The Library held a volunteer appreciation tea on Tuesday and with her friends and family members around her, Pat Morrison Frederick smiled as she accepted recognition from volunteers and staff from the Strathmore Municipal Library on Tuesday.

At the event, Frederick was recognized for some of her contributions to the library and also the community in general.

Library Director Rachel Dick Hughes spoke of the impact that volunteers have on the local library.

She explained that last year volunteers worked over 1100 hours and already this year there are over 400 volunteer hours.

“What you do to make it easier for us to serve the community really has a huge impact,” she said.

She spoke of how volunteers create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for visitors to the Lambert Centre.

Lea Jensen and Ilke Schwartz spoke of how Frederick impacted the Strathmore/Wheatland community.

Frederick grew up in Antigonish, Nova Scotia where her father was a local dentist. She studied nursing in Toronto at St. Michael and later at St. Francis Xavier University. She moved west in 1953 and was married to Bill in 1955.

They farmed in the Nightingale area for many years and they had five children. Frederick began working as a Public Health Nurse in Wheatland County in 1965 and worked in the role for 25 years.

At the time she was the only Public Health nurse in the community until 1972 when she was joined by Marion Brown. During that time there was no hospital in Strathmore and only one doctor in the county.

She also volunteered with an ambulance service that was set up in the Strathmore region in the 1970s. After her retirement, she began to volunteer with the library, in addition to volunteering at the Public Health Unit, and the Hospital Auxiliary.

Frederick said, “I don’t think I deserve all of these accolades. I think this is a wonderful remembrance that I will treasure every time I come in I will look at it,” she said of a gifted art piece that will be placed on the library’s donor wall.

“I am amazed at the number of people that are here and that I recognize and remember from years back.”

She thanked all of the volunteers and the staff for the recognition. “I will never forget you,” she said.

 

 

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