MOSES LAKE - "There's a piece of history going on here this morning, folks," said Margaret Schiffner to her fellow Moses Lake Women's Club members.

After more than 50 years of ownership, the Moses Lake Women's Club handed over the keys to their building to new owners this month.

Schiffner met with members Geneva Barclay, Sally McLanahan, Doris Rowe and Glenna Bingham Monday for the club's last meeting in the building.

"It's an exciting day but sad," Schiffner said. "We've lost so many members we just can't really keep the building."

Of the 50 or 60 members the club saw in the past, Schiffner says there are now only 16.

"I'm going to miss all the history hung on the walls," said Bingham.

The club bought the building, constructed by Grace Lutheran Church, after World War II for $15,000.

According to club minutes, members worked for 13 years to pay for the building by hosting dinner shows and doing other fund-raisers.

But despite their small membership today, the ladies are still actively involved in helping Grant County residents as well as the international community.

"We'll continue doing our community service even though we don't have the building," Schiffner said.

Currently the club donates thousands of dollars ever year to worthy causes such as education and world-wide aid programs like Heifer International.

"This year we are donating $125 to buy a goat for a family. The idea is to teach them to milk the cow instead of give them a glass of milk," Schiffner said.

In Grant County, the club sponsors a $750 scholarship for graduating high school seniors to attend Big Bend Community College, puts together informational packets encouraging new mothers to read to their children, oversees the arts and crafts department at the Grant County Fair and more.

The Women's Club founded the first library in the city and in 1955, donated more than 1,200 books to the Moses Lake City Library.

The club formed in 1914, more than 20 years before Moses Lake officially became a city. Originally known as the Neppel Federated Women's Club, it is the oldest organization in Moses Lake.