Gilda's Club Ushers in Saturday Hours with Open House

Gilda’s Club honors the memory of the late comedian Gilda Radner, a Detroit native whose Roseanne Roseannadanna was one of several recurring characters she created for “Saturday Night Live.” (Photo via NBC Studios)

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Gilda’s Club – the social and emotional support network for people living with or affected by cancer honoring the late Gilda Radner, a “Saturday Night Live” comedian and Detroit native – is expanding service hours with Saturday programming in Royal Oak.

“We’re really excited,” CEO and Executive Director Laura Varon Brown told The Daily Tribune. “When I got here, I understood the need for a Saturday program, but we weren’t financially able to do it yet.

“To have that kind of availability and flexibility for our members is really important,” she said. “So, it’s been a two-year goal of mine and certainly of our staff. We’re really excited, especially for our families.”

The charity was hit hard by the economic recession, but “we’re back on our feet financially (now),” Varon Brown said.

Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit has operated out of the two-story house at 3517 Rochester Road in Royal Oak for 17 years, offering more than 120 activities that range from networking and support groups to arts and music to workshops and social activities.

An open house from noon-2 p.m. Saturday, March 7, will usher in the new Saturday schedule, which officially begins a week later and will include a new variety of adult and youth programs, including music, art, yoga, and a weekly wellness support group.

Gilda’s Club is regularly open from noon-8 p.m., Monday-Thursday. Saturday hours will be noon-3 p.m.

Saturday hours are especially important for people who maintain work or school schedules while keeping up with their cancer treatment, Varon Brown said.

“It opens up a whole new area of flexibility for our members,” she said. “Some people through treatment are not able to work, so weekday programming works well for them

“The bulk of our program is in the evening to allow for people who are working and families and (those) in school. Saturday is a day to take that collective breath, and we’re proud to offer support again on Saturday.”

The open house, which includes refreshments and musical entertainment by Gilda’s Singers and Stringers, is a good chance for Royal Oak members to see what’s behind the signature red door of the clubhouse.

“Once you’re inside our door and under our roof here, you’re able to experience and see the home-like setting we have and how open and comfortable it is,” Varon Brown said.

Gilda’s Club is named in memory of comedian Radner, who died from ovarian cancer on May 20, 1989. Though best known for her work on SNL, her book, “It’s Always Something,” described her life with cancer. She once said cancer gave her “membership to an elite club I’d rather not belong to,” which is how the eight metro Detroit women who founded the group arrived at its name.

They believed what while medicine heals the body, the people affected by cancer should have access to emotional and social support and be able to leave their diseases behind and laugh and enjoy life.

After an arduous fundraising campaign that began around members’ kitchen tables, enough financial support was garnered to open Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit on Jan. 23, 1998.

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