Attending a regional convention of the Navy Wives Club of America is like being in the midst of a large family of sisters.

There’s a lot of bickering. There’s a lot of laughter.

And yes, there is a lot of love and affection.

“Discussions can get pretty heated, but that’s just business,” said Jean Wieman, Oak Harbor, who  attended the Northwest regional convention of the Navy Wives Club of America held last weekend at the Navy Support Complex in Smokey Point. “We don’t let that come between us.”

“We can readily agree to disagree,” said Whidbey Island chapter president, Betty Glein. “That’s the beauty of it.”

The Navy Wives Club of America is the only national federation of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard spouses of enlisted personnel.

The Northwest region of NWCA covers an area that includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, Alaska and Japan.

Currently there are five member clubs in the region, including Whidbey Island #150.

The organization will celebrate its 75th anniversary on June 3.

But times have changed in the last 75 years.
The organization has endured a decline in the number of military facilities over the years, and a decline in new membership.

“With the closure of military installations, our numbers have shrunk,” acknowledged Northwest regional president Cristal Wilkerson, who is actually a fairly new member, having joined six years ago.

“And there’s the challenge of the modern family structure,” she continued. “Most families have two working parents. They don’t have a lot of time. But I think that’s a challenge facing all organizations.”

Local NWCA officers agree.

“We’re having a hard time with membership. It’s the changing of the times,” said Glein. “Young wives don’t have the opportunity to volunteer — they’re working.”
Glein has been involved with NWCA in Oak Harbor since 1974.

The club currently has 13 members, many of whom have been members for 20 years or more and whose husbands are now retired.

While not a welfare organization, NWCA does support a scholarship for a local student each year, gives out Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to local enlisted families, and helps maintain the grounds of the Babyland Memorial at Maple Leaf Cemetery.

Originally founded to provide a support network for women whose husbands were away on deployment, current members say the advent of new technology has almost made their group obsolete.

“I’m familiar with the old Navy, when it took weeks to get letters from our husbands or to get our letters to them,” said Glein.

“They have Internet now and web cams to communicate with. Modernization and technology have changed things.”

“A big challenge now is trying to meet young wives,” said Wieman. “Now people have such easy access they don’t need the support network like they used to.”

“When it started, this group was a great way to give Navy families some sense of roots,” said Whidbey Island member-at-large Kathy Uroff, Stanwood.

The challenge facing the organization now is to make technology work in its favor to bring in younger members.

“To avoid technology would be to try to live in the past,” Uroff said. “Today’s active duty wife has a career. We have to make it easier to work things into her lifestyle.”

“I think we’re slowly starting to come into the 21st century,” said Wieman. “Some are more willing to embrace change than others.”

“In order to be a viable, growing organization, we have have to look for ways to maintain our membership in a transient population,” said Wilkerson.
“We are always going to be there to help fill that need for family support within a community,” she said. “In the future, there are plenty of opportunities out there.”

The group is working on a national Facebook page and continues to look toward incorporating other social media for ways to involve younger members.

Still, no amount of technology or electronic communication can take the place of forging relationships the old-fashioned way — face-to-face, something at which the NWCA seems to excel.

“What we really want to do is foster a spirit of fellowship among our members,” said Glein. “Participate in some volunteer work, and lend help and support to other Navy wives.”