco, a new member of the Spouses' Club.
“With kids and working as well, and then trying to be involved as my husband’s spouse and give back to that unit, it’s really a capacity thing,” Bifulco said. “So, if timing works out and I can be involved in book club, great. If timing works out and I can be involved with run club, great. It’ll be more of where it fits into our already packed lifestyle.”
If all a spouse wants to do is join the book club or attend a luncheon once a month, participate in all the planning of fundraisers or attend every volunteer activity, it is up to them. Spouses can be involved in the club as little or much as they want, Strong explained.
This was the only event for in-person sign up, but Strong said filling out the membership application is easy.
“You can go on our website, fortcavazosspousesclub.org, and you will see the
sign-up link right when you log in or right when you go on the website,” she instructed. “And that’s it, just filling out the membership application. It’s a $30 sign-up fee, and then you’re in.”
Social Sharing