Venerable Coffee Club starts 2014 with new tradition

Mintha Roach

There wasn’t a big announcement or a news release. Very few people even know about it. But, in our little part of the social universe here in East Tennessee, the tectonic plates quietly shifted a little as 2013 came to a close.

The historic Coffee Club, the gentleman-only group that has met at least weekly in downtown Knoxville since 1930, admitted its first female members: Mintha Roach, the president and CEO of the Knoxville Utilities Board, and Pam Fansler, president and East Tennessee market manager of First Tennessee Bank.

Why is this such a big deal? Basically, because it is a true sign of the times. This little group is not on anybody’s  radar screen. The members were not pressured in any way to admit women. No woman has ever attempted admittance. The men simply realized that if they truly want to have local movers and shakers in their club, some of those leaders in this day and age are going to be women.

Pam Fansler

Here’s another important fact, in my opinion. This is a group that has what is commonly known as a “blackball” membership policy. In other words, if any one member votes against admitting a new member, that person isn’t allowed. Period. So 100 percent of the guys in the group approved of the move.

So, what’s this group all about? Lunch and discussion. There is no set agenda and no attendance requirement. Members simply show up at Club LeConte on any Tuesday or Friday when they can and discuss the topics of the day. The current members generally are active in the community, so they are interested in a wide variety of issues.

In addition to Roach and Fansler, the current members include Jeff Lee, the general manager of WBIR-TV; retired banker Bob Page; David Martin, of Martin and Company; Larry Martin, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration; George Ed Wilson, retired owner of a Roane County manufacturing company; John Gill of the Attorney General’s office; attorney Ed Rayson; University of Tennessee Chancellor Emeritus Bill Synder; University of Tennessee President Emeritus Joe Johnson; attorney Ward Phillips; Jeff Chapman, director of the Frank H. McClung Museum; attorney Bob Worthington; attorney Bill Davis; retired banker Jim Talley; attorney Howard Vogel; and Alan Carmichael, the president and COO of Moxley Carmichael (and my husband, which is how I know all this).

According to club documents, the Coffee Club was born in 1930 when James S. Hall, of Hall’s Gay Street Men’s Clothing, invited Charles Griffith, the new manager of the Sears Roebuck & Co., to join him for a cup of coffee. They met at Cole’s Drug Store in the nearby Greyhound bus arcade. Soon, they were joined by J.P. Roddy, W.S. Hall, W.G. (Fats) Chambers, Edward S. Albers, Tom McCroskey and  Wallace Woodruff. Many other business and professional men joined them occasionally for a cup of coffee and some friendly discussion.

Unfortunately, Robert H. Cole, the owner of Cole’s Drug Store, asked that the group leave his enterprise on Gay Street. Seems they spent only a nickel for coffee and took up much needed space in his soda fountain area. The group moved to the Farragut Hotel Coffee Shop until it closed. They then moved to the Garden Restaurant, followed by the City Club, until it closed and its building was demolished. Next stop was Club LeConte, where the group meets today.

As members of the club pass away or become too infirm to attend, new members are added. There is not a strict rule about number of members, but it is generally held to 20 or fewer. You do not apply for membership in the Coffee Club. You are invited to join.

So, here’s to the Coffee Club and to 2014! Way to go, guys!

The only downside to this move is that, ever since Alan was invited to join more than 10 years ago, I have teasingly referred to the group as “The Old Men’s Club.” I guess I’ll have to stop that now.