The atmosphere was jaunty last Wednesday, July 19 when St. Andrews Auxiliary members met seaside and filled the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club to honor their own. Buoyed by a break from fog and rain, many Auxilians wore nautical attire and enjoyed the light breeze that drifted in from the mooring field. The annual recognition luncheon has become a summer highlight to celebrate multiple areas of volunteerism within the Auxiliary. Some members serve with patients’ activities at St. Andrews Village or act as volunteer greeters at St. Andrews Campus –site of the original St. Andrews Hospital. Other members staff the all-volunteer St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop which provides bargains for customers and revenues for much of the organization’s donations toward healthcare scholarships and services to the local medical community.

Opening the program with a bit of Auxiliary history, president Laura Zajdel noted an early Auxiliary-Yacht Club connection.“Fifty years ago, Edna Buzzell was the Auxiliary president when the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club held a fashion show with Thrift Shop fashions and Auxiliary participation. The Yacht Club then donated their proceeds to the Auxiliary for a blood warmer needed for the hospital. After all this time, we’re still doing this same kind of thing,” she concluded.Turning to present day volunteers, Zajdel said, “You donate the most valuable thing of all . . . and that’s not monetary. You donate your time. . . your creativity .. . your ideas . . . your imagination. You are the real donors. You do important work and you are absolutely .... invaluable.”Several areas of recent Auxiliary progress were outlined:

•$5,000 to Boothbay Region Ambulance Service which received matching funds for a new emergency vehicle

•$10,000 in support of the LincolnHealth MRI Project at the Miles Campus

•$24,000 in medical related scholarships for seven students and the Tufts Program bringing doctors to Maine.Two interns currently.

Zajdel credited a growing membership, dedicated volunteers, social media presence, credit card use and expansion into a larger shop space as key factors in the continued success of St. Andrews Auxiliary.

Auxiliary Board Members Linda Clapp, Sue Hochstein and Judy Boyes presented bouquets to seven of 15 new members present and awarded an Honorary Membership to Auxiliary Treasurer, Paula Endicott. Among the special guests at the luncheon were Cheryl Wusterbarth, director of St. Andrews Village, Reven Oliver, the new director of development for LincolnHealth and Pastor Al Roberts. Pastor Al is a LincolnHealth volunteer who has conducted religious services at the Village and at churches across the peninsula.

Pastor Al offered the following inspiration on volunteerism during his invocation to the Auxiliary: It’s not medals won with pride, it’s for that feeling deep inside. It’s that reward down in your heart. It’s that feeling that you’ve been a part of helping others far and near that makes you a volunteer! – Anonymous

LincolnHealth President & CEO, Cindy Wade thanked the Auxiliary membership for their active volunteerism and support. She shared good incite into the thoughtful care given to end-of-life patients by LincolnHealth and introduced featured speaker, Dr. Robert Hunold, DO.

Beginning his medical career at St. Andrews Hospital years ago, Dr. Hunold has finally returned to Boothbay from Damariscotta, where he established his practice as a certified physician in family medicine, palliative and hospice care medicine. Dr. Hunold is currently accepting patients at the Boothbay Family Care Center on the St. Andrews Campus. The doctor kept the Auxiliary laughing and informed with his stories ranging from his military days as a pilot to bringing his family to Midcoast Maine to sharing his convictions about treating end of life patients.

Receiving 2023 special recognition for outstanding service to the Auxiliary were: Paula Endicott, treasurer, St. Andrews Auxiliary; Linda Clapp, Social Committee chair; Mary Pierce, St.Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop Cashier Coordinator

Receiving “Step it Up”awards for extra effort this year were: Gloria Wakefield, St.Andrews Auxiliary vice president and Publicity chair; Kevin Bowler, recording secretary, St. Andrews Auxiliary Mission Statement Banner Project; Patty Colhoun and her therapy dog, Daphne, St.Andrews Village; Sue Hochstein, Membership chair; Judy Boyes, Service Records chair; Carol Atwood Lyon, St.Andrews Village contact person and Thrift Shop fabrics assistant, Social Com.

The Auxiliary is grateful to Deb Moorefield for filming our annual luncheon program courtesy Boothbay Region TV. St. Andrews Auxiliary is the 2022 recipient of the Governor’s Service Award – Outstanding Volunteer Program.

For more information on the Auxiliary, visit our Volunteer Corner at the St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop. View our programs and interview videos on You Tube –St.Andrews Auxiliary or Facebook –St.Andrews Auxiliary –Thrift Shop