When Renee Baumunk bought the rambling brick Colonial on Kimberley Rd. in 1998, she was recently divorced and nearing retirement as an elementary art teacher. The house—built in 1925 by recycling and affordable housing advocate Charlie Bucholz—was full of character, with repurposed materials, original woodwork, and an expansive upstairs perfect for her two sons, Travis and Alex. What she didn’t know was that this old house on a quiet, tree-lined road would become the birthplace of a beloved, long-running tradition: the Wild Women parties.
“You’ve got to read this book,” were the magic words from her friend Kathy Ganz. The message of Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy’s (SARK’s) Succulent Wild Woman—urging women of any age to live with fullness, creativity, authenticity, and self-love—resonated with Renee immediately. When Kathy suggested celebrating her new home with a themed women-only party inspired by the book, Renee hesitated. Kathy sparked her enthusiasm, telling her there was no better way to break in her new home than to have a party.
Courtesy of Renee Baumunk
Renee chose Mae West as her inaugural muse. As she puts it, “I love a theme. And being an art teacher, I could be on a theme and not let it go.” She snail-mailed her handmade invitations for the August party, near West’s birthday, later switching to email.
From the start, the parties had a purpose beyond fun. “The vast majority at the parties were women in recovery. It was an alcohol-free event,” Renee says. “I never used alcohol or drugs at my Kimberley house. It was a safe place.”
She vividly remembers the school secretary and her friends sashaying down the road in skintight gowns and oversized, feathered picture hats, holding cigarette holders. Her next-door neighbor admired the portable hot tub she’d rented for the occasion—an early signal that these gatherings would be anything but ordinary. Many of her teacher friends were on vacation, but the house overflowed with more than fifty people in attendance.
A trip to Hawaii inspired the Luau theme for the second party. A “beautiful powwow” in Colorado led to a Native American theme. The themes stacked up like costume boxes. “One of the more fun ones was number seven, Aliens. Number eight was Reincarnation—come as you were. Number nine was a Greek-themed Nine Muses.”
Renee’s signature became her theme-related decorations, games, and thrifted treasures. “I just like to give little gifts at the end,” she says. “Later, I had books and gifts for people to choose from. It was all abundance. I always had the theme for the next year’s party early on, so I could shop all year for theme-related gifts at thrift stores, garage sales, and Facebook Marketplace. How easy it was to find everything related to the theme was magical!
“In the last few years, people haven’t wanted to take anything because everyone is downsizing. But it didn’t stop me from finding things, though.”
Food, for the most part, was up to guests. “I’m not a cook,” she admits. “I will clean to an extent. I love decorating the most.”
Miraculously, dishes often matched the theme. She recalls a friend making deviled eggs with little fish tails for her favorite party, Mermaids. Renee created a mermaid throne and backdrop, because as she explains, “Everything I love in life has to do with mermaids, shells, and the ocean.”
Courtesy of Renee Baumunk
The twentieth party was Western themed. “It took a couple of weeks to decorate.” Her partner, Don Johnson, helped her reach the high spots. “He’s a tall guy. He helped put everything up. I’m decorating, cleaning, and moving a lot of stuff.”
It was a triumph—until it wasn’t. “It was the most energy-driven decorating that I’d ever done. … I remember at the end of the night, standing on the porch saying goodbye when my back spasmed, and I couldn’t move. And I thought, maybe I shouldn’t do this anymore quite to this extent.”
As the women aged and the summer heat became less tolerable, the parties shifted seasons. “All of us were aging, and in menopause, the house didn’t have air conditioning, and having a summer party just wasn’t fun anymore. So, the dates switched into the fall because it was cooler.”
In 2020, Renee got the news that she was going to be a grandmother. “I looked around, and as much as I loved that house, my first thought was, ‘I do not have a floor a baby could crawl on.’” The very next day, her sister asked if she wanted the family’s house on Hillcrest in Ypsilanti. Renee and Don said yes, grateful later for the buyer who renovated the Kimberley place. “They saved this house, and they made it a beautiful place,” says Renee. “I hope the new owners know the house turned one hundred years old this year.”
The Wild Women spirit migrated with her. Observer calendar editor Jen Taylor attended the Women Writers party in 2022 and came away dazzled. “Renee brilliantly came up with and made a lot of the games,” she says. “The amount of work she puts into it is so impressive. … The decor takes so much work, and the making of the games.”
Jen later joined the Disney Villainesses party, where she recalls, “People went all out on those costumes.” Her favorite? Renee’s mother, Connie, costumed as Cruella de Vil. Each guest received a handheld mirror.
Courtesy of Renee Baumunk
In 2023, Renee met SARK at a writers’ conference in Santa Fe. She bought the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Succulent Wild Woman and noticed the message’s shift. “You think of succulents. You can still live juicy, purposeful, delicious lives, but you don’t feel a young vibrancy.”
The moment pushed her to start an as-yet-unnamed memoir/how-to Wild Women party book and a women’s writing group. She encourages party planners to honor “friends and their unique sisterhood.”
Her pirate-themed 2025 party was her last. “There have been twenty-five parties, and that’s plenty,” she says.
These days, she’s imagining a gentler direction, should anyone decide to take over party planning. “I don’t think they’ll be wild because we’re way more mild than wild these days. Nobody wants to drive at night anymore.
“Maybe we could call them Wise Women parties,” she muses. “They’ll be shorter, and during the day, and there’ll be a lot less fuss.”
I remember these parties were fabulous and so much fun!!!