By Anne W. Semmes
The move is afoot to bring new life and attention to the non-profit Greenwich Woman’s Exchange, a fixture in town for over a hundred years. Located since 1936 at 28 Sherwood Place, it is famed for its artisans and crafters having long offered charmingly smocked dresses for little girls and decoratively knitted sweaters for little boys, and “must have” toys, like that wooden alphabet train. For women, there are those colorful summer tunics and standout artisan jewelry. And on a shelf sits a knockout hand painted, donated post box!
The Exchange exists today thanks to those creative crafters, reliable volunteers, and especially the long serving dedication of its recently passed managing president, Roni Schmitz. “When she started, she shopped for items that were in the Cottage,” tells Kristi Hutter, Exchange board president, addressing that back garden Cottage filled with antiques. “The woman who originally owned the Cottage used to have a donkey or pony back there she used to ride it into town,” Hutter shares. “Then it became a tearoom that used to have tea, sandwiches and tea and coffee here, but that stopped some 40 years ago.”
As the Exchange is part of the Federated Woman’s Exchange that kicked off in 1832 with now 15 Exchanges in 10 states, with two others in Connecticut – Fairfield and Old Lyme- there are likely a number of Exchanges still serving tea and sandwiches.
But back to that Cottage as it may be newly named in honor of Roni Schmitz [whose brother by the way is John Toner, former Greenwich Selectman]. “We’re going to discuss it with the board on this Thursday to vote on,” says Hutter. “Roni was very involved with our store and the Exchange Federation.” Schmitz had organized that ongoing Exchange Gift Fair each November at the Round Hill Club, reportedly the very first gift fair in town.
“Roni was involved with building relationships with the vendors, finding new crafters including from the Federated Woman’s Exchange.” Schmitz had importantly stood firm against that apartment building effort on adjoining Church Street. “She very politely said the Exchange was not for sale…She rallied all her supporters of the Exchange. We were in Town Hall at all the meetings, fighting against the development, and we won.”
But the effort now is to find volunteers and a new manager. Hutter shares that moment a couple of years ago when Schmitz’s health began to fade, “and we couldn’t find anyone that could commit to running the store.” So, Hutter stepped up to keep things going. “We need volunteers. People usually volunteer two to three hours at a time so they can pick their own schedule. We’d like to have two to three people a day once we install a manager full time.”
Hutter is also a sewer. Schmitz had learned of Hutter’s sewing skills a decade ago and invited her to “make items and volunteer…So I’ve been here since 2015.” But now Hutter is working to get her masters in nutrition. Also on the board is Elaine Gencarelli as vice president, and an artisan, making exquisite jewelry on display. So, the hope is with a manager secured,
“The board will run everything in the background but have less of a day-to-day involvement.”
Further enticement for volunteers Hutter described. “We have a scholarship that goes to one of the high school students for college. So, if they have volunteer experience with us and they’re very involved with the town, we discuss it with the high school and we give a scholarship to one of the students.”
But the bottom line is “to keep this space alive for artisans and crafters,” tells Hutter. She pointed out the popularity of that wooden alphabet train with its removable letters as a must have for the little ones and more. “People buy them for Christmas presents for kids, for anniversary presents…” tells train crafter Tony Okerson, found located in southern Illinois. The reach of these artisans comes from that network of the Federated Woman’s Exchange. Thus, Tony’s trains can be found in some eight different Exchanges from Florida to New York. And he’s been crafting them for over 30 years. “I get a lot of pleasure making these trains as I know how popular they are.”
Another artisan pleasure is expressed by sewer Jean Richardson whose exquisitely smocked little girl dresses she has also been sewing for 30 years, where she lives near Charlston, South Carolina. She’s presently busy sewing a couple of white christening dresses for the Fairfield Exchange, each consisting of “a slip, a dress, and a cap.” She enjoys having the “opportunity to embroider, smock or whatever I feel like doing…Having a place like the Greenwich Woman’s Exchange to sell my dresses is icing on the cake.”
At the Exchange the consigner or artisan receives 67 percent of asking prices, with 33 percent going to operating expenses and local charitable contributions.
Elaine Gencarelli, as a Greenwich based artisan of jewelry while serving as Exchange vice-president, tells of how she was led to the Exchange. Having worked at Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium, she discovered a bead work shop nearby. She loved “Putting together the shapes and colors,” that led to the necklace on display at the Exchange of “a herringbone pattern with glass super duo beads, and Austrian crystals.” She arrived at the Exchange 15 years ago, introduced by a friend and learned from Roni Schmitz the need for volunteers.
“Fifteen years ago,” tells Gencarelli, a Cos Cob native now teaching technology to middle school kids at Strawberry Hill in Stamford, “more people knew about the Exchange’s children’s clothes and gifts for family. The word needs to get out to all the neighborhoods of Greenwich.”
The Greenwich Woman’s Exchange is presently open on Thursday and Friday from 12 to 4, and on Saturday, from 12 to 3. Expectation is that with a manager in place there will be a return to the Exchange being open five days a week. For more information, call 203-869-0229.
