The Pennsylvania Mothers of Twins Club began meeting in 1961 when the Main Line Club contacted area clubs to meet on April 15, 1961. Clubs contacted were Levittown, Delaware Valley in Willow Grove, Allentown, Keystone of Harrisburg, Nelson, Sayre, Sharon, Sharpsville and Sunbury. Present at the meeting were 33 members from Allentown, Keystone, Levittown, and Main Line.
The next three meetings were hosted by Allentown, Levittown, and Keystone.
After that, Regional Conventions were held in Philadelphia, Erie, Beaver Falls, York, Lancaster and Pittsburgh. It was at the convention in 1970 that the state song was adopted, written and composed by Doris Whitcomb.
Lebanon was the hosting club in 1971 with 251 members attending. At this meeting it was decided by an overwhelming vote to organize all the mothers of twins clubs and officially form the Pennsylvania Organization Mothers of Twins Clubs (POMOTC). Doris Whitcomb had put many hours into this meeting and served as coordinator for the first year. POMOTC was on its way and the next ten years were very busy. The first newsletter was published in December 1971. Resumes were prepared and sent to all members to help form committees. Each club was asked to appoint a State Representative to coordinate information between State and local clubs. Charter members of POMOTC were Boyertown, South Hills of Pittsburgh, Erie, Lebanon Valley, Main Line, Carlisle, Olney, Butlter, Lancaster, Alle-Kiski, York, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Steel Valley, Greater Northeast Philadelphia, Beaver Valley, Meadville, North Hills, Central Bucks, Hanover and Keystone. Dues were set at $.25 cents per member.
Through the years many clubs have held convention and those who have hosted two conventions are Northeast Philadelphia, Erie, Keystone, Liberty (which was formerly Onley MOTC,) Carlisle and Bucks-Mont.
In 1972 the first officers were elected and the first president as Doris Whitcomb. Temporary bylaws were established and adopted the following year. In 1973 the motto”God’s Chosen Ones” and emblem were adopted. The Lonnie Whitcomb Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1974 by the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Club, in honor of Doris Whitcomb’s son who was killed in an automobile accident. Any club or person can donate to this fund with the money to be used for financial aid for children to help with college. The Lonnie Whitcomb Scholarship Fund has given over 300 awards since its foundation.
In 1975 the club colors were approved. They are GREEN representing youth and hope, YELLOW-representing honor and loyalty and ORANGE-representing strength and endurance. In 1976 it was decided that members of POMOTC were also eligible to receive scholarships from the Lonnie Whitcomb Memorial Scholarship Fund.
In 1977 the daisy was chosen for the state flower. As it consists of several distinct petals joined by a common center, just as POMOTC consists of many different women joined by the common bond of multiple birth children. In 1979 the dues were raised to $.50 cents per member and in 2002 dues were raised to $1.00.
In 2006, POMOTC officially changed its name to Pennsylvania Organization of Mothers of Multiples Clubs (POMOMC) to recognize the diversity and number of members who have higher order multiples or even two sets of twins. In 2007, a new logo was adopted. The winning entry was submitted by the Bucks-Mont club.
Convention has become an invaluable weekend of interests for members. Some of the convention workshops and entertainment through the years have been on stress, drug abuse, women’s liberation, doctors on various specialties, interior decorating, belly dancing, line dancing, book and magazine editors, the JIM twins, the Sweet Adelines, a Boom Ba Band, Mummers, Chocolate, Safety issues for women, Separate or together school issues and many more!
POMOMC is stronger than ever with approximately 40 clubs and over 1,500 members. POMOMC has been fortunate to have strong women with vision to lead us.