Photos From Volunteer Recognition 2003
Photo #1 From left to right, volunteers; R.L. Hagwood, Lorene Hagwood, and Clark Card talking before dinner.
Photo #2 Miles & Letha Costin of the Transzenders a combo group that provided entertainment
Photo #3 A view of the assembled crowd spanning the ballroom
Photo #4 Frank J. Pettinelli (A.R.R.O.W. author) and Shawn Lemieux (Volunteer Coordinator)
Photo #5 Gary Ray, Volunteer Director, standing between the podium and the dining tables getting ready to introduce the Volunteer of the Year.
Photo #6 Charles Yarger (Volunteer of the Year) and Gary Ray Volunteer Director.
Photo #7 Sandy DeLuca, Friends President, behind the podium.
Another Winning Season
By Linda Ray
Add another success to the line-up of Volunteer Recognitions at the North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NCLBPH). The October 22 event was so good, that folks continue to ask, “Does it get any better?” It was another smash hit out of the park!
This year’s big show was held at the Crabtree Valley Marriott with the theme - “Volunteers Cover All the Bases”. Hitting a homerun was David Olson, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, who served as the emcee of the awards portion of the event. Red, white, and blue corsages adorned the 100 volunteers and guests who attended the celebration. The food was excellent and the crowd could have been at the World Series the way they responded to this year’s entertainment by the Transzenders, a dynamic musical duo from Raleigh. Their rendition of “Put A Little Love in Your Heart” had everyone up and singing along.
The most important part of the annual celebration is always the awards presented by staff members from the library and representatives from various related agencies. During the year July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003, 109 volunteers contributed a total of 6,525 hours which accounts for almost 10 % of the labor used at the library. Library volunteers produced 2 tape books, 4 Braille books, 44 magazine issues, 22 newsletters, 32 special requests and 8 catalogs. This shows how devoted our volunteers are. Their contributions are even more crucial given the financial and personnel constraints that the NCLBPH has experienced in the past several years.
While each of the volunteers provides a special touch to our services, there are those who seem to reach for records. This year, the Governor’s Office lauds were delivered by Suzanne Deobald, the AmeriCorps/Disability Program Officer from the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, who presented the Governor’s Awards to Ingrid Kops for 1,192 volunteer hours. Honors from the Library of Congress were delivered by Miriam Pace, former Chief of the Network Division of the National Library Service, to Jack Stein for 1,344 volunteer hours, and to Charles Yager, who has volunteered 1,540 hours.
The library’s own little base runner, Shawn Lemieux, presented the Authors Reading and Recording Original Works (A.R.R.O.W.) Award to Frank J. Pettinelli for “A Far Away Sun”. Shawn also handed out a unique award for the naming of a painting hanging in the library lobby. The untitled painting was done by Frances Katz, spouse of one of our volunteers. The winner of the contest was Caroline Walters from the North Carolina Library Association, who named the painting “Rain Forest”.
The event culminated in the Volunteer of the Year Award, presented by Gary Ray, the NCLBPH Director of Volunteer Services. Each year this award goes to a volunteer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty during the last year. This year’s very deserving recipient was Charles (Chuck) Yager. Over the course of his time at NCLBPH, Chuck has put in 1,540 volunteer hours. This year was even more special than most as Chuck faithfully volunteered while experiencing some events in his life that would have caused others to set aside their volunteer time. “I want to be like Chuck when I grow up,” quipped Gary Ray.
2002-2003 VOLUNTEER AWARDS
NCLBPH – 25, 50, 75 HOURS
25 HOURS
Duffy, Tracy (30 hrs)
Feltman, Pat (32 hrs)
Kahn, Elizabeth (46 hrs)
Lithgo, Sue (25 hrs)
Pettinelli, Frank (25 hrs)
Catania, Liane (30 hrs)
50 HOURS
Moran, Skye L. (54 hrs)
Orlovsky, Marilyn (56 hrs)
Mc Cormick, Tina (50 hrs)
75 HOURS
Dorman, George (88 hrs)
Ragan, Gloria (75 hrs)
NCLBPH – 100, 150 HOURS
100 HOURS
Shevlin, Linda L. (126 hrs)
Wright, Sally (146 hrs)
Seitz, Les (103.5 hrs)
150 HOURS
Richmond, Christopher (180 hrs)
Bollendorf, Ashlea (150 hrs)
CULTURAL RESOURCES 200, 350 HOURS
200 HOURS
Didsbury, Robert (258 hrs)
Radford, Allen (271.5)
Richmond, Christopher (215 hrs)
350 HOURS
Hudson, Claude (410 hrs)
GOVERNOR’S AWARDS 500, 1000, 1250 HOURS
500 HOURS
Betancourt, Manuel (585 hrs)
Henry, Carl T. (535 hrs)
Lininger, Harold F. (574 hrs)
Mitchell, Mildred (645 hrs)
Noyes, Stephanie (687 hrs)
Smith, Grace (516 hrs)
1000 HOURS
Simmons, Johnna (1000 hrs)
1250 HOURS
Kops, Ingrid (1291 hrs)
Stein, John A. (1334 hrs)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1500 HOURS
1500 HOURS
Yarger, Charles (1526 hrs)
ARROW AUTHOR AWARD
Frank Pettinelli
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Yarger, Charles