COVID has forced many event organizers to change their POA. The ones that seem so untimely are those where a special anniversary was to be commemorated. One of those is the 120th anniversary of ChildCareGroup. Its story started when the Clara Chaison Free Kindergarten and Training School, the Free Kindergarten Association and the Dallas Free Kindergarten and Industrial Association came together to create Clara Chaison Free Kindergarten and Training School on September 16, 1901, at Neighborhood House. The mission was “to help women, primarily those working in the Dallas cotton mills.”
That’s why ChildCareGroup ‘s 120th celebration scheduled for Tuesday, September 14, at Belo Mansion seemed to be perfect when it was announced back in March. The hope was that the pandemic would be history.
Today organizers decided that, due to health concerns regarding the increase of cases, “CCG made the difficult decision to postpone their 120th celebration.” The new date is Wednesday, January 12, 2022, at the same place but with a new name — the Arts District Mansion.
And while the partying has been put off, CCG’s founders (Mrs. Morris Liebman, Mrs. Beulah A. Marshall, W.H. Gaston, Mayor Ben E. Cabell, George N. Aldredge, Oliver Thomas, J.C. Conway, George W. Blair, Alex Sanger and Wendel Spence) would no doubt be proud that their original mission has grown to “operate and advocate for high-quality early education and child care,” staying resilient during the pandemic’s putting additional pressure on families.
* Graphic courtesy of ChildCareGroup