Alex Paul
Peggy Arnold has led a charmed life.
Wife, mother and a volunteer who has given of herself for the past 22 years.
Thursday, Arnold was honored as the Sweet Home Volunteer of the Year by the Linn-Benton Retired Senior Volunteer Program.
A Sweet Home native, Arnold said it was her good friend, Virginia Blankenship, who gave her the incentive to try volunteering in 1982.
“She was volunteering and said I should try it,” Mrs. Arnold said. “It stuck. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Mrs. Arnold focuses her giving on the Gleaners, where for many years she spent time picking crops for others.
“As I got older, I moved inside and I work with clothing,” she said. “I mark and sort clothing.”
She gives five to six hours per day five days per week.
“I love it,” Mrs. Arnold said of her work. “I get to be with friends, it gets me out of the house and we save money on clothing because we can buy specials.”
Mrs. Arnold says she also enjoys sharing a meal each day with other volunteers.
A 1944 graduate of SHUHS, Mrs. Arnold (Reed), moved with her family later that summer to Turlock, Calif. where they worked in a bomb plant to aid the war effort.
“I inspected fuses,” she said with pride.
She met her future husband, Sheridan, through his sister, who told her, “I have a brother I want you to meet.” He was in the Army at the time.
They married in 1946, moved back to Sweet Home and raised their family, a son Roger and a daughter Sandy (Spence). The family now includes two granddaughters and five great grandchildren.
The Arnolds attend the Church of Christ on Hwy. 20 and Mr. Arnold is a retired pastor.
Mrs. Arnold enjoys sewing and cooking.
How long does she plan to keep up her unpaid work schedule.
“As long as I can, I have no idea,” she said. “Maybe until someone tells me I’d better quit.”
In addition to Mrs. Arnold, Beth Fox, director of the LB RSVP program presented special awards from the President’s Council on Civic Participation and Service Awards to Ruby Geil, Martha River, Lois Gray, Lois Carr, Gina Mahler, Jacob Greenaway, Jack Knudson, Grace Sellers, Gladys Smith, Eleanor Phillips, Lori Kuhns and Virginia McNeer.