CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE June 13, 2018
On Wednesday, the ladies of the Radford Hospital Auxilary celebrated a momentous landmark at the Shawville Community Lodge as this year marked the group’s 70th anniversary.
The celebrations featured food and desserts, along with live music by local strummer Maynard Tanner. Members past and present could even view the minutes from the group’s first meeting from the original notebook on display at the front of the room.
Auxiliary President Dorothy Wilson said that the group typically meets up once a month and was formed to help out the local hospital in any way they could, from repairing sheets to making blankets and hosting fundraisers.
“The money goes towards beds, poles, lots of things,” she said. “Anything for patient care.”

Vice president Joyce Hodgins explained that when the Radford branch was started on June 16, 1948, they were one of seven Auxiliaries in the area. Only three of the groups are still active.
In fact, Wilson was the president of the Thorne Auxiliary while it was around.
“I bribed her to join Radford,” Hodgins joked.
Hodgins added that prior to joining the Auxiliary, she had worked as the director of patient care at the hospital and had helped coordinate the efforts from the other end. She began keeping detailed records of all the Auxiliaries’ efforts in 1998 and said that since then, all seven groups have raised a cumulative total of over $1 million for equipment at the hospital.
To make the day even more momentous, Bertha Mee, one of the original 22 founding members, was able to be in attendance. Surrounded by the younger cohort of the Auxiliary, Mee, who will turn 101 in August, talked about why she joined the group.
“It was about helping out,” she said. “They needed repair work done at the hospital and every little bit counts.”