Volunteers donate 26 years

  • News Observer photo The Pink Ladies at Blue Ridge Medical Center were honored last week for a combined 26 years of volunteer service at the hospital. In front of Blue Ridge Medical Center before the Hospital Authority’s quarterly meeting are, from left, front, Shirley Copeland, Pat Quinn, Barbara Cheatham, Laura Haight, and Wanda Patterson; and, back, Louiza Whittaker, Maureen Dalziel, Jean Bonnewitz, Rita Oberle, Carole Thomas, Becky Guthrie, Joyce Mitchell, and Susan Kiker.
    News Observer photo The Pink Ladies at Blue Ridge Medical Center were honored last week for a combined 26 years of volunteer service at the hospital. In front of Blue Ridge Medical Center before the Hospital Authority’s quarterly meeting are, from left, front, Shirley Copeland, Pat Quinn, Barbara Cheatham, Laura Haight, and Wanda Patterson; and, back, Louiza Whittaker, Maureen Dalziel, Jean Bonnewitz, Rita Oberle, Carole Thomas, Becky Guthrie, Joyce Mitchell, and Susan Kiker.

    Twelve Pink Ladies at Blue Ridge Medical Center were honored for a combined 54,274 hours of volunteer service at their quarterly meeting last week.

    That’s more than 1,357 weeks, 26 years, of work these dedicated volunteers have donated to the hospital, which was formerly known as Fannin Regional Hospital.

    Wanda Patterson, who was among the first of the Pink Ladies in 1977, has set the bar high for her fellow members of the organization officially known as the Hospital Auxiliary.

    Patterson was recognized for 17,580 hours of accumulated service; 440 weeks, more than eight-and-a-half years.

    But her shining example in no way diminishes other volunteer efforts as these ladies work together as a team, each having specific tasks as well as similar duties.

    Other Pink Ladies recognized at the quarterly meeting March 31 and their hours of service were:

    •Jean Bonnewitz, 6,352;

    •Barbara Cheatham, 3,652;

    •Shirley Copeland, 7, 338;

    •Maureen Dalziel, 36;

    •Becky Gutherie, 6,714 as she follows in the footsteps of her mother, Sarah Lanning;

    •Laura Haight, 3,368;

    •Joyce Mitchell, 4,822;

    •Rita Oberle, 1,081;

    •Pat Quinn, 926;

    •Carole Thomas, 805; and,

    •Louiza Whittaker, 1,600.