To the Grand Coulee Dam Area Seniors:

Thank you, Maggie Stewart, for dreaming up the idea “Most Valuable Volunteer” as a way to get things going at the Senior Center. Thank you to all those members who nominated me as the first recipient of the honor and elected me 2014’s volunteer. Your comments on the ballots were humbling and I appreciate each and every one of you, no matter who your nominee was. Thank you.

As I said at the dinner, the Seniors who eat meals at the Center and come in for the many activities that take place there are the valuable ones. Without them, there would be no need to have a Senior Center. There are also many “unsung heroes” whose behind-the-scenes actions are never witnessed by those who might not be aware of all it takes to make a place like the Senior Center work. Thank you to all of you. I truly enjoy everything I am able to help with at the Center and love to be around all of you wonderful people, including our new president, Birdie Hensley, who is doing a great job organizing and getting 2015 off to a great start.

Paid staff at the Center deserve a great deal of credit, too, for the successful operation of the meals program. Thanks to Darla, Chay, Becky and Tori for all they do above and beyond their regular duties to make us feel so special. I’ve heard the comment from some that these are the best meals we’ve ever had. Thank you.

Thank you, also, to The Star for the nice article. I will make one correction. I volunteered for the draft right after earning my bachelor’s degree and didn’t start teaching until I had served in the U.S. Army. Once I started working in education, I kept at it until I retired.

Felix Marcolin