FAIRHOPE, Ala. — “People come to the gathering and leave inspired,” said Bobbie Goodman, who will be traveling from Tucson, Ariz., to Fairhope to attend Alabama’s local gathering of “grandmothers” from Feb. 19 through Feb. 22. “We gather to find our voices. I’ll tell you the truth about these meetings: Magic happens.”

The Gulf Coast Council of Grandmothers was inspired by the Arizona group, the oldest Council of Grandmothers group in the country.

“Originally there were four from this area who went to Arizona,” said Judy McKee of Mobile, who helped found the local group. “That group out there was started about 15 years ago by a woman named Mary Diamond. The idea has spread to a number of other states and countries. It’s an opportunity to look at your life in more depth.”

The local group of approximately 50 women will meet again this year at Beckwith Camp and Conference Center on Weeks Bay near Fairhope.

“It’s the ideal place for a gathering like ours,” McKee said. “We looked everywhere.”

She said that “grandmother” status is not required to attend and there is no age requirement. She said this year there will be nine women attending who are in their 70s, 21 in their 60s, nine in their 50s and two in their 40s. Of the 50 maximum of participants expected, 44 have been to a gathering before, she said.

“It’s spiritual but not religious,” McKee said. “If you’re not open-minded and nonjudgmental, you don’t need to come. A lot of us call ourselves reformed Catholics, Baptists, whatever, even though a lot attend church services regularly.”

But it is a little hard to describe what the experience is like, she said, although there are a number of earth-based and Native-American ceremonies.

Carolyn Garbett from Silverhill had other questions before her first gathering six years ago.

“‘How boring could that be,’ I thought to myself,” she said. “A bunch of old ladies sitting around looking at old pictures. But I thought I could go, and if I didn’t like it I could leave. I have been five years now, and I absolutely love it. Each time I go, my soul has been nourished.”

Joan Marker of Fairhope is also looking forward to this year’s tour-day event, where participants stay three evenings at Beckwith.

“At this time in my life, I greatly value connections — not just social, religious or political connections, but deep meaningful spiritual connections with like-minded women from all backgrounds,” Marker said. “I find these connections with the grandmothers and feel blessed and forever grateful.”

This year, “grandmothers” from approximately 11 states will be attending the event to honor the Hopi saying that serves as the group’s motto: “When the grandmothers speak, the earth will heal.”

Goodman said that one of the reasons she started attending these gatherings in the late 1990s, when she was in her early 50s, was to find positive role models for how to age and grow for the rest of her life.

McKee said she agrees and learns something every year from some of the elders among the group. There’s one saying she remembers easily and tries to keep in mind always.

“If what you’re going to say is not the truth, necessary and kind, you don’t need to say it,” she said.

For more, contact McKee at 666-6973 or judymckee@comcast.net. Registration is from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Feb. 19.