In Episode 361 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit the Weary Club of Norway, Maine, to explore the 102-year history of this unique social club. Founded on fat-shewing and whittling, this club prides themselves on being, “The makers and dealers of social gossip and Yankee philosophy.” But how did it start?
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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The Weary Club, located at 385 Main Street, Norway, Maine.
The Weary Club of Norway, Maine, circa 1953.
Postcard of Main Street in Norway, Maine, showing the Weary Club, bank, and Beal’s Tavern.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[OUTDOOR SOUNDS]
[WALKING ON STREET]
JEFF: Recently I started carving rocks.
RAY: Carving rocks?!
JEFF: Yeah. Just an artistic hobby. I started out using a Dremel tool – kind of a small, hand-held electric drill with a bit that can grind through rocks. But then I moved to soap stone and hand-held carving tools.
RAY: Okay. I had no idea.
JEFF: It’s not something I advertise. Like I said. Just a hobby. But I love working away at the stones and seeing what comes out. I’m not good enough to sculpt something recognizable, so I just see what part of the stone feels like it should be removed and what part should stay.
RAY: So, a hobby.
JEFF: It’s a hobby for sure. A pleasant distraction. Which is why I can relate to this week’s story so well.
RAY: We’re currently walking down Main Street in the town of Norway, Maine. This place is really small-town America. It’s quaint with its shops, cafes, and restaurants along either side of the road.
JEFF: It is. And our destination is this little white building here on the corner.
RAY: Huh. Would you look at that?
JEFF: That’s right, Ray. We’ve come to Maine to join a social group called… The Weary Club of Norway.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger and welcome to Episode 361 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle all the weirdness in New England one story at a time. We can’t do it without you. So please subscribe to our podcast because it’s free, and reach out to us anytime through our Web site to tell us about a strange story you think we should check out.
JEFF: We’ll explore the Weary Club of Norway right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: The Weary Club of Norway, Maine. That’s a good name.
JEFF: Right?! A very New England name.
RAY: It doesn’t exactly call to you, does it? I mean who would want to join a weary club?
JEFF: Considering the club has been around for 102 years… quite a few over the decades. The members call themselves the “wearies.” This is a place to talk local gossip, to talk about current affairs, to spend time with your friends and neighbors, and for a long time… it was a place to whittle.
RAY: Whittle?
JEFF: Whittle.
RAY: As in carve up wood for no good reason—whittle?
JEFF: The very same. In fact, at one point, to become a member you had to prove your whittling prowess by cutting a cedar shaving so thin that it could float on water.
RAY: Okay… is that still the rule to join?
JEFF: Not so much anymore. Now you just show up. There have been thousands of members over the years. President Calvin Coolidge who was born in Vermont, even had a membership reserved for him. But he never did stop by.
RAY: Yet.
JEFF: Good point. Yet. The other rules to membership are no drinking and no gambling.
RAY: Then how are the discussions supposed to turn into fist fights?
JEFF: The old fashioned way. Flaring tempers, I guess. To witness the birth of this unique social club, let’s head back to 1922.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s early September of 1922 and we’re standing on the steps of Beal’s Tavern in Norway, Maine. A group of local men have gathered to chat, and that’s when local hotelier Bob Seavey brings out a few pieces of cedar for the men to whittle.
JEFF: The men smile, then reach for their pocket knives, and start cutting up the cedar.
[WHITTLING SOUNDS]
JEFF: The men chat about local and national affairs while they cut up the pieces of wood in their hands. It’s a nice way to pass the time. Their hands are busy, their minds are working, and they’re spending time together. They have such a good time, they agree they should do this again soon.
RAY: And that they do. If the weather is bad, they move inside the tavern. If it’s nice, they stay outside. But either way, whittling becomes part of the experience.
JEFF: As you can imagine, sometimes the conversation turns bleak when talk of wars, taxes, and government come up. The men talk about all kinds of ideas in this club. They name their group the Weary Club and claim they are quote, “The makers and dealers of social gossip and Yankee philosophy.”
[WINTER WINDS]
RAY: As winter sets in here in Norway, Maine, standing around outside of a tavern isn’t going to work. So, the group moves the operation into the office of local hotel manager Bob Seavey.
[MUMBLING CROWD NOISE]
RAY: The hotel is the perfect place for the Weary Club. The building is centrally located in town, everyone passes by on their way to somewhere, out-of-towners come in for a night’s lodging, and they bring with them all kinds of outside information and perspective, so there’s always something to talk about.
[WHITTLING SOUNDS]
RAY: And all the while they keep on whittling.
JEFF: The meetings are almost daily at this point. Men are always coming and going in the group. It’s now the Fall of 1924 and the Weary Club has just received some devastating news.
RAY: What’s that?
JEFF: Hotel manager Bob Seavey has decided to spend the winter in Florida, leaving the group no place to meet.
RAY: So Fred Sanborn….
JEFF: He’s the editor of the local paper the Oxford County Advertiser.
RAY: Right. That’s the guy. He’s also one of the most active members of the group. Sanborn searches Norway for an alternate location, and that’s when he finds an empty room on the corner of Main and Cottage Streets in town.
[DOOR OPENS]
RAY: And with that, the daily meetings resume.
JEFF: With their own dedicated room, the club grows in popularity. The first person to arrive in the morning sweeps up the shaving from yesterday’s whittling.
[SWEEPING SOUNDS]
JEFF: And uses the cedar shavings as kindling to start the fire in the stove for the day.
RAY: Things are going well for the weary club. Someone always opens the door first thing in the morning, and sometimes the conversations run all day long.
[COCK A DOODLE DOO]
JEFF: Good morning, Ray!
RAY: Good morning to you Jeff.
JEFF: It’s about 8:30 in the morning. Let’s head over to the Weary Club and see what they’re chatting about.
[WALKING ON THE STREET]
RAY: Huh. I see a few people standing in front of the door.
[JIGGLE DOOR HANDLE]
JEFF: It’s locked.
RAY: These guys look angry that they can’t get in.
JEFF: It’s 10AM now… and finally the guy with the keys shows up.
[DOOR UNLOCLS]
JEFF: And it’s decided… no more keys. No more locks. The door will be unlocked 24-7. It’s now 1926… and another big problem has come up for the Weary Club.
RAY: What now?
JEFF: The Norway National Bank just purchased this entire block. They’re going to level the building where the Weary Club meets. Once again… the club is homeless.
RAY: And once again, Fred Sanborn comes to the rescue. After talking to the bank, Sanborn purchases the north corner of bank’s property just a block away. All they need now is a roof over their heads. So the Weary Club members get busy raising funds.
JEFF: They sell memberships, they take donations, and kick in some of their own money, because this group means that much to them.
[HAMMERING / SAWING]
JEFF: Over the summer, they erect a one-and-a-half story Colonial building on the corner of Main and Deering Streets.
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
RAY: The building is finished, and the club officially incorporated August 1st 1926.
[WHITTLING NOISES]
RAY: The Weary Club is back! Whittling and chatting about anything that comes up.
JEFF: Some members sit and read magazines, books, or newspapers. Sometimes they just whittle in silence. Once in a while they hold an election for club president. Then they don’t get around to holding another election for several years, so that person is stuck with the job.
RAY: Men from all walks of life come in to the Weary Club. Bank presidents, janitors, retired men, and everything in between come to make this building their club house. The inspiration of the club came from the old-time cracker barrel meetings that used to take place in the General Stores in town. As the cracker barrels and general stores went away, that central meeting place went missing. But not in Norway. They made their own. The Weary Club. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: The Weary Club is still around today. The building still stands here on Main Street with the name “Weary Club of Norway, Maine” right across the top. Today they claim about 200 members who pay a one-time $50 fee to join. They meet once per month formally, though impromptu meetings happen throughout the month.
RAY: Looking around, it doesn’t seem like there’s much whittling going on anymore.
JEFF: No. Whittling wasn’t really a requirement, just something a lot of the men did early on. Today cribbage is the more likely way you’ll occupy your hands inside. Also, in 2007 they began allowing women to join as well. There’s no radios inside the building, no TVs, no computers, and using your cell phone is frowned upon inside. It’s simply a place where people practice the art of conversation.
RAY: The art of conversation is sadly getting to be a lost art considering our kids’ generation just text each other short-hand and emojis.
JEFF: LOL. JK.
RAY: Right!?
JEFF: As you might guess, the demographic of the wearies tends to be the older and retired community, though anyone younger is welcomed to join. They also host AA meetings and many members are pretty active in their communities, so I’d guess it’s still a good place for gossip and networking.
RAY: I think that’s a great thing. Considering the rise in podcasting and livestreaming, maybe there is still hope for people having conversations with each other. Conversations connect us. Even if we have different viewpoints, when we talk with each other we can still find plenty of common ground. And we could use more of that right now.
JEFF: Plus, there’s an old saying that idle hands do the devil’s work. I guess if you’re in here whittling or playing cribbage, you’re not out there posting online or feeling isolated. It’s funny how interconnected the world has become thanks to the Internet, yet we feel more alone than ever. If you’re ever feeling… uhhm… weary of that… it’s good to know there’s a club for you in Norway, Maine.
[OUTRO]
RAY: Amen to that. And that takes us to After the Legend where we explore this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
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To see some pictures of The Weary Club, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our Web site and click on Episode 362.
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Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.
