HISTORY OF 

CENTRAL ARIZONA TALL SOCIETY


Beverly McClain (5'11") and Arlene Bowman (5'10") were co-founders of the Valley Tall Singles which operated on an informal basis from November 1, 1978 to July 1, 1979. Beverly McClain was a former member of the New York Stratoliners of the American Association of Tall Clubs (AATC), the former name of Tall Clubs International (TCI). Jim Foster, a past president of the club, indicated that "...on July 28, 1979, officers were elected and the club began operation on a formal basis on August 1, 1979, as the Central Arizona Tall Singles." Some of the charter members were: Jim Foster, Beverly McClain, Arlene Bowman, John Girard, Jerri Clow and Steve Merril. Steve was responsible for originating the acronym CATS for the club name. The membership at the time was 30; when the club applied for membership in TCI (January 1980), the membership was 50. The Tall Club of Orange County was responsible for sponsoring the Central Arizona Tall Singles into TCI. There were 77 members as of June 24, 1980 and this was the highest number of members for a club joining TCI to date.

The club was incorporated in March of 1980 and became a member of Tall Clubs International that same year. In February of 1980 and again in 1981, the CATS held a Valentine's Dance with approximately 25 people attending from out-of-town. Starting in 1982, CATS held its first Phoenix Phebruary Phiesta. In 1991, the club voted to move this weekend event to the last part of April and rename the event to Southwest Spring Splash. In 1998 the club voted to move the club weekend to the the Presidents Day weekend and revive the Phoenix Phebruary Phiesta.

CATS was the host for Southwest Sunfest, TCI's 1984 Convention. This was a major undertaking for such a young club; however, it was very sucessful. CATS is the third youngest club to host a TCI Convention.

In 1986, CATS was elected to serve as TCI Executive Board Club and became the fifth youngest club to serve in this position. CATS was re-elected to serve again in 1987. In September of 1987, the Central Arizona Tall Singles officially changed their name to the Central Arizona Tall Society. The acronym (CATS) remained the same.

The CATS have participated in a large number of charitable events. Some of these included local and national blood drives, support of a zoo animal, volleyball tournaments, walk-a-thons, bike rides, PBS pledge telethons, christmas caroling, and yes, even bathtub races. In 1987, the CATS accepted the Marfan Syndrome Foundation as their main local charity to support. Also, the CATS award an annual scholarship to a deserving high school student to help facilitate their career plans.

The social calendar for the CATS includes a variety of events that are geared to promote fellowship and good will for all members. Some of these activities are volleyball, house parties, dancing, happy hours, dutch dine-outs, cultural events, traveling to other Tall Club weekends, camping, hiking, river tubing, bowling, golfing and much, much more.

CATS HALL OF FAME

 

For the listing of past officers of our Club 

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