Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Making Merry in Tyne Valley

Each year the Stewart Memorial Hospital Auxiliary combine their December meeting with a sing-a-long with the hospital's residents and patients.  We held the 2012 version on December 17 and had a great time singing and visiting with the residents.  Everyone enjoyed sandwiches and sweets and a beautiful cranberry punch provided by our members.  It's a great way to end the year!



Another great way to end the year is with the results of our 2012 Christmas Tea.  We raised over $3,500 this year, which we believe is a record for this event!  Thanks again to our volunteer servers and those who prepared food and donated items to sell.  Special thanks to Inge Rittweiler for our raffle wall hanging, Prestige Florist for the door prize floral centerpiece and Shelly Campbell for her decorating magic!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Life Members


Marilyn Ramsay (left) and Kit Loschiuk

Stewart Memorial Hospital Auxiliary recently honoured Marilyn Ramsay and Kit Loschiuk with life memberships in the Prince Edward Island Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries.  Marilyn joined the SMH Auxiliary in 1975 and Kit in 1994, so they have 55 years of auxiliary volunteer experience between them.

Marilyn Ramsay and Kit Loschiuk with PEIAHA President Norma Getson

Both ladies served in executive positions on the SMH Auxiliary and are enthusiastic supporters of all our fundraising activities.  They were also very involved in the two Canadian Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries national conferences that were held in Charlottetown in 2001 and 2009.  Congratulations to these two great women!


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PEIAHA Life Membership Nominations

KIT LOSCHIUK

Kit Loschiuk has put the “fun” in fundraising for the Stewart Memorial Hospital Auxiliary since she joined in 1994. Her enthusiasm and great sense of humour have made her special not only to her home auxiliary, but also to auxilians across PEI.
From 2002-04, Kit served as President of the SMHA and she did so much for our Auxiliary and our hospital.
She has knit dozens of baby sweaters, hats, mittens and baby booties for our gift cupboard; baked and cooked for our special events; sold tickets on every raffle we have had; decorated, planned and entertained.
In 2001, when PEI hosted the Canadian Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries convention, Kit took a very active part in the planning due to her artistic abilities.  She made three Island tartan-covered boxes to hold tickets for the three raffle items secured by our Auxiliary, and topped them with a miniature quilt, rug and picture, which were the items being raffled.  She made lots friends at this convention and maintains close ties with many of them today.
Kit was also on the organizing committee for the 2009 CAHA conference, again held in Charlottetown.  She has attended nearly all of the semi-annual and annual Prince Edward Island Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries meetings and has been to at least nine CAHA conventions.
Kit is a member of the SMH Foundation, has been a member of the Freeland Women’s Institute for over 20 years and sings in the Tyne Valley Community Choir. Kit also sings with her two sisters, Jean and Priscilla, at ceilidhs and concerts across West Prince, including at SMH, and all her volunteering is done with a smile or a joke.  Kit, Jean and Priscilla were jointly named as the WI Members of The Year at the 2010 Tyne Valley Oyster Festival.
She is hardworking and dependable, creative and dedicated, so it is with great pleasure that we award a PEIAHA Life Membership to Kit Loschiuk.


MARILYN RAMSAY

Marilyn Ramsay joined the Stewart Memorial Hospital Auxiliary in November 1975 and has been a very active, involved, hardworking and dedicated auxilian.
She served two terms as SMHA secretary (1977-79 and 1994-96) and one term as SMHA treasurer (2008-10).  She also served as the Prince Edward Island Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries treasurer from 2003-05.  All of these positions take a tremendous amount of time and she carried out all these four executive roles while also working and raising her family. 
Marilyn prepares food for and actively participates in all Auxiliary events and fundraisers.  Her ideas and skills always make our meetings and events successful, and she is a whiz at selling tickets.  She is willing to tackle any project, always leading the way and anxious to help.
Marilyn goes to as many PEIAHA meetings as possible and has been to nine Canadian Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries conventions, always making friends wherever she goes.
In 2011, Marilyn invited her granddaughter, Olivia, to become our first official junior member, and she is just like her grandma: happy, enthusiastic, full of energy and always willing to help.
Marilyn has held all executive positions in the Poplar Grove-MacNeill’s Mills Women’s Institute, has been a steward of the Bideford-Conway United Church and is now an elder.  She has been a CGIT leader and is involved with the Ellerslie Elementary School breakfast program.
Not only is Marilyn a wife, mother and grandmother, she also works fulltime at a very demanding job.
It is with great pleasure that we award a PEIAHA Life Membership to a special lady with a positive outlook, a very dedicated and deserving auxilian, Marilyn Ramsay.