Oral History Interview with Sheila Kroll of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club

Sheila Kroll with ladies from the Pine Castle Woman’s Club on their visit to the Enterprise Museum. Pictured from left to right are: Jan Thurmond,”Z” Bookhardt, Sheila Kroll, Shirley Cannon, Nancy LeFleur, Tommie Hoosier, Ruthie Harrell, Christie Woods, and Betsy Shaw enjoyed the first tea held in the newly restored Enterprise Museum, the former Enterprise schoolhouse.

…service and doing volunteering. I was real big into that even at a young age. I liked to do that. And it got me introduced to a lot of different people that way. You know, doing volunteering in the community. And I still continued that when I went on to college and as an adult I still volunteer. That’s a big part of my life and I’ve tried to instill that in my children, that that’s the way to give back to the community. Excerpt from an oral history interview with Sheila Kroll of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club, December 23, 2025, the 85th Year of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club organization.

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My name is Sheila Kroll and I was born in Pensacola, Florida.

Is that where you grew up?

Pretty much. I lived, well we lived about three and half years in Minnesota, which is where my dad was from, when I was real young, and then we moved back to Florida. I was a Navy brat because I was born in AS Pensacola [Naval Air Station Pensacola]. And then when I was a teenager we lived in Jacksonville for three years, but other than that I grew up in Pensacola. I went pretty much to the same schools the whole time even when I went back. My parents would always move to the same neighborhoods so I graduated with some people that I had started first grade with which was kind of nice being military because it doesn’t always happen. The only time I had ever been out of the state other than that was the years I spent going to college. I didn’t go to a Florida school. I went out of state. But as soon as I graduated I moved back to Florida just a different part to here in Orlando.

What was Pensacola like?

Pensacola when I grew up it was a Navy town. It revolved around the military and it still does somewhat. They’ve closed a lot of bases over the years. But it was a small community. It’s grown a lot since I lived there. In fact, I have a son who lives there now which is kind of interesting. He lives in another part of town. He said the part of town that I grew up in is the dangerous part of town now. But you know, that’s relative. But, yeah, it’s still a small town feel. You know you can get around directionally with knowing pretty much where places are rather than necessarily streets sometimes still. But it was more of a small town kind of feel. But being military, we always lived on the west side of town which was where the main base was and so there were a lot of military I went to school with. So kids would come in and out of school…

What did your parents do?

My mom she was a homemaker. I can remember when I was real young, she took in ironing for a while for something to do and she babysat, I think. But she was basically home with me and my brother. My dad was military. You know it was all about being in the Navy.

Were you involved in clubs after school like Girl Scouts?

I had a friend who did Girl Scouts. I don’t know why I never got involved in Girl Scouts. I was involved in service organizations like in school. I belonged to the Red Cross Club when I was in school. I was a member of the Beta Club, you know, it was all about service and doing volunteering. I was real big into that even at a young age. I liked to do that. And it got me introduced to a lot of different people that way. You know, doing volunteering in the community. And I still continued that when I went on to college and as an adult I still volunteer. That’s a big part of my life and I’ve tried to instill that in my children, that that’s the way to give back to the community.

Do you remember something that you did with the Red Cross?

Yeah, probably one of the biggest things I remember in the Red Cross Club is going to – you have to understand I grew up in the sixties and seventies. So kids that were disabled were looked on a little bit differently than they are today. So they at the time in Pensacola they had a crippled children’s home. And I remember going there and visiting the kids. You know some of them had family that would come and visit and some of them didn’t. You know their families put them there because that wasn’t, in a lot of communities that was something that was kind of hidden. It was just unfortunate. Because things have changed over the years. But I can remember visiting there for the holidays and some of the kids not going to have any family come to visit or anything.

Attitudes Regarding Disabilities

It’s interesting because I have a cousin who ended up being, he was disabled. And because of the attitudes and stuff, my aunt kept him at home for as long as she could until she couldn’t take care of him anymore. And she really hated to put him in a facility, because she didn’t feel like it would be the same, but she didn’t have a lot of choice. It’s a tough choice to have to make. But back then it was something that families didn’t talk about. It wasn’t an okay thing, you know, looked upon in a favorable manner, which is unfortunate because a lot of those kids, I mean we had, and you still do today, I mean we had ESE classes. But back then, the kids just, they didn’t try to integrate the kids like they do now, which is a good thing. They’ve come a long way in the school system.

You mentioned that you went to school out of state. So how did that take place?

My parents, my dad, he retired from the military in June of 1977, actually he retired in July. I graduated from high school in June of ’77. So a couple years before that, my daddy, his best friend, he lived in Louisiana, and when he was younger in the Navy, he had always gone and gone fishing and hunting. And he always wanted to retire in Louisiana. My mom bought into that. In fact, she still lives there at least for a little while. So when they, I started looking at colleges in Louisiana because I was going to live at home and go to college because that was the cheaper way to do it. Although I got some grants and things. Anyway, so they, I graduated, he retired, and in August we moved to Louisiana.

Northeastern Louisiana University

So I had gotten accepted at a college that still exists, but it’s called a different name now. It used to be called Northeastern Louisiana University. Well, actually, before that it was called a college. Now it’s called University of Louisiana at Monroe. Well, anyway, I moved and because they weren’t sure where they were going to live, they went ahead and had me live in a dorm. I never moved home after that. I enjoyed being in a dorm.

Orlando

But I lived there a year and a half, and then I followed a boy to Indiana. I finished my degree. I spent three and a half years in Indiana going to Indiana University. And then, when we lived in Minnesota we had been through blizzards many times, but I never remembered any of those and I always wanted to go through a blizzard. Well, the last winter before I graduated from college, we had a blizzard. I was ready to move back to Florida after that. I said, no, no, no, no, I don’t want to live here anymore. So I moved to Orlando. The guy didn’t work out, but the college did. But moved back to Florida and was either thinking Orlando or Sarasota. And Orlando is where I got a job offer, so I came to Orlando. And I’ve been here ever since.

What was your degree in?

I have a Bachelor’s of Social Work. It is actually an accredited program. It became accredited while I was there because it would have been a Bachelor’s of Science, I believe, but they got an accreditation for the Social Work. So I have a Bachelor’s in Social Work.

DuRocher House

When I came here I had a job at -it’s kind of freaky – I had the job. It ended up I got here and the job that I thought I was coming here for she had filled the week before I got here and didn’t tell me. I would have missed graduation and everything you know, because I had the job. But anyway, it worked out for the best because, so she had a position for me and I worked the summer doing that. But then I went to work, I worked for the Community Center down there on Hoffner. It doesn’t exist anymore. I worked there for the summer and I actually worked in Taft. And then I went to work for DuRocher House, which I don’t know if you know, but it was a runaway shelter over on 39th Street at the Trail. It was an eye opening experience.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office

But while I was there, I met a girl who had applied for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and so as it worked out the DuRocher House was closing because Great Oaks Village had gotten the contract for the runaway shelter. So DuRocher House was going to close, so I started my application process for the Sheriff’s Office. And I went to work there in June of 1983 and I was there 32 and a half years. So I found my spot, my niche.

Were you in a Social Work Capacity with the Sheriff’s Department?

No. I guess, it’s how you look at it. I think I was in short term counseling because I started out as a 911 operator. And the first time I went, when they were touring us around, I went into the 911 Center, I was just fascinated with the whole system. And it’s changed a lot over the years, but you really, you have to, they don’t require it, but you get more money if you have a degree now. But they don’t require you to have a degree. But if you have one, especially in the field that I had one, although you’re trained to ask certain questions, I think you have a more empathetic view of what you’re dealing with, because you’re only going to deal with this person for a couple minutes, usually…. I think my degree helped when I did that job. Now I didn’t stay on the phones, I ended up going into another part of communications, but I stayed in communications.

Career Path

So it was funny, my dad asked me one time, because we were talking about something he said, “Did you think you’d be here at the Sheriff’s Office when you first started college?” I said, “No, I would have never thought I would have gone into law enforcement that wasn’t what I had in mind when I had gotten my degree.” But I said, “It’s just the ways things worked out.” And actually, it worked out very well. Because you have to be a good listener and you have to be able to tune in to what’s going on and be able to help them in the most efficent way to get them the help they need. So, yeah, I think my degree did help, but it wasn’t an actual direct correlation to it.

And what a legacy of service.

Well, yeah, 32 and a half years. But I knew it was time to go. Because things were changing and I was the old dog on the block, I think. They were going into where you can text 911, just a lot of different stuff. And not that I don’t text, but, of course, back then I didn’t. But just a lot of changes. You just get to the point you know it’s time to move on because everybody you worked with is gone. And when I retired there were a lot of people, but they all came in kind of when I did. But there was a lot of people who retired at the same time. But, you know, I think you get a feel for when it’s time to move on. You know personally, my husband had been retired four years when I retired. So, it’s time to start doing another phase of our life: traveling.

Do you and your husband enjoy traveling?

We do. We’ve been – I retired in 2015. He retired in 2011. We’ve been, not just since retiring because we did some traveling before that especially with our kids. We’ve been to all 50 states, we’ve been to three provinces of Canada. We’ve been to a couple of places in Mexico. In fact, he’s actually traveled all the way to Guatemala in the car. But we’ve been to South America, some of Central America. We’ve been to Europe three times. So, yeah, I love Eastern Europe. But, yeah, we get around. Our kids are like, are you all ever going to stay home? It’s like if you don’t travel now, it may stop at some point. You may not be able to travel so you might as well make plans to do it now.

Did you meet your husband here in Orlando?

I did. Actually, I had been at the Sheriff’s Office about three and a half years and there were some things going on with me personally, and I was thinking about going to work for Customs. I wasn’t going to stay at the Sheriff’s Office. But, I wanted to check Customs out and see what the whole thing was. So I started working in Security out at the airport because I could do it part time and still work at the Sheriff’s Office. And it would give me a feel on how things worked at an airport and things. So I started doing that and that was totally pre-TSA. So it was a lot different than it is now. But actually he had moved, he had a change and he had moved from Oregon to Florida. He was born in Pennsylvania but he pretty much grew up in Florida. But he was living out at Oregon at the time, but he had moved back to Florida, but he had moved to Kissimmee. And he was working out at the airport not in the same job I was. We met because he would have to go through the security line every day when he came to work.

Breakfast Meeting

He’s a talker and I’m a talker. And actually he invited the whole group of us, there was like a team that worked together. And I was the only one that showed up for breakfast one morning. My mom knew it was serious when I told her I think on our second date maybe, we went fishing. And I was the kind of person that when I was a kid, my dad he fished and crabbed and all that. While he did all that I sunbathed, but I actually went fishing with Stan. So they knew it was probably more serious because I was willing to do something that wasn’t something I usually did. But, yeah, I met him at the airport.

And that’s where he retired from?

No, actually he retired from Security out at Martin Marietta. Because we got married and then he worked, a couple different jobs, and then he started working for- Martin outsourced their security, or some of it anyway. But he worked for the Security company out at Martin and that’s where he was at when he retired. So he was kind of in the Law Enforcement field because he had to carry a gun. But that’s where he retired from. He said, “You know I was going to work until I was 65, but I think it’s time. And I said, “Hey, you know when it’s time to retire, retire.” He retired at 62. He was retired four years. So he kind of got that retirement schedule in place before I retired. We have our own things, it’s like he’ll do things with me, like the Woman’s Club and other stuff that I do I do seperately. And he does some things, you know. We have our own interests.

You mentioned the Woman’s Club, when did you first join the Woman’s Club?

I joined the Woman’s Club in 2011. Probably early on because I lived in the area, not in Pine Castle, but I lived like in the Fort Gatlin area for years and would pass by the Woman’s Club all the time. And you know I thought I wonder what they do there. But I was working and the shifts I was working, you know, it wasn’t always feasible to be involved. But our two youngest children, they got involved with Scouts. And one of the young men that they were in Scouts with, did his Eagle’s Project at the Women’s Club. It had to have been 2011 because my one son he became an Eagle Scout in 2012. But so they did the Eagle for Chad Lapman, he did his Eagle Project there and you know, usually the troop helps. It was Troop 184. And I didn’t have any involvement in doing that, because that was the guys thing.

Pine Castle Woman’s Club Boy Scout Luncheon for Troop 184

But, the Woman’s Club, very graciously had a luncheon for Chad and all the Scouts that were involved in his Eagle Project. Well, of course, it was during the school year and I don’t even know if Chad came or if he did, it wasn’t very long. But they invited the boys and their parents. So I went, and I got to talking to Tommie Hoosier, and she’s like, oh, and then Shirley Cannon. And Shirley Cannon’s like, oh, yeah you got to join the Women’s Club! And I was getting closer to retirement and I could take more time off. And I thought you know, I could probably do this and this will kind of get me into when I retire.

So Tommie got me and Shirley Cannon she’s like a real big plus. So it was probably early 2011. Well, it had to have been either in the spring or the fall because the Woman’s Club doesn’t meet in the summer. And they had this luncheon, so yeah, I joined and I’ve been active ever since. I’ve never been an officer. I’ve been asked numerous times. I’m the kind of person if I’m going to hold an office and I have in other organizations, I want to know I can commit and give it my all and I can’t always do that right now… So over the years I’m like, whatever you want me to do. You know, I’ll help out in the tea room. They started the tea room because I was there before they started that. And you know, I try. I went to Game Day and helped out with that. I try to stay involved although I don’t get my name out there a lot…

You said that you help with the Tea Room and I understand that the funds from the Tea Room go to the Russell Home charity?

Yes. Some of them do, not all of them because it changed. When the Woman’s Club took over the Russell Home Tea Room, because they’re the ones who started it, the funds would go back to the Russell Home as one of our charities, the Woman’s Club. And then we had the issue with doing the kitchen. So for a while, the funds were going toward that. But now I think it has gone back to where they give a portion to the Russell Home. And the Russell Home’s just glad that the Woman’s Club took it over… they were just happy that the Woman’s Club had taken up the mantle. And they’ve done an excellent job. I mean that Tea Room is known all over the place for being a great place to have some tea. And that’s a great thing that they’ve gotten the exposure that they have.

Pine Castle Woman’s Club Art League

The Woman’s Club, they’ve been involved in, before I joined, long before I joined, they did Arts. They had like an Art League and they would do different artists and showcase their works and have them come and work. But then they kind of got away from that a little bit. But now they’re starting to get back into that again which is great. Because as the membership changes, what they are getting themselves involved in as a unit changes sometimes. But that’s only a plus because it broadens people knowing about the Pine Castle Woman’s Club.

Pine Castle SunRail Station

When Shirley was gung ho about moving the Crawford House that got a big thing in the whole community about Pine Castle. She was also the one behind getting the Sun Rail Station as Pine Castle. Because even though Pine Castle isn’t incorporated any more and hasn’t been for a long time, it’s still a pretty tight community. It’s interesting because when I had been there maybe two, three years and they had a car run into the side of the building at the Woman’s Club. And there was a suggestion at one time, because the Woman’s Club sits in unincorporated Orange County, there was a push at one time to bring it into the city of Belle Isle.

Meeting at the YMCA on Oakridge Road

But that was like, why would we call it the Pine Castle Woman’s Club if we’re in Belle Isle? But attitudes have changed and now people can’t even imagine that they would have even thought about doing that. Sometimes it’s a money thing on getting things done. It all worked out. We met at the YMCA over on Oakridge for a while. So we found different places to meet until we could get the building back. But the Woman’s Club has come a long way in 85 years.

It is the 85th year, a celebration of that milestone, thank you for mentioning that. You mentioned some of the service, it is a service organization… What are some of the other activities you’ve been involved in, happy moments at the Woman’s Club?

We, I was able to go to one or two of the district meetings and that way you get to meet some of the other ladies within the organization statewide or districtwide anyway. One of the most interesting things I found out was, not so much about the Pine Castle Woman’s Club, the Woman’s Club in total in Florida, is the Interstate 10 and to me because I grew up in the Panhandle, to me this was a cool thing. That, and I may have participated as a kid and not known it.

Planting Pine Trees Along Interstate 10

But, when Interstate 10 was built, because used to be along the corridor up in north Florida, it was Highway 90 was the east west route, but when Interstate 10 was built, I guess the Woman’s Club decided that they didn’t want it to be just bare land, so they did a fundraiser with kids giving change. It might have just been pennies. I don’t remember. But I know it was change to get seedlings to plant pine trees along it. So when you see it and you see all these pine trees and you think, oh, my gosh, where did they get all these pine trees? But actually the Woman’s Club, was responsible, as a whole in Florida was responsible. And I thought, well that is a pretty cool idea. And being a native Floridian, I thought I might have participated in that as a kid. Because they were just talking about change. It wasn’t a lot of money.

Ladies with a Spirit of Community

But I think for me, getting to know some of the ladies. Some of the ladies have unfortunately passed on now. But they had such a unique spirit in all age groups. I’m in my sixties now, but most of the ladies are older than me. Now we’re starting to see some younger come in. Just some of the sweet ladies, and the fact that they have such a spirit of community.

Will Harney Celebration at Bob & Ruthie Harrell’s Home

You know going to, we did a Will Harney celebration thing at Ruthie and Bob Harrell’s home years ago. It was a fundraiser kind of thing, but that was a lot of fun. I have a son, who actually, he’s a chef now, he always wanted to be a chef, but he was one of the wait staff at the function. In fact, he was the Eagle Scout. And that’s the thing too, now they try to get the whole family involved. There’s a lot of associate members now who are men. When I first started, it was a lady’s thing pretty much. But now they are trying to get the men involved too…

Pancakes with Santa

But we’ve had a lot, we’ve had Christmas with Santa… For the last couple of years they’ve done Pancakes with Santa. One of the ladies belongs to one of the groups I belong to, actually my husband belongs to, the Auxiliary for Disabled Vets. She brought flyers for the Pancakes with Santa. Stan said, “Have we got anything going Saturday?” I said, “I don’t think so,” except I had to go to the [Woman’s] Club to pick up cinnammon rolls that I ordered that were being made. He said, “Well while we’re down there why don’t we just eat Pancakes with Santa?” We went and it was a lot of fun! I think Gail told me that only 14 or 18 people presigned up for it, but there were a lot more than that when we were there and people kept coming. So a great fundraiser.

Charities Sponsored by the Pine Castle Women’s Club

And we have several groups that are charities that we supply things to and sponsor. So a great fundraiser as far as that goes. And the community gets to know the Women’s Club as a functioning part of the community.

Fifth Grade Essay Contest

There was a principal one year for the Essay Contest, because they’ve been doing the Essay Contest for a lot of years, and she’s the principal now and she won it as a fifth grader back years ago. That just shows you the continuity of the community.

Oakridge High School

They try to get involved with the local schools and do things for them. They just did a thing for Oakridge High School. You know they try to keep themselves out there and let people know they are part of the community and that’s a great thing. Because up until I joined, I mean I’d seen the sign, I’d seen the building. I didn’t know what they did, but the organization does a lot for the community. And it’s a lot of fun along the way.

Fun and Games

We had a thing… for the December meeting, they had this game, there was five of us in a group maybe, and bunches of us had to blow up balloons and we had to stuff them in pantyhose and somebody had to put them on their head and make reindeer ears. It was too funny… You know you are only as young as you feel. And this organization is really an embodiment of that. Sometimes I talk to people and they tell me how old they are and I just can’t believe it. I’m like I want to be like you when I get to be your age because they are just still so involved. And it’s important to them, that’s what’s neat.

I understand that some years you’ve had the Russell Home Children perform for Christmas and that’s a special opportunity for them to perform dance routines they’ve learned and present in such a professional way their talent.

And they’re very good. I don’t know who works with them, but those kids are really, really good. And that’s what I mean about disabledment. There’s such a different view about that nowadays. Because back then that might never have happened with the attitudes of people. But the Woman’s Club has always had a special tie with the Russell Home because they’re in the same community. Those kids, well it’s adults too that are part of the dance group, they’re very, very good. And they’ve been, there’s been a couple times when they’ve had scheduling other places and the Woman’s Club hasn’t nabbed them quite soon enough because they have a little tour thing that they get out there and get seen by people and that’s great.

Are you involved in any other oganizations in the community?

Oh, yeah. I belong to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue Flag Chapter, because I have confedrates all over my family. My mother is like eight generation southern Alabama. My ancestors came to Alabama before it was a state. They were there in the early 1800s in south Alabama. And I belong to the Disabled American Vets the Auxilary because my husband is a disabled vet and he belongs to the DAV. Well through that, kind of, I volunteer at Lake Nona and Lake Baldwin, the VA Centers. I did volunteer work for a while at IDignity and then when Covid hit that kind of messed things up. But now IDignity is building their own building over on Division because the service they provide is tremondous. I mean over the years I’ve volunteered at Great Oaks Village. I’ve been with the Big Brother Big Sister Program. PTA, PTSA, SAC, you know everything at school.

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts

My two youngest children were Scouts so we were busy with Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts because they were real big into that. I was a volunteer at Pershing where my kids went to elementary school before I was married. And then I got away from it because my schedule must of changed or something. So when I went back, when they were old enough to go to Pershing, it was a school that I knew.

The Crisis Nursery

But I’ve been a volunteer, my husband and I, we volunteered at what used to be the Crisis Nursery which it didn’t last. It was a couple years over on Hoffner. That was a program that I wish they still had. Enterprise the Children’s Home Society came in and took that over… But I think that was a service that was needed because sometimes parents are at their last thread and they need a break. And it is better for them to get a break than to abuse a child. We did that until I was pregnant with my one son and then I got to the point where I couldn’t pick babies up very comfortably.

Sons of Confedrate Veterans

He and I, well we belong to, he belongs to the SCV group. The Sons of Confederate Veterans. He does not have a Confederate bone in his body. He’s their chaplain because he’s an ordained minister. So he does that for them. We both like to volunteer.

Arnold Palmer Runs

In fact, you know Arnold Palmer used to do runs and I used to volunteer and I would take the kids along and they would volunteer and help serve snacks and stuff. And then they do the kids run and then they would come over and help me serve snacks after the adults run. I really, I thought it was important to keep our kids knowing that to be a volunteer is a good thing.

Arnold Palmer Orthopedic Unit Volunteer Hours

Our one son, who lives in Pensacola now, when he was in high school, he volunteered at Arnold Palmer in the orthopedic unit and he actually got more volunteer hours than any volunteer had, student or adult, for the four years that he was there. He just loved it. He orginally wanted to be a nurse, but he’s not so hot in science and you kind of have to be, to be a nurse. But right now he works with ESE kids…it is kind of full circle.

Volkswagon Club

We’re involved. It seems like you have stages in your life like when the kids were young we were involved in school and did a lot of things like that. We belong to the VW Club because we had VWs. We still have a couple VWs… The VW group is for Volkswagon owners. He’s owned Volkswagons. He owned a ’69 VW bug. The floor board was rotting out. It was a fix her up car. But anyway, he would use it to run the kids around. They had seatbelts it was fine… But, yeah, we’ve belong to the Volkswagon Club for a number of years.

BMW Church Ministry

We belonged to the BMW group for a while because my husband owned BMW motorcycles and we rode BMW’s for a number of years. But he’s an ordained minister, that was a ministry. He would do the church services on Sunday mornings when they’d have rallies. So we’d go and do that.

Daytona Bike Events

When the kids were smaller, we’d go to Daytona, some of the bike events and stuff. Well, actually we stopped doing that when the kids got into elementary school because, it is kind of a rough group – not the BMW group, motorcyclists as a whole and especially if you’re in a ministry they’re not a rough crowd. But you can meet some rough people. And especially like some of the things that happen in Daytona, we weren’t sure we wanted our kids exposed to that as little kids and not really understand what was going on. So it was like okay this was a period of our life and we’ll just move on to something else and that’s what we did. We got more involved with the kids and what they were doing in school and the clubs they were involved in.

You said that your husband is an ordained minister, so he has a church in Pine Castle?

Actually, right now we go to church and we have for approximately 12 years to a church up on Lee Road. He’s nondenominational. Well, actually right now he has his papers with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. But he’s been nondenominational in the past. He has served as Associate Pastor at some churches or Seniors Pastor. Now he’s kind of retired. He can still do weddings and funerals and things like that. It’s not an actual position so much. He was the Associate Pastor at the church we go to now for a while, but he’s kind of stepped back from that. Because you know as he’s gotten older and medical issues happen, it is just not something that – because it takes a lot out of you. But, yeah, so that kept us busy for a while.

Orange Center Neighborhood Church

We belonged to a church for a time and they started a church over at Orange Center Elementary or tried to. And that was interesting. Because it was a whole other neighborhood and just getting used to the whole different dynamics of the neighborhood was interesting. But, you know, people need church no matter where they’re at. That’s why we did the BMW stuff for years. We would be out riding motorcycles and go to rallies all over different parts of the country and he’d do the services on Sunday morning.

Pine Castle Pioneer Days Sunday Service

In fact, the Pine Castle Pioneer Days, he hasn’t done it in a couple of years, but he did the services on Sunday morning for that several years ago. Rode a horse in. We would be involved with that with our group. The Woman’s Club, they started that.

Pine Castle Historical Society Started by the Woman’s Club

The Historical Society was basically part of the Woman’s Club a couple years. And so, we were part of that group, too. And we still have good friends and we still try to go to Pioneer Days when we’re in town.

You have such a fascinating life!

Oh, I don’t know, we stay busy! Our kids tell us, “We do not want to be as busy as you all are when we retire.” I said, “Yeah, but now we’re doing things that we want to do in our own time.” And we don’t have to wonder can we get off work when we want to do this. We just decide to go. We have a dog now that we have to take with us a lot of times. We can’t do that when we go to Europe. But we have a dog that we travel with and she loves to travel. It’s like okay, we’ll take her with us and find hotels or cottages that accept dogs. But, yeah, we like to stay busy. We look at retirement as just doing what we want to do.

Family

And we’re about to move into another stage because my mom is probably going to come live with us in the spring because she can’t live at home anymore. My dad died. So it will be a change. My kids are like, “Mom, you’ll have Nana and Dad.” And I said, “Well, that’s what families do. They take care of family. That’s what I was raised to do.” My mom’s grandparents lived with my folks for a couple years and then they went and lived with my aunt and uncle for a couple years before they passed. It’s what you do. I’ve seen women in the Woman’s Club that now live with their children. I don’t know that’s just what family does.

So do you have special plans? It is December 23. Do you usually get together as a family for Christmas?

We do, somewhat. We have three children out west. Actually, one of them is going to be here in February. The others we saw in August. Well, actually we saw her in August, too. But, our kids that are local. The one that lives in Pensacola came home last weekend and he’ll be here through the New Year because he works for the school system. But he’s got a special girlfriend now. Next year she may be with him. And then the other, his twin brother is married and they switch off holidays with their family. So what we’ll do is Christmas Eve we’ll get together, have food, you know, we’ll go to church service and then have food.

Christmas Lights

When our kids were small, we used to go out and look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve that was our thing. So they’ll probably do that and they’re going to take the dog with them. The dog is like another kid. And then they’ll come back and we may watch a movie. And then Christmas morning, our other son who lives here locally, we’ll all get together Christmas morning and open gifts and have lunch. And then the couple, who are married, they’ll go to Ormond Beach where her parents live and spend the rest of Christmas Day and the day after Christmas with them. Yeah, we try to get together Christmas Eve, Christmas Day.

Do you expect to continue your membership in the Pine Castle Woman’s Club in the coming year?

I do. I think some things are going to probably change in how involved I can be because if my mom comes and lives here, because she’s not very mobile… But I do because they’re a neat group of ladies. Just when you think you’ve met – there are other ones that pop into your life and are special! You know I’ve seen, there’s been a couple ladies that they passed away, and I really missed them sometimes because they were such a vital part of the group. But there has been other people to step in like our past President. She doesn’t have any sisters and I don’t have any sisters. So this is like our sisterhood in a way because you get to know these people the more you get involved with them.

Social Connections

You know you may not know everything about them and that’s not really important that you do, but you have a connection with them. Like a tea when we’re setting up for a tea and everybody’s talking about where everything goes, but you’re talking about what’s going with your life while you’re doing that. Or when the ladies are in there doing the dishes or they’re setting up the food, it’s the same thing. It’s like, “What’s going on with you?” And they really try to be there if you were to need them. And I think that’s great. Because that’s not necessarily what I thought about when I first joined. It was like, oh it was a club. And you know it sounds like they do some things. But it has really become a lot more than that as I’ve been in it longer.

Membership Changes

I’ve seen the membership change whether it be by death which it is in most cases, but some people move away. Some of the people can’t come anymore. So when you do see them, it’s nice. Shirley Cannon is one of those. She doesn’t get to come as much anymore. But she was such a vibrant part of the Woman’s Club that you kind of miss when she’s not there… There’s others, ladies like that too, they’ve done thngs, but they need to just step back. They can’t do as much as they used to. So it’s pursuant on the younger group to kind of come in and keep it going because it has been going for 85 years and there is no reason why it can’t go for another 85 years.

Homemakers Club

The ladies that started this, it was such a different environment back in the 40s. Well, where were we, Stan and I were at a festival up in the Panhandle called the Worm Gruntin’ Festival that’s another story in itself. It’s in this little town in the Panhandle called Sopchoppy and there’s still a Homemaker’s Club. And that’s what kind of, I think, was a piece of the Woman’s Club when it first started. It was completely that… but to find that there’s still a Homemaker’s Club.

Community Oriented

I think that’s kind of, the Woman’s Club has always been community oriented, but it is even more so now. Or they’ve found different ways, because there are so many things, Orlando has grown so much. There are so many things that people can be involved in, just to let people know that we’re here and we do these things. It’s all about getting the word out there and that’s how they get members. “Oh, I belong to the Woman’s Club. Why don’t you come some time…” We’ve gained a lot of members. I think we have more members now than the organization’s ever had. And a lot of them are younger. And that’s great. They have a Pine Castle Woman’s Club Junior Club. In fact, when I joined I probably was young enough to join that but I didn’t know that existed. I was with the old ladies and that was okay. Because these ladies, it doesn’t matter how old they are, they still are very active, very community oriented.

Many congratulations to the Woman’s Club on the 85 year! And thank you so much for your legacy to our community and all your years of service in so many different areas, that’s quite a contribution to make.

Well, thank you so much for having me and listening to my story.

Interview: Sheila Kroll

Interviewer: Jane Tracy

Date: December 23, 2025

Place: Orlando Public Library

Photo courtesy of the Sheila Kroll Archives.