Size matters if you want to be in this club

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Being tall isn't all basketball dunking and top-shelf reaching; it can also present a set of challenges and concerns that only one's fellow tall people understand.

Hence the existence of Tall Clubs International, the umbrella organization of about 60 clubs nationwide and about 150 worldwide. The clubs, one of which formed in Yakima earlier this year, bring together men 6-foot-2 and taller and women 5-foot-10 and taller for social activities, community building and volunteerism.

To celebrate all of that -- and to just celebrate tallness in all its glory -- the Yakima Talls are hosting Miss Tall International Holli Jennings, former Miss Tall International Jane Baldwin and Mr. Tall Portland Dana Hartley at a pair of public events this weekend.

"You get to stand shoulder to shoulder and see people eye to eye," said Jennings, a 36-year-old IBM employee from Portland.

At 6-foot-4, Jennings doesn't get many opportunities to do that outside of her Tall Club friends. That's what drew her to the Portland club in the first place, she said. A basketball player in college, she found that meeting people who understood tallness was a lot harder after graduation.

Jan Jorgensen, who started the Yakima Talls in February, was living in Vancouver, Wash., when she got involved with that same Portland club. Having been more than 6 feet tall since junior high, she was excited to find people who shared that experience.

"It's the shared uniqueness," said Jorgensen, a 48-year-old WorkSource specialist. "We all get asked, 'How's the weather up there?' and it's nice to find some people who have creative answers."

It's also helpful in more practical ways, such as sharing information on which airlines offer the most leg-room and which stores carry long pants and large shoes.

"These are very real concerns," Jorgensen said.

Also it's just nice for people in the clubs to get a feeling of fitting in rather than standing out for once.

"When I wear heels, I just tower over all my girlfriends," Jorgensen said. "It's nice to be able to wear my heels around other tall people and have that camaraderie."

Jennings, who won the Miss Tall International pageant last year after first winning the Portland contest, vividly remembers getting that sense of fitting in during an early experience with her Tall Club friends. It helped her express new facets of her identity, she said.

"Everywhere I went, I was the tall one," Jennings said. "But my (Tall Club) friends said, 'You're not the tall one anymore. So what are you?' And I decided I'm going to be the funny one. So I'm the funny one, and I make jokes all the time."

She'll have that sense of humor on display during her Yakima visit, as the evening progresses from dinner to karaoke. Jennings isn't much of a singer, but she guarantees that she'll entertain the audience.

"We're a lot of fun," she said.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

If you go ...
■ What: Yakima Talls club welcomes Tall Clubs International royalty
■ Where: El Mirador, 1601 E. Yakima Ave., and Clarion Hotel, 1507 N. First St.
■ When: Today, 6 p.m. for dinner and conversation at El Mirador, 9 p.m. for karaoke at the Clarion
■ Information: www.yakimatalls.blogspot.com