Monicans intertwine faith, friendship, and service

An account written in 2024 by Monican Circle historian Beth Vin Zant describes the earliest days: 

Meetings were usually held in the afternoons every other week at 1 p.m. Sometimes meetings were held in Innes’ Tea Room or at the Hillcrest, Droll’s Restaurant, the Broadview Hotel, or the Wichita Country Club.  However, most meetings were held in members’ homes. 

Following a dainty luncheon, members sewed together during the afternoon. Early luncheons cost $0.75-$1.25, which included place cards and flowers. Later it was decided that only garden flowers would be used in the future!

Many clues point to the Monican Circle’s origins in a more refined era, such as the intricate and elegantly penned handwritten meeting minutes that extend back to the group’s 1914 founding. They reveal that, from the group’s earliest days, Monican custom called for addressing members by their formal titles, such as “Mrs. Pracht,” a custom that endured among the group for about half a century until a set of Monican Circle minutes from the 1960s noted that members agreed to be “addressed by their given names, such as ‘Jennie.’”

Even the term “layette” hearkens back to a more genteel time. The term, which refers to a gift set of baby clothing and accessories given to the mother of a newborn, has largely fallen out of use except among those such as the Monicans, who have been bestowing layettes on mothers for more than a century.

Nevertheless, other clues point to a more hardscrabble era. For instance, their first decades of operation took place during a time in which many Wichita streets were unpaved and layette deliveries and Monican gatherings could be delayed because precipitation had rendered the city’s muddy streets nearly impassable. 

Nevertheless, most of the evidence points to ways in which today’s Monicans are much like their predecessors, and not merely because many members are second, third- or fourth-generation members. Other common threads connecting the first Monicans with those who followed during the ensuing 111 years include Christian service, companionship, and – like the good wife described in Proverbs 31 – plenty of sewing.

A labor of love

In January of 1914, nine Riverside ladies organized a circle to make infant layettes for needy mothers. Mrs. C.B. Hester and Mrs. Con Regan are credited with forming the group.  Mrs. L.J. Pracht Sr.  served as our first secretary/treasurer. Charter members were Mrs. Walter Henrion, Mrs. L. Gregg, Mrs. Arthur Johns, Mrs. W.L. Cassidy, Mrs. Dwight Duncan, Mrs. George Maule.

Those added in the early years were Mrs. Paul Lewis, Mrs. John Naumstark, Mrs. Howard Smythe, Mrs. T.J. McDonald, Mrs. James Conly, Mrs. D.W. McGreevy, and Miss Ida Mahaney.  

All of our founders were members of the Cathedral Parish and lived in the Riverside neighborhood. 

One of the nine founding members, Jennie Pracht, was the mother of former member Jane Lambertz and the grandmother of current members Kit Lambertz and Beth Lambertz-Guimaraes. Jennie was a 24-year-old mother raising two small children at the time. Jennie and the other eight ladies recognized the need of a helping hand to benefit new mothers in need in the Wichita area. Our circle’s founding members chose to honor Saint Monica, the patroness of mothers and married women and the mother of St. Augustine. Thus we became The Monican Circle.

Although the group originated during a time in which abortion-on-demand was unheard of and the vast majority of children were born into and reared by families with both of their biological parents, this handful of Catholic women in Wichita sought to recognize both the joy of a new human life alongside the responsibilities of motherhood by working together to assist those new moms with some useful items. 

And during all this time, the circle has not only revolved around helping others, but also enjoying each other’s company. Members gather to share meals, raise funds, shop for bargains, and stock their basements and spare rooms with items to give away, essentially doing good amid the fun of fostering and strengthening friendships.

VinZant first learned of the group during childhood, when her mother, Dolores Carroll, was a member. “It was a labor of love,” VinZant describes. “The women in the group were her friends and they were such a lovely bunch who would celebrate each other’s anniversaries and birthdays. But knowing how to knit was an expectation. It was not just a luncheon gathering. There were dues, everyone was expected to host, to sew, and help put together layettes.”

By the time she was a child, members had spread to other Wichita parishes such as Church of the Magdalen – which has been VinZant’s lifelong parish – Church of the Blessed Sacrament, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Eventually the group’s geographic reach would stretch east into Andover’s St. Vincent De Paul and westward to Christ the King and beyond.

“The original layettes had diaper pins,” VinZant said. “The ladies would buy flannel in bulk. They would cut the cloth diapers by hand. They knitted booties and baby blankets. Even in the early 1970s, when my mother was involved, every little blanket was still crocheted around the edges, as nice as could be.” 

Much of that material was financed through annual dues, which started at $1, and by 2025 had risen to $20. Although that falls short of the roughly $32 equivalent for $1 in summer 2025 dollars, VinZant points out that the number of members has outpaced inflation.

“They started with nine members,” she said. “Today we have 54.”

She notes that number is capped by basic math: The group holds nine meetings a year, at which six members take turns serving everyone else. Others interested in joining are placed on a waiting list and are admitted as spots open.

Well-connected

 As the need for more layettes grew, so did our membership. Monican members’ friendships flourished and grew over the years as our ladies undertook the shared responsibility of providing for needy babies in our area.

Extra items were also sewn for small children who had special needs such as flannel pajamas, woolen petticoats and “tummy bands” which were worn around a baby’s waist to protect his or her healing umbilical cord wound.

. . . Layettes were given to babies in need, those waiting to be adopted and one even delivered to a covered wagon. By 1931, members were delivering 40-plus layettes and making 57 garments yearly. The average in subsequent years grew to around 50 layettes each year. Usually 18-22 members responded to “roll call” at meetings. Ladies took materials home to sew and there was generally less than $75.00 in the treasury. In May, all attended Mass and received communion for the living and deceased members.  

According to VinZant, the first Monican layette was given to a mother at the old Wichita hospital whose doctor had sought a layette for his patient. Such word-of-mouth calls were typical in the early years. “Members of the Monican Circle were pretty well connected in Wichita,” VinZant said. “It was a service project, so if they got word about any mother in need, they would help.”

Moreover, VinZant notes, along with the typical officers of president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, the Monicans also elected a purchaser and an investigator, an office that involved ascertaining a new mother’s specific needs. Long before the latter part of the 20th century brought a tidal wave of unwed mothers, the Monicans were finding and assisting them.

“In 1921, a troop of Japanese girls was traveling through town with the circus,” VinZant said. “One of them was expecting a baby, and had nowhere to go, so she stayed in Wichita until after she delivered the baby and the Monicans brought her a layette to help her get started.”

As the quantity of layettes began to outpace member dues’ ability to fund them, the Monicans began to hold card parties and direct the proceeds toward materials. 

“We don’t do card parties today, but we still need extra monies to supplement what we get from dues,” VinZant said. “If there is a shortage in layette supplies, such as diaper cream or onesies, the invitation to our next meeting asks members to bring those items.”

Today’s layettes, which often are distributed to organizations such as A Better Choice, include plenty of disposable diapers, soap, onesies, footed sleepers, socks, pacifiers, and handmade receiving blankets. “Some members have knit little baby hats over the years,” she said. “It just depends on our membership, and changes every few years, but the basics are still the same.”

Other Assistance

Through the years of World Wars I and II, war bonds were purchased and our group participated in this. In the early 1930’s, a $50 war bond was redeemed in full and applied to sewing materials since the Depression brought many demands on this organization. During the wars, several Monican members had sons fighting abroad so our group prayed for these boys and provided our support for their mothers.

During this time of war, members of our Monican Circle were the first to report for duty at the Red Cross Headquarters. Besides buying Liberty Bonds, our circle also contributed money to the Cathedral Community House and rectory furnishings, blind preschool children, and gave layettes to Pueblo, Missouri; and Ohio River flood victims; Catholic Charities; hospitals; the Pope’s Storehouse; Catholic Relief Services in NYC; and to the Madonna Plan; which was a worldwide organization to aid mothers in need throughout the world. Some members also provided home nursing during the influenza epidemic. For a time, we expanded our giving with a Christmas collection to families in need. 

“Another Monican tradition is to make a free-will donation in November and in December we vote on who will receive it,” VinZant says. “We also have had turkey drives for Guadalupe Clinic and held drives for mittens and hats in the winter. Over the years, when a member sees a need they mention it to the group and, if it it’s doable, we help.”

Some of VinZant’s fondest memories recall watching her mother assist with preparing for serving the other members at a fellow member’s home. “Dad would pack up Mom’s China, sterling, and casseroles to take over to Mary Proct’s house, and would help set up,” she said. “When it was over, all these husbands would come and help take things back.”

By the early 1990s, VinZant was admitted as a member.

“I have seen the evolution of our luncheons and our members. It’s just so fun to see all these ladies reconnect from these different parishes. We come together and support each other. If someone is sick, we pray for them, and we have masses said for intentions such as deceased family members. We show up for each other’s needs and for needs in the community.”

“We currently have family members of four generations: Hermenia Surprise, Carolyn Corrigan, Mary McEnulty (Anne’s mother), Mary Corrigan and Anne  Anderson, Mrs. T.J. McDonald, Josephine Roberts, Mary Lou TInker, Sally McGrath and Pam McGrath.  

Third generations: Jennie Pracht, Jane Lambertz,  Kit Lambertz, Beth Lambertz-Guimaraes and Jeralyn Johnson; Mary Brown, Elizabeth Bennett and Nancy Oldfather; Maryzita Jones, Mary Frances Jones, Anne Jones, Sarah Jervis Emily Jones and Melissa Smith; Eva Cooper, Cecil Funke, JoAnn Robertson, Helen Kennalley, Mary K Vestring, Patty Brown, Jessica Schmidt.

In the past ten years since our 100th Anniversary, our Monican Circle has increased to 54 members, and given over 400 layettes to 19 different charities, hospitals, and churches in the Wichita area. Our Monican Circle has preserved and continued to grow through two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, two Gulf Wars, a worldwide epidemic and recent conflicts in the Middle East as well as all manner of difficulties in the lives of young mothers of the Wichita area.  Although the lives of our founding members may have been quite different from our own today, the simplicity of our mission remains unchanged: the willingness to help new mothers.

We honor a long list of faithful members who have gone before us, inspiring us to continue to provide that same helping hand today for young mothers . . . May Our Lord and St. Monica continue to bless us and our work.