Our History

In 1947, a group of eighteen civic-minded women formed a service group with a focus on staffing a polio clinic in the city of Gulfport. Their goals were to check in patients (adults and children alike), assist the staff, and provide activities to entertain children while they waited. They staffed the clinic daily.

Today, the Gulfport Civic League has evolved into a thirty-five-member community-minded group of women dedicated to assisting those individuals on the Gulf Coast who have special needs. The League also takes on many other community projects, meeting the needs of as many as possible with the money collected from its only fundraiser, the Christmas Tour of Homes.

In the League's first yearbook, typewritten with crayon-colored images, the motto was "We Pass for What We Are." The flower was the Gold Chrysanthemum. The color was green. Both remain the League's emblems to this day.

The Christmas Tour of Homes

The first Christmas Tour of Homes was held in 1959, visiting the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Haller, Mrs. M. M. Snelling, and Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Schultz. Through the years, the homes on tour have not always been within the city limits of Gulfport; homes from Biloxi to Pass Christian have also been included.

The tour has been held every year since 1959, pausing only three times: in 1969 for Hurricane Camille, in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina, and in 2020 for the Global Pandemic. The League is forever thankful to the homeowners who so graciously open their homes each December.

1947
Eighteen charter members form the Civic League to staff Gulfport's polio clinic.
1959
The first Christmas Tour of Homes is held, beginning the League's signature tradition.
1969
The tour pauses for Hurricane Camille, the first missed year in a decade of tours.
2005
Hurricane Katrina devastates the Coast; the League pauses the tour and turns to recovery.
2020
The global pandemic pauses the tour for only the third time in its history.
Today
Thirty-five members strong, funding projects and scholarships across the Gulf Coast.

The Collect

Keep us, Oh God, from pettiness, let us be large in thought, in word, in deed. Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking… Grant that we may realize it is the little things that create differences; that in the big things in life we are as one. And may we strive to touch and to know the great common human heart to us all. Oh God, let us forget not to be kind.

The Collect for Club Women · Mary Stuart

1947

Charter Members

The eighteen women who founded the Civic League of Gulfport.

Mrs. Bill Adams
Mrs. Neil Andre
Mrs. Charles Berry
Mrs. H. E. Blakeslee
Mrs. C. B. Bratt
Mrs. Rae Bryant
Mrs. Pat Campbell
Mrs. Edward Coates
Mrs. James Duncan
Mrs. Earl Gay
Mrs. Emile Gauthe
Mrs. Walter Horlock
Mrs. T. W. Milner
Mrs. Prentiss McLeod
Mrs. O. C. Raines
Mrs. Wallace Ramsey
Mrs. Harvey Sale
Mrs. Lamont Smith
Mrs. C. E. West

All charter members are now deceased. We honor their memory in our continued service.

Leadership Through the Years

Past Presidents

Nearly eighty years of leadership, from our founding president to today.

Mrs. Linda Zakkak (Tom) 2025–26
Mrs. Camille Williams (Butch) 2023–25
Mrs. Darlene Warren (EG) 2022–23
Ms. Cindy Newman 2020–22
Mrs. Angela Bruni (Jeff) 2018–20
Ms. Nell LaFrance 2016–18
Mrs. Henrianne Hewes (Charles) 2015–16
Mrs. Diane Miller (Eddie) 2014–15
Mrs. Raymond Hunter 2013–14
Mrs. Fred Holmes 2011–13
Mrs. Darlene Warren (EG) 2009–11
Mrs. Fred Holmes 2007–09
Mrs. Raymond Hunter 2005–07
*Mrs. Ray Bishop 2003–05
*Mrs. Halil Ozerden 2001–03
Mrs. Charles Delk 2000–01
Mrs. Ed Blakeslee 1998–00
Mrs. Richard Rogers 1997–98
*Mrs. Charles Berry 1995–97
Ms. Saleta Compton 1994–95
Mrs. Joyce Moree (Tommy) 1993–94
*Mrs. Walter VanSkiver 1992–93
Mrs. Richard S. Rogers 1991–92
Mrs. W. G. Dechant 1990–91
*Mrs. Thomas L. Hall 1989–90
*Mrs. James A. Christian 1988–89
*Miss Ola Mason 1987–88
*Mrs. C. D. Galloway 1986–87
*Mrs. Henry T. Fortner 1985–86
*Mrs. W. A. Peden 1984–85
*Mrs. Bazil Noble Jr. 1982–83
*Mrs. Henry H. Wells 1980–82
*Mrs. Harold N. Bacon 1979–80
*Mrs. E. V. Martin 1978–79
*Mrs. Neil Andre 1977–78
*Mrs. W. W. Van Skiver 1976–77
*Mrs. J. B. Elixson 1974–76
*Mrs. W. R. Staples 1973–74
*Mrs. E. V. Martin 1972–73
*Mrs. Edwin A. Stebbins 1971–72
*Mrs. H. E. Blakeslee 1970–71
*Mrs. Cooper J. Darby 1968–69
*Mrs. John T. Hazard 1967–68
*Mrs. Jack Simmons 1966–67
*Mrs. W. W. Furr 1965–66
*Mrs. Henry Haller 1964–65
*Mrs. C. C. Pyle 1963–64
*Mrs. Charles Galloway 1962–63
*Mrs. Griffin Bland 1961–62
*Mrs. Harold Perlman 1960–61
*Mrs. Marcel Kremer 1959–60
*Mrs. William G. Holmes 1958–59
*Mrs. Rae Bryant 1956–58
*Mrs. Fred C. Reeves 1955–56
*Mrs. C. C. Pyle 1954–55
*Mrs. R. L. Peel 1953–54
*Mrs. O. C. Raines 1952–53
*Mrs. Frank Smith West 1951–52
*Mrs. James Duncan 1950–51
*Mrs. Milton B.E. Hill 1949–50
*Mrs. Bill Adams 1948–49
*Mrs. Edward Coates 1947–48

*Deceased

The Christmas Tour of Homes

The Collect

Charter Members

Past Presidents

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