Two sisters, Frances Taylor and Barbara Barner, have been named recipients of the 2005 Blanche W. Grady Community Service Award for their dedicated, selfless volunteer work as cooks with the Boys & Girls Club in Greeneville.

The two sisters were in the audience of about 130 people gathered Tuesday evening for an elegant, festive awards dinner at the General Morgan Inn.

The announcement that they were co-recipients of the Grady Award came near the end of the program.

In addition, the beloved Geneva Patton, who died Oct. 9, was recognized with a posthumous Honorary Blanche W. Grady Community Service Award for her varied humanitarian work that stretched over a period of almost four decades.

Patton’s daughter, Pat Pielich, and family members accepted the honorary award.

Scott M. Niswonger, the local business leader and philanthropist, and his mother, Sharon Niswonger, established the Grady Award nine years ago as a way to honor their longtime friend, Blanche Grady, who was in attendance Tuesday evening.

Grady is a retired schoolteacher who had 28 years of service with the Greene County School System.

After her retirement from teaching, Grady became a hospital volunteer at Laughlin Memorial Hospital, where she became a lead volunteer, logging more than 8,000 hours of service.

She was also a founding member of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation’s board of trustees.

The award was established with the Laughlin Health Care Foundation.

Niswonger prefaced his announcement of the winners by saying of them that “they pack a powerful punch.”

“They are gentle, kind, patient people we could all strive to be like,” he said.

Niswonger quoted British statesman Winston Churchill as saying, “We make a living by what we make. We make a life by what we give.”

In comments to The Greeneville Sun after they received their awards, the two soft-spoken women described their volunteer cooking activities at the local Boys & Girls Club.

Cooking For 60 Children

Barner, the younger of the two sisters, said the two women prepare and serve nutritious meals to an average of about 60 elementary-school children on a daily basis. She added that they cook both breakfast and lunch when the schools are out, but only prepare afternoon snacks when school is in session.

Barner said she has been preparing meals and simply talking with the children for two years. Before starting there, she said she worked 32 years at Greene Valley Developmental Center.

Taylor said she has been preparing meals for four years at the Boys & Girls Club, and prior to doing so worked for 28 years at Plus Mark Inc.

“Most of the kids say ‘Thank you,’” Taylor said. “They’re very appreciative kids.” Barner added, “Most of them always come back for seconds.”

The two women said they both were born and raised in Greeneville.

Tributes to Geneva Patton

Niswonger said of Patton, who died this fall at age 75, “She lived. She loved. She cared for others.

“Let us pause to reflect on our many fond memories of her years of dedicated service.”

Niswonger then read a lengthy personal and revealing portrait of Patton written by her daughter, Pielich, specifically for Tuesday’s occasion.

In the prepared statement, Pielich said her mother grew up thinking she was her “daddy’s girl,” but then he suddenly died of tuberculosis when Patton was only 14.

“My mother’s world crumbled, because he was the one who loved her most in the world.”

Patton married at the age of 17, gave birth to her daughter, Pat, and then to a son who was diagnosed with a severe heart condition at the tender age of six months.

“His future was uncertain, and throughout his 22 years,” Pielich recalled of her brother, “my parents knew that one day they would lose him.”

Pielich said, “All of this helped my mother to understand the pain of feeling unloved and rejected ... She wanted above all else to keep others from feeling that pain.”

She said that was what most motivated her mother to help the distraught and poor throughout much of her life.

Pielich and her husband, Greg, their daughter, Holli Wills, and their son-in-law, Scott Wills, accepted the honorary Grady Award on behalf of Patton.

Blanche Grady Praised

The theme for Tuesday’s event was “Volunteers are Joyous Blessings.”

Niswonger, master of ceremonies for the evening, said, “Tonight’s banquet celebrates volunteers, our joyous blessings, no matter what the season.”

Asking Grady to stand to receive recognition from the audience, he said, “Thank you for inspiring all of us.”

“Blanche Grady is a joyous blessing to all of us,” Niswonger said.

The Grady Award was established to recognize Grady’s volunteer efforts and others “who work quietly, and without a lot of recognition,” Niswonger said.

The Grady Award presents $5,000 to the annual winners for them to distribute to a health-care program or for health-care education of their choosing.

Niswonger said one of the Grady Award’s premier events is a free dental and visual clinic held annually in Greeneville for low-income people.

Laughlin Foundation

Betty Weemes, executive director of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, said the clinic has provided almost $150,000 in free care, such as eye exams and glasses, and primary dental care for adults 21 and over, in the past seven years.

The clinic works in cooperation with Remote Area Medical (RAM), a Knoxville-based organization that provides medical care to needy persons in rural areas.

The clinic also relies on the skill of local dental and eye-care professionals who volunteer their time for the event, and the Greene County Health Department that coordinates the clinic’s appointments and conducts screening of qualified individuals.

In addition to the annual visual and dental clinic, Niswonger said the Grady Award has supported numerous other community causes, such as a grief support program; healthy snacks and meals for youth at the Boys & Girls Club; support for medically at-risk children at Laughlin Hospital’s Infant-Toddler Program; financial support for cancer patients through Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries; and a health fair for local low-income seniors who volunteer with the Foster Grandparent Program.

Past recipients of the Grady Award include: Adelle Haynes (1997), Della Malone (1998), Terry Bellamy (1999), Tyre Culbertson (2000), Bruce St. Laurent (2001), Fannie Henderson (2002), Ann Huntsman (2003), and co-recipients Richard and Richie McKinney (2004).