Is there any way to develop a club with no set activity for every meeting? 

Apparently yes, as junior Sam Wordhouse discovered. 

“I was in the [FX] control room with [seniors] Andrew Weiskopf and Jack Ballou,” Sam said. “We were joking about different club ideas we could do. And then, I was like, it’d be fun if we had a club called ‘Club Club.’ Originally, it was going to be [where] we go and tour other people’s clubs. But then, we realized that a lot of clubs would probably not be happy with that. So then, we’re like, what if we just draw it out of a hat? And I was like, ‘that’s stupid, let’s do it.’”

The premise of Club Club is to present a variety of activities throughout the year. Each meeting brings a new activity for anyone who shows up to enjoy. So far, a cornhole (also known as bags) tournament and a pumpkin carving contest have been the set activities. 

The flexibility of Club Club allows for multitudes of people with different interests to be more apt to participate. 

“My favorite part is probably that anyone can join,” Sam said. “It’s a club with a bunch of people, and they just come and hang out. You don’t really have to have a specific skill level or really any prerequisites other than just coming and hanging out. I think any type of person would enjoy Club Club. It’s got something for everyone there, and if you don’t like what we’re doing one week, just come back the next week because it’ll be something completely different.”

Upon developing the idea, the club needed an adviser. They reached out to English teacher Robbin DeMeester. After laughing at the name, she agreed due to the welcoming nature of the idea.

“Basically, what they wanted was to have a club that didn’t just appeal to one group of people,” DeMeester said, “because if they’re doing something different every week, then someone who might never do extracurriculars might go ‘oh, I would come to that.’ Then, if they like the people, maybe they’ll come and try something new that they’ve never done. That’s why I agreed to be a part of it. I love the idea of anything that gets kids who aren’t involved in much to come try something new and meet people.”

With only two meetings completed so far, Club Club is already housing many members. Even though the club’s concept in and of itself is making a difference at FHC with its inclusivity, the club is branching out. 

For the month of November, FHC Club Club is partnering with an organization supporting men’s health for a fundraiser. Senior Andrew Weiskopf, one of Club Club’s founders, came up with the idea. 

“No Shave November is a fundraiser that we started this year—hopefully it lasts longer,” Andrew said. “The idea really came from when I was talking to Mr. Riley about [if he was doing No Shave November], and 30 minutes later, he proposed the idea. Ever since that, we’ve run with it. Now, we have MIU men’s health as our sponsor who we’re gonna donate to. We look forward to getting $6,500 to donate for our first month.”

Those looking to donate can bring money to the main office or can use the barcodes located in The Ranger Zone and Snack Shack, on FHC Club Club’s Instagram page, and linked here. The $6,500 goal goes towards the cost of health screenings at MIU Men’s Health Foundation’s annual Men’s Health Event. 

In addition to fundraising, Andrew hopes to add more to No Shave November. 

“I wanted to do a relay race because Movember—the actual website—does a relay race for 60 miles,” Andrew said. “It’s for every hour, 60 men commit suicide. So, every mile will be for every time a man commits suicide.”

Despite the short time that the club has been around, FHC Club Club is striving to make an impact. Through fundraising and the club’s general acceptability, it’s clear that it already is. By attending meetings and donating, you, too, can be a part of the impact.

“I think everyone should come to Club Club,” Sam said.

This story was originally published on The Central Trend on November 10, 2022.