The members of the YAG club knew a long time ago that the title of their organization had become a contradiction in terms, but after 75 years they still embrace it.

Y.A.G., as it is named (with a period after each letter), stands for “Young Adult Group.” And yet, at this point, most of the members are over 90 and the youngest one, President Ray McKay, is 81. As an “outsider” from Unionville, he joined this rural, Avondale-area group in 1965 by virtue of his marriage to his late wife, Mary Pratt, who had been a member.

Y.A.G., which now has about 17 members, was formed 75 years ago by the Christian Fellowship Class of the Avondale Presbyterian Church, according to an account by late president Kenneth Emerson.

He stated in his article that the church members felt many of the young people in the Avondale-West Grove area had outgrown the youth groups and needed a club in the community for all denominations. They invited 30 young people of the community to a Thanksgiving Day breakfast, presented them with the idea, and sent them on their way.

The idea took off, and the club members elected officers, held meetings and planned monthly programs. These members have stuck together, met and joined for activities for more than seven decades. Their relationships with each other appear warm, lasting and supportive.

The list of original members’ names (held by those same well-known names today) is a familiar assortment of southern Chester County small-town natives like Pusey, Brosius, Yeatman, Parsons, Walton and Needham. They were there in the in the mid-20th century, and they are still around. Their current number of members is about 17.

Through the years, the limit to membership size as stated in its charter is 35. Actually, only one new person has joined after 2000. The biggest majority joined in the 1950s. In order to be accepted, they must be over the age of 16 and approved by a two-thirds vote of the membership after the applicant has attended two meetings.

In honor of the club’s 75 years, President McKay put out the word that there would be a lavish celebration luncheon on Nov. 18 at Elerslie, the special-occasion house at Crosslands retirement community in Pennsbury Township.

He served as master of ceremonies and provided his friends with an afternoon of entertainment and memories. He brought along the book of pictures his late wife had assembled with photos going back decades. He also created a historical booklet with a copy for each member noting the history, interesting incidents and records of Y.A.G. With a gentle poke at its long history, he called it, “The First 75 Years.”

He also reviewed with them the outstanding historical events that had occurred locally and nationally in those years.

McKay, in addition to being the group’s current president, is also a longtime local historian. After reciting the names of presidents along with the incidents of tragedies during the existence of Y.A.G., he asked them: “What was the most historic thing that changed our lives?”

No one at the table ventured the answer he was seeking.

Without any answers he said, “The construction of the Route 1 bypass.”

He explained that it changed the small-town and tight-knit society of southern Chester County where the members grew up into a modern, post-industrial suburban town. Their current environment sees heavy traffic moving through daily, as well as many new residents from afar who don’t work locally. Rather, with the convenient transportation and online communication, the new community arrivals are employed in Wilmington, Philadelphia, Baltimore and beyond while still residing in their former pre-industrial-like little town.

With it all, these club members are still close, even after all the years that passed. As they sat at the table last November, they shared familiar jokes, events and reactions to tragedies.

“Remember running from West Grove to Avondale on the railroad tracks? Remember the dances? Did you hear who died?” was heard among the friends as they passed around Mary Pratt McKay’s photo books.

In their time together these Y.A.G. members enjoyed campout sleepovers, played tennis tournaments, staffed a Halloween Parade float, built a swimming pool, donated blood and raised money for people in need. They still function almost as an extended family with each other.

When asked if Y.A.G. would continue as the members reached the end of their life journeys, McKay said in view of the ages it is not likely. “When they are all gone, it’s done. It is too disjointed,” he said.