CELEBRATING its 75th anniversary this year, the Parisian-based American Women’s Group (AWG) has blossomed from a small support group in 1932 to a membership of 365 - 75% of them American.

One of the group’s first anniversary events was a reception at the American ambassador’s home in February. “We revisited our roots by reading letters from the 1930s, 40s, 50s,” said the group’s president, Karen Magliocca Rocheteau. “It was nice to take a look back.” Mrs Rocheteau, an active AWG member for five years, has served in various positions including Bistro Liaison, which she said was her “favorite job of all time.” Originally from New York, she lives in Paris with her Franco-American husband of 22 years and two “highly-adored cats.”

AWG, best known for its focus on social and cultural events, starts each month with an open house coffee event for members and guests. Monthly activities include book clubs, museum visits, yoga classes, Cordon Bleu cooking lessons, wine tastings, professional women’s and French conversation groups, “Beyond Paris” excursions, and “Mysterious Mercredis” (an SNCF bargain train fare to an un-known destination). Mrs Rocheteau said: “We hire tour guides, art historians and professors. We have a different event almost every day.”

For the last eight years, the AWG has raised funds for L’Envol, (Take Off) an organization that provides a place for chronically ill children throughout Europe to participate in spring and summer camps. It is part of actor Paul Newman’s American Hole in the Wall Gang Camps Association. In France, the camps are at the Echouboulains Domain in the Seine et Marne countryside, with a swimming pool, workshops, and animal farm. Since starting in 1997, the camps have received more than 6,000 children and adolescents, helping them to live with their illnesses by building courage and confidence.

Mrs Rocheteau said: “We are doing more charity work than last year and members have become more hands-on. For the L’Envol camp this year, we painted rooms, did yard work and repaired costumes for the children’s cabaret nights. We were able to round up six or seven computers to donate to the camp and some of the more computer savvy husbands set them up and got them running. It’s much more rewarding than just writing a check at the end of the year.” Another hands-on activity that has attracted AWG members is the organisation Coeur des Femmes, which helps homeless women and women with special needs. “We hold fund raising dinners, have drives to collect towels and toiletries, and bring them gifts at Christmas. This year a group of members had lunch at one of the halfway houses. It puts faces on the people that we’re helping.”

Other AWG accomplishments include a wine auction every March and an AWG cookbook, Bistro Chez Moi, that’s now into its second printing. “It’s a beautifully laid-out cookbook with drawings, stories, cooking tips and tricks and our best picks for Paris bistros. It’s sold well among members, of course, but we are pleased to have sold copies all over France through our website.”

Members must have an American affiliation and speak some English but the women are from a variety of countries and backgrounds.

“Many members are career women who can no longer work in France and need an outlet for their business acumen and creativity,” Mrs Rocheteau said. “There are many ways to help carry out the group’s mission in a meaningful role and it can be something significant for people to put on their resumes. When you get involved, you never know what new skills you’ll have to learn, but it’s not all work. We have loads of fun, and manage to accomplish wonderful things at the same time.”