On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was a little, crude, lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one little boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant and diligent watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little life station, and it eventually became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station. They wanted to give their time, their money, and their effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and crews were trained, and the little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped so they felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from the sea when their ships sunk. So they replaced the emergency cots and beds with better furniture and in an enlarged building. And now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members. And they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions so they hired lifeboat crews to do the work. The lifesaving stations motif still prevailed in the clubs decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where club initiations where held.
About this time a large ship was wreaked off the coast and the hired crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half- drowned people. They were dirty and sick and foreign. The beautiful new club was considerably messed up, so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming into the club.
At the next meeting there was a split in the clubs membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the clubs lifesaving activity because it was unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted on lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters that they could build their own lifesaving station down the coast. Which they did. As the years went by the new station experienced the same changes that occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit that coast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Ship wreaks are still frequent, but most of the people drown.
– Theodore O. Wedel 1953.