Not your mother’s club: TOSC has fun while supporting community Published May 7, 2010 By Vicki Terrinoni Tinker Officers' Spouse's Club TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Today's officers' spouse club is not like your mother's or grandmother's club. Gone are the days of the white gloves, fancy dresses and cutting bandages for the Red Cross. Today, the key word is philanthropy and having fun while helping others. At the Tinker Officers' Spouse Club, fun comes through many different avenues. The No. 1 mission of the group is to support organizations on base through philanthropic work. To that end, the Thrift Shop is the main source of fund raising. All the proceeds from the Thrift Shop are used for scholarships and fulfilling fund requests on base and in the community to help military personnel in their work and charity. But the Thrift Shop is just one area where people have fun. Within the OSC are several mini-clubs to fill the interest of any person. Do you like to read? Join the Book Club. Bunko? They meet once a month. Mah Johngg is another specialty club as is a mom and tots group. And the Out-to-Lunch Bunch and the Gourmet Club are two of the most popular activities going on each month. Maybe it has something to do with getting to try different foods! The OSC is also about helping new spouses to the military or new to the area find out about different things they need to know when moving. It also provides ready-made friends, until the spouse can get acclimated. "Military spouses are a unique breed and we have the comfort of knowing when we move around the world, we have other military spouses waiting for us in OSC," said Tinker OSC President Laura Fulton. When a military spouse moves, she needs to find out about schools, dentists, veterinarians, hair dressers and other practical items to help them set up a home. And unlike a civilian spouse, the military spouse has friends in the OSC willing to direct them to those places, Ms. Fulton said. The Tinker OSC only has one more event this year before taking a two-month breather and that is the annual Bingo luncheon, which also includes the installation of officers for the next board year. Don't let the lateness of the year bother you. Regular monthly activities will begin in August with a special activities coffee. In the meantime, there are still several board positions open if you want to get involved earlier. Instead of going it alone at Tinker, why not check out the local OSC?