By Zanze Fowler

Bush, Batchelor and Blecke. Dating back to 1926, these three Bs have had a tremendous impact on the Junior League of Miami which is still felt strongly today. Rebecca Herndon Bush, her daughter Lucy Bush Batchelor and granddaughter Berta Batchelor Blecke have been influential in shaping this League and its programs.

Mrs. Bush served as the first president of the Junior League in 1926-27 when the Miami chapter was admitted into the national Association of Junior Leagues. In addition, Alberta Williams Bush, Rebecca Bush's mother-in-law was also an active Junior Leaguer living in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1926. Consequently, it was the Birmingham League which sponsored the newly formed JLM, allowing the organization to become officially sanctioned.

I recently spoke with Mrs. Batchelor and her daughter, Mrs. Blecke, about their experiences during their active years in the League.

Mrs. Batchelor also shared some of her fondest childhood memories when her mother, Rebecca Herndon Bush, served as president. She remembered playing "dress-up" in the gypsy costumes that were worn at the first fund-raising ball and recalled helping her mother create crepe paper decorations that adorned the Biltmore Hotel.

For those of us who know Lucy Batchelor and Berta Blecke personally, their dedication and commitment is very apparent. Mrs. Batchelor shared a story that truly embodied her kindness. The setting was 1960, when plane loads of Cuban children were arriving in Miami every week. The Junior League, the Children's Service Bureau and area churches were all trying to find homes for these children.

Mrs. Batchelor did not have a problem placing the younger children, but no one wanted to take the teenage boys. Many people were afraid to take teenagers into their homes. When she realized that no homes were available for these boys, she took them in herself. Eventually permanent homes were found in other states, but these boys always kept in touch with her, and she fondly shows off the many letters she has received over the years.

Growing up in this kind of home, with role models such as her mother and grandmother, it is no surprise that Berta Blecke was the guiding force behind many of the Junior League's projects. She is very committed to improving the quality of life for children who have been neglected by the system, as well as their own families. Serving in the Guardian Ad Litem Program is where she met Judge William Gladstone.

And as she put it, "He had a LOT of ideas."

Many of those very ideas wound up being voted upon by the League membership in the form of funding and staffing recommendations for various projects. Eventually, Berta was influential in bringing the CHARLEE (Children Have All Rights - Legal, Educational and Emotional) Program to Miami. This successful program places emotionally disturbed children who have been rejected by all other foster homes into a CHARLEE home under the supervision of stable house parents trained to deal with the children's problems. A stable environment coupled with counseling, fosters these children's growth and maturity and prepares them to live independently once they turn 18.

Berta and Judge Gladstone also teamed up to address a terrible social disease with the new Gladstone Center for Girls, a current League project. This is a facility for sexually abused girls to receive medical treatment, counseling, and schooling, with the ultimate goal of placement back with a family member. Now that the Gladstone Center is fully operational, Berta has by no means sat back and taken it easy. She informed me that there is a Boy's Center becoming a reality in the near future.

The Junior League has influenced each one of our lives. But, did you know that thanks to Lucy Batchelor, the Junior League has influenced some of this state's most hardened criminals? No, there isn't a Junior League in prison, but Mrs. Batchelor took Robert's Rules of Order and formed various service-type clubs within the state's prison system. She said that she treated everyone just like the Junior League treats its members. Thanking them for coming to the meetings, telling them that they can make a difference, how to vote on matters that were before the membership, etc. She said, "Many of the men I counseled told me that if they had learned the human relation skills she taught them when they were young, they would not have ended up in prison."

In honor of the family's matriarch, in 1987 the JLM established the Rebecca Herndon Bush Service Award. This award is given to the active member who has contributed exceptional service to the community for each fiscal year. Appropriately, Berta Blecke was the first recipient of the award. Others honorees include Claudia Crimmen Kitchens, Sara Barli Herald, the late Ronni Weksler Bermont, Jayne Harris Abess, Deborah Thornton Hasty, Lynn Summers, Julia Rea Bianchi, Linda Cooks-Taylor, Susan Moll, Karen Nordt and in 1998, Alison Gunn.

Lucy Batchelor and her daughter Berta Blecke are an inspiration to me and I imagine to just about everyone they meet. Mrs. Batchelor's stories are fascinating and memorable, like the way she expresses her feelings for the Junior League: "The graciousness with which the Junior League welcomes its members and the opportunities for learning are unique gifts."

From our vantage point, the "gift" was all ours, having these remarkable women as part of our organization.

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