Audio-Reader Recognizes Volunteer Milestones
Lawrence - Audio-Reader Celebrates 50 Years, Recognizes Volunteer Milestones
Audio-Reader volunteers and staff gathered last month to celebrate 50 years of service and the volunteers who make the program possible. Volunteers reaching milestone years of service were recognized during the event.
Listener, Dr. Kimberly Morrow, spoke to the group of honorees and thanked them for their service.
“Pillars are the center of everything. If the pillars fall down, the structure will fall down. Audio-Reader volunteers are the pillars of this vital service,” Morrow said. “There are so many people who depend on you to feel more a part of the world. You give so much to us listeners and you make a difference.”
Morrow, a listener and volunteer herself, who was also recognized that evening for her service, listens to Audio-Reader every day and stays up to date with news and information through the skill on her home smart speaker.
Dan Skinner, Director of Audio-Reader, also spoke about the importance of Audio-Reader volunteers.
“This pandemic has emphasized just how essential and pertinent our service is. Our volunteers made sure our listeners had the news, information and connection to their communities they needed during this critical and isolating time. Our volunteers have been doing this for a half century and because of them, Audio-Reader will continue to serve our community for decades to come.”
128 volunteers received awards for years of service ranging from five to 40. The honorees included a special recognition of Eleanor Symons, Audio-Reader’s very first volunteer, who passed away one month before her 50th year of service.
Those honored for their years of service:
40 years: Darcy Schild (pictured) and Harold Asner (not pictured)
35 years: Gayle Matchett (pictured with Coordinator of Volunteers, Alison Beloin-Dean) and Karen O’Keefe (not pictured)
30 years: Elaine Roberts, Randy Austin, Kimberly Morrow and Carol Jones (pictured) and Lois Hanzlik, Albert Kaine, Kerry Magee, Max Mayse, Sue Nishikawa, and Kris Shields
25 years: Rex Buchanan, Les Carlson and Austin Turney (pictured) and Pat Ashley-Hiscock, Gavin Bruce, Frank Marque, Peg Sampson, Eleanor Wenger, and Marian Wilbur (not pictured)
20 years: Jane Tedder, Lisa Hallberg, Kathy Sanders and Cindy Penzler (pictured) and Ann Chapman, Marilyn Daniels, Cindy Koester, Jo Ann Kready, Molly Mulloy, Mary Ann Saunders (not pictured)
15 years: Merilee Dymacek and Ron Scoles (pictured) and Terry Betzen, Ann Dean, Dave Dunford, Marilyn Epp, Thomas Howe, Cal Karlin, David Kent, Debra Kirmer, Mike Lewis, Fred Miller, George Norton, Betsy Parker, Keith Sevedge, Haskell Springer, Susan Stone – posthumous (not pictured)
10 years: Karen DeVictor, Mark Hutchins, Kelly F. Loeb, Pam Baughman, Anne Burgess (pictured) and Karen Boyer, Elwyn Davis, Karen Davis, Jennifer Forth, Goodwin Garfield-posthumous, Michael Hauber, Ruth Hughes, Barbara Johnston, Peter Knutson, Amanda Loughlin, Frank Male, Judy McCormick, Susan McGee, James Powers, Lenita Richardson, Christopher Riels, Bob Roberts, Shin Sookyung, Matt Suggs, Julie Trowbridge-Alford, Jack Wilson and Mike Wood (not pictured)
5 years: Jim Huber, Tom & Melinda Kearney, Roberta Renz, William Hawkins, Lisa Beck, Lisa Coble-Krings, Kathy Blackburn, Linda Thompson, Ann Evans, Charles Higginson, George Smith, Tracy Harrison, Arthur Hadley, Dennis Frame (pictured) and Christy Allie, John Bowden, Diane Carnell, Carole Cole, Michael Cornelius, Susan Craig, John Davis, Sallie Downing, Brandon Edling, Lyn Fields, Stephen Grimm, Mary Hamler, Jay Hester, Mary Jo Hobbs, Bud Jacobs, Nancy Johnson, Rob Johnson, Mary Beth Leininger, Feloniz Lovato-Winston, Judy McCormick, Teri McKinnis, Wake Mitchell, Maverick Moore, Paul Murphy, Amy Pesek, Peggy Prince, Karen Puckett, Anrenee Reasor, Kay Rute, Sarah Thomas, Annette Tucker, Jeff Vincent, Mary Lee Warner, Rick Werner, Julie Whistman, David Williams, and Paula Winchester (not pictured)
The Audio-Reader Network, a public service of the University of Kansas, is a dew reading and information service that fosters independence by providing access to information and the arts for people who have difficulty reading standard print due to vision loss, physical or learning disability, mobility challenges, and age. More information available at https://reader.ku.edu or by calling (800) 772-8898.