The Story of Green Gables at Lakeside, by Janet Jennings

“What was the one of the biggest challenges you faced during 18 years of serving as House Chair of Green Gables?” I posed this question to Becky Johnson who is stepping down from this responsibility at the end of the 2020 Lakeside Chautauqua season. This was Becky’s answer: “…resolving the feral cat problem while trying to be sensitive to the cat lovers.”

This response is so typical of this gentle, tactful lady, who, along with Bret, is quick to show concern for other people. Friends know them as a loving, selfless couple who work tirelessly to make life happier or easier for others. The Johnsons have been far more than mere custodians of the 137-year-old house at 161 Walnut Avenue. They are first and foremost caretakers of people.

“Green Gables has been a place filled with women for over 90 years,” Becky wrote recently, “and I love thinking about the stories of friendships forged and relationships strengthened. I love Green Gables when it is full of women learning and sharing, and I love it when it is a quiet fall evening and we are putting it to bed for the winter.”

Becky took on the job of Green Gables House Chair in 2002, a couple of years after they had completed work on their own cottage on Jasmine. Since the Lakeside Women’s Club was organized in 1928, a member or committee has been appointed or elected to this task. Husbands sometimes pitch in to help as Bret has. It’s all volunteer. The House Chair is in charge of the interior of Green Gables. A few of her duties are opening and closing in spring and fall, hiring cleaners, purchasing supplies, readying bedrooms and bathrooms for renters, calling exterminators, plumbers, and handymen, making decor decisions, keeping the furnishings in good repair, working closely with the Resident Hostess, Librarian, and officers of the Club, the Lakeside administration and security. And those are just the basics.

What makes the job daunting is not only the age of the house, but, as Becky explains, “Making decisions on a public place is very different from working in your own home. I was conscious of trying to make Green Gables appealing to everyone who visited. Budgeting repairs at Green Gables is different as I tried to be a good steward of the Club’s funds.” Then, being Becky, she adds this positive note: “ I learned that regardless of the décor, women love being together in a
place where they can feel at home.”

Becky explained, “The general rule is that the Association is responsible for the exterior and the Club takes care of the inside. However, on big projects (HVAC, new foundation, updated kitchen, replacement of rotted joists, etc.) we partner with the Association to get the job done. In more recent years, we have been able to rely on Lakeside maintenance for smaller inside issues. Our relationship has evolved into a real partnership. Without them, the Club would be
at a real disadvantage.”

The Lakeside Association owns Green Gables and maintains the exterior as they do their other 46+ buildings. But the Lakeside Women’s Club, a separate non-profit, is not a tenant in the usual sense. The Association generously lets the Club use the house
because of an agreement worked out when Arthur Hoover was general manager of Lakeside. In 1928, Hoover persuaded the woman who owned the house situated at 161 Walnut, a prime piece of real estate, to sell to the Lakeside Association. It had been a boarding
house, but at that time was standing vacant, 45 years old, and in need of paint. Mr. Hoover then negotiated with Lakeside Trustees that the cottage would be used as the club house for a newly-formed Woman’s Club with his wife, Bessie Hoover, serving as founding president.

Next, the Lakeside Association painted the outside, and Mrs. Hoover
donated some of her own furniture from the Hoover home across the street at 205 Park Row. Her wicker set still occupies the spot in front of the fireplace today. Perhaps this was the beginning of the tradition that the Association would maintain the exterior and the Women’s Club (it was called Woman’s Club then) would take care of the interior. Sounds shaky, but somehow this unique arrangement has worked for 92 years.

Green Gables is heavily used during the season. Somebody once told Becky that they thought Green Gables was a place where old ladies went to knit. Becky laughs, “It’s that and so much more!” She has a favorite memory from June, 2016. The Johnsons were glued to the upstairs TV along with Lois Weller, the former Resident Hostess. The Cleveland Cavaliers were playing Game 7 in the NBA finals. The Johnsons are from Bedford and Lois lives in Parma, and no major
Cleveland sports team had won a title since 1964, so of course they were excited. “When the Cavs won, how we cheered,” Becky remembers, “and you could hear people all around yelling!”

Lois Weller appreciates Becky and Bret very much. She is very aware of how much leadership, time, and effort this generous couple has contributed to Green Gables and the Lakeside Women’s Club. She knows firsthand of their dedication to family, church, schools in which they have taught, children and youth in Lakeside, and persons for whom they have caretaker responsibilities.

Another person who worked with Becky and Bret the entire 18 years was Betsy Kennedy, former librarian of Green Gables. “With the Johnsons, it’s always been a family affair,” she said in a recent phone conversation. Betsy can’t say enough about the kindness of Becky and Bret—carrying heavy boxes of books to and from storage, lugging in tables for the annual book sale—and they always responded quickly and cheerfully to any request.

From the beginning Bret did his part, and when daughter Grace, or “Miss Gracie” as Betsy and Lois fondly call her, came on the scene fourteen years ago, it became a trio. As Grace was growing up, Betsy said that if a house cleaner didn’t show up, it was sometimes Bret and Gracie who raced upstairs to clean, change the bed, and clean the
bathroom. Grace has always felt that Green Gables is her second home. Becky recalls one fall when she and Bret painted walls while baby Gracie slept in her bouncy seat on the floor.

During the season for many years, the evening before the Tuesday meeting, Bret could be found mopping the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floor on his hands and knees. His simple explanation
was, “I know how to wash floors, and I thought it would help Lois.”

Reflecting back, Becky wrote, “Green Gables is a unique place that has a sweet cadence to it. It’s a place where everyone is welcome. It is filled with tradition that makes it familiar to people, year after year.”

Thank you, Becky, for devoting eighteen years of your life to our grand old lady, Green Gables, and being a big part of what makes it such a welcoming place.