Auxiliary’s Anita

Anita Hall’s not sure how long she’s been a member of the Jay County Hospital Auxiliary.

“I thought I was a charter member, but (the records) got lost,” she said.

One thing she knows for certain: She’s not going to stop volunteering.

“I’ll do this until I can’t get out of bed in the morning,” she said.

Monday mornings find her working the front information desk. Wednesday mornings find her working in the hospital gift shop.

“I think I would come over here every day,” said Hall.

In her role at the auxiliary, she’s one of 108 members, about 78 of whom are active volunteers. Together they put in about 1,300 hours of service in a typical month, working on a variety of assignments from the gift shop and front desk to the emergency room and the surgical waiting area.

“I like the information desk because I see more people,” said Hall.

She first joined the auxiliary in the era when the hospital was located on Arch Street on the west side of Portland. She’s been serving at the current facility since 1987.

“Volunteer work gives you the satisfaction of helping people,” Hall said.

Plus, she added, it beats sitting at home.

“What am I going to do?” she said. “If it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t see people.”

Now 85, she jokes that “all my friends are at Green Park.”

Many of those were also active volunteers in the hospital auxiliary.

Anita’s husband Joe Hall used to ask her why she volunteered, so she urged him to give it a try.

“He joined,” she recalled. “He enjoyed it clear up to the very end.” Joe Hall died nearly 10 years ago.

The couple had married Oct. 25, 1951, while he was on a furlough before shipping out with troops bound for the Korean War.

“He was supposed to be back in six months,” she said.

Instead, his tour of duty was extended to a year and a half.

“Time flies,” said Hall.

But the auxiliary has helped to fill a gap in her life.

She’s been president of the organization four times and is responsible for sending birthday cards to other auxiliary members every month.

As to when she first volunteered, that’s still a little cloudy.

But her auxiliary jumper from the old hospital is already part of the collection at Jay County Historical Museum.