The Spectrum – ST. GEORGE – About 25 women gathered Saturday in a St. George restaurant’s conference room to organize a club to boost the Democratic Party’s presence in Southern Utah.

The Women’s Democratic Club of Southern Utah is a new affiliate of the statewide club of similar name that has existed since pioneer times.

“It is the oldest women’s club of its kind in the country,” said Jan Johnson, the executive director of the Utah Alliance of Government Employees and vice president of the Women’s Democratic Club of Utah.

Although the statewide club was organized in the 1890s and has weathered cultural changes such as anti-polygamy efforts, women’s suffrage and the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s, its Southern Utah affiliate spent much of its first meeting addressing modern issues such as salary and quality problems in Utah’s educational system and the difficulties associated with maintaining membership in labor unions.

“The fact that we were able to quadruple our membership in (the last) two years is just huge,” Johnson said of the statewide organization.

“Before there was a middle class in this country, the unions made the middle class,” club co-chairwoman Linda Gustat said. “The future of our country is in our children, and the most important person in our society is the teacher. … And the way we can support teachers is through their union. If they don’t have a strong union, they can’t negotiate contracts for their salaries.”

The attendees said they hailed from a variety of backgrounds. Many of the members, such as Gustat, said they moved to Southern Utah during the past year from more liberal areas of the country and were learning to adapt to Southern Utah’s conservative society.

Others, such as Judy Bills, have lived in the area for years and said they have felt somewhat isolated culturally.

“I’ve been a Democrat since I was 2,” Bills said. “I’ve lived in St. George for 18 years, and I’ve often thought my husband and I were the only Democrats in Southern Utah.”

Gloria Schow told of campaigning door-to-door for Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and said people she talked to often said they were Democrats but didn’t want anyone else to know.

“They are here,” she said.

Washington County Democratic Party Chairwoman Dorothy Engelman said she hoped club members would become active in elections and communicating with their legislators.

“I thought the turnout was great for our first meeting,” Engelman said. “I think many people heard things that will cause them to get involved.”

Although the organization is a women’s club, Gustat said the meetings aren’t exclusive and men are invited.

Brent Holloway, a contributing opinion columnist for The Spectrum who has considered a run for a seat in the state House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket, said he was invited to attend and was excited about what he heard.

“I really believe in the two-party system, and we don’t have that in Utah,” he said. “Things like today just get me so fired up.”

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