By OLIVER GOOD

Staff writer

A sisterhood of loquacious women has been meeting the first Tuesday of every month at various locations in Marion under the guise of coffee sipping, but their motive is clear.

They just love to chat.

“We don’t do anything constructive,” Norma Kline said. “We just talk. It’s become a good support system for some people.”

Marion Coffee and Conversation, also known as the “Lunch Bunch,” usually meets at Central Park or Marion Senior Center. Usually about 10 women go. However, Kline said as many as 18 have attended.

The group was an offshoot of a weekly get-together some members had been involved in for more than 10 years.

JoAnn (Stroda) Fitzpatrick of McPherson graduated from Marion High School in 1964.

“The group is just a bunch of us that went to school in Marion,” Fitzpatrick said. “Most of us have been out 50 years already. We talk about anything and everything.”

The group is open to anyone, she said, but mostly it’s just girls.

“Once in a while someone will bring her husband,” Fitzpatrick said, “but the guys usually just wander off.”

Darlene (Lucas) Siebert of Wichita also attended MHS.

“Our husbands can’t figure out how we can talk so much,” Siebert said. “Most of us ran around together; if we didn’t, we at least knew each other.”

Frances (Giesbrecht) Sandford of Hutchinson said she and many other members have family and friends in Marion.

“We love it,” Sandford said. “We catch up on old times and reminisce. That’s why we started meeting here.”

Siebert’s sister, Bonnie (Lucas) Schmidt of Marion, said conversation meanders from memories to current events and personal stories.

“Sometimes we talk from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m,” she said.