One Sunday afternoon every month, a handful of Lawrence locals keeps the love of snail mail alive.
Letter Writing Club, a project launched by downtown art gallery and shop Wonder Fair, meets on the “teenth” Sunday of every month. Eight to 30 writers spend a couple hours together at Decade, the East Lawrence coffee shop, sipping lattés or rosé and comparing handwriting.
Meredith Moore, a Wonder Fair owner, said she started the club to build a community.
“I love club activities and I like getting people together to pursue creative projects,” she said. “I think it’s more fun to do things in teams.”
At the Feb. 14 meeting, Lawrence resident Renée Whaley brought a tub of blank Thank You cards. Whaley has been a Letter Writing Club member since July 2015 and is now a card-carrying Letter Writers Alliance member.
“It forces you to slow down and think about what you want to say,” Whaley said. She said she writes a lot about what it’s like to live in Lawrence because reading about different home towns is her favorite part of keeping pen pals.
Moore said the goal of the club is to take a break from life and write letters. Like every Wonder Fair product and club, Letter Writing Club celebrates what Moore calls “everyday creativity.”
“We want people to look in the window of Wonder Fair and think, ‘Wow, that place is so cool’ or ‘so Lawrence,'” Moore said. “And we like to be ‘so Lawrence.'”
The next Letter Writing Club meeting will be Mar. 13 at Decade. Letter writers can bring their own materials or purchase Wonder Fair letters and post cards during the meeting.