Driven by the dotted line

WHEN did the coupon clipping club start?

Well, let’s see. Erma Bronn, 87, joined after she saw it listed in the Beverly Hills Community Services Department newsletter two years ago. So at least since then.

Nancy Perry, 83, the self-proclaimed “messiest” coupon clipper, has been coming to Room 101 at Roxbury Park every Monday morning for something like ... is it five years? Who can remember?

Time goes by quickly here. Most of the club members are widows in their 80s and 90s who bond over bargains and the satisfaction of helping others: While some of the coupons benefit family and friends, most of what they snip they ship off to SOVA, a Los Angeles kosher food pantry program.

One recent week, Perry stacked three identical sheets of coupons and snipped in her signature harried manner. She was a little annoyed because Miriam Norber, 84, didn’t leave any of the donated coupons in the office for clippers to take the week before.

“I was home all week with nothing to do,” Perry said.

Norber, 84, knew the feeling.

“I do an exercise class here,” Norber said, motioning to another classroom at the park. “I come here and then I play cards. After, when I come home to an empty apartment, that is the longest part of my day.”

Norber said the club has shipped hundreds of coupons to charities every week for at least nine years.

“We cut the coupons, and they use them to buy food for the poor,” Fern Pearl explained, adding, “Has it been nine years?”

“Yes,” Norber said, returning to her clipping.

“I think so.”

-- MAYRAV SAAR