The Ladies of the Six and Twenty Club gathered on the beautiful afternoon of Sept. 1 at the First Christian Church. Pat Thompson was the host for the day, and Bobbi Jo Schlaegel was the program leader for the meeting.

The meeting was called to order by president Patti Cook.

Schlaegel chose the book “The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post” by Allison Pataki to circulate this year among the members. The book is a biographical novel about the fascinating life of one of the wealthiest women of the 20th century. Marjorie Merriweather Post was a philanthropist, businesswoman, art collector, and diplomat. She valued beauty, elegance, and graciousness yet few people know about her or her “magnificent lives.”

Schlaegel’s program focused on Post’s “feisty, lavish, and wild lives.” Her feisty business practices encompassed her inheriting the $250 million Post Company upon her father’s death in 1914 at the age of 27 and growing that company into the General Food Corporation by 1929 all behind the scenes due to the fact of being a woman.

Her lavish lifestyle included multiple residences throughout the country. Vast properties like The Boulders in Connecticut, the famous Sea Cloud Yacht, and Mar-A-Largo in Palm Beach. She was an avid art collector owning priceless Soviet paintings, tapestries, and works of art all currently on display at Hillwood Estate in Washington D.C. She owned an unmatched jewelry collection with pieces once belonging to Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, and Maximilian. With all her wealth, Post funded multiple charity organizations in America and Europe until her death in 1973.

Following the meeting’s adjournment, the members socialized at round tables decorated with fabulous fall-colored leaves and fall scented warmers. The ladies enjoyed Kava Haus salted caramel pie in a jar and mini apple-cinnamon scones provided by Thompson.