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The Annual Chili Luncheon is back, with a change in venue.

Somo Sala Circle has joined with the Ladies’ Reading Circle to present this year’s Chili Luncheon at First Baptist Church in Morristown.

The luncheon is Friday, Jan. 27, from 11 to 2 p.m. The meal includes a bowl of chili with toppings, crackers, corn chips, a beverage and dessert.

Tickets are $8, available from any Somo Sala or Ladies’ Reading Circle member or at the door. The menu will be available for both dine-in and take out.

The annual luncheons began in 2009 and have donated proceeds to MATS, Friends of Hospice, Helping Hands Clinic, Food on Foot, Morristown’s First Fire Truck, Abundant Hope and the McNabb Center’s Jail-to-Work Project.

The luncheons were cancelled for two years during the pandemic.

This year, proceeds from the luncheon go toward the preservation of the Morristown Women’s Club House, the beautiful two-story historic home on the corner of East 1st North Street and North James Street.

The Club House was built in 1870 and was the home of Dr. R. N. Price and his wife Anna, and their daughters Hannah and Annie. Dr. Price was a Methodist minister. He wrote a book called Holston Methodism. He and his wife are buried in the old Morristown Cemetery behind Fulton Hill Park.

The daughters were suffragettes and quite famous. Two of the 5 women are depicted in a statue commemorating the suffrage in Nashville.

Hannah wrote a book, “The Closed Door,” which told the story of her suffrage journey.

In the summer of 2022, the Samuel Doak Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a sign in the yard of the Club House which designated it as a stop on the National Votes for Women Trail which identifies places of significance to the suffrage movement.

The Morristown Women’s Clubs, which originally included Somo Sala, LRC, the DAR, and the Daughters of the Confederacy, purchased the house from Annie Price in 1925. It has been home ever since.

In 1925, the Morristown Library was consolidated at the Women’s Club House – it was Morristown’s first library.

In 1937, a library addition was built onto the Club House as the library outgrew its area in the original building. The library would stay there until 1959 when it moved to the old Bell South Telephone and Telegraph Company building.

A strong relationship still exists, and the Women’s Clubs continue to be represented on the Library Board.

There was a fire in the fall of 1942 and meetings had to be moved to members’ homes and the Kingmyer Hotel until repairs were made.

The Club House was remodeled in 1965 to include a kitchen update and construction of an assembly room on the west side of the building.

A major renovation/redecorating took place as a CIP project from 1997 to 2000.

Twenty-three years have passed since any major work has been done on the home, so the LRC and Somo Sala clubs decided to use the proceeds from the annual chili luncheon fundraiser to make a number of repairs and provide a boost to the property.

In 2022, a new furnace was required, along with repairs to a gas valve and a replacement water heater.

There is currently a small leak in the roof, and grounds maintenance and pressure washing of the exterior are reoccurring needs.

No pre-purchase of a ticket is necessary to attend the fundraiser.

Payment will be accepted at the doors of First Baptist Church on Friday.