Lighting the way

	Jean Goodnight and Sue Fiedler

As the winter season draws near and the days begin to shorten, two women begin their preparations to bring light and joy to our community by honoring the living and memorializing those who have passed before us.

Every year at this time, an illuminated, forty-foot evergreen stands in front of Washington County Hospital casting a warm glow on all who walk by it. Each light, angel, and dove adorning the tree is donated by people in the community who wish to honor the lives of their friends and loved ones.

In its twenty-fifth year, the Tree of Lights campaign now provides people with a meaningful way to honor or memorialize loved ones and special friends. Contributors purchase one or more lights, an angel or a dove for an individual or group. Each dedication is recognized on the Scroll of Honor which is displayed in the hospital’s main lobby.

Washington County Hospital’s Auxiliary, who organizes the campaign, helps decide which important new hospital service, technology, or educational program will be funded by the donations. In past campaigns, the Tree of Lights has raised money for the hospital’s Special Care Nursery, pediatric rehabilitation, and community college healthcare scholarships.

The golden girls
The women who have been leading the Tree of Light campaign for the past eleven years are Jean Goodnight and Sue Fiedler. The duo’s charisma and witty one-liners are straight out of a Golden Girls episode. But Jean and Sue's dedication to the Tree of Lights annual campaign is nothing but serious business. For a decade, the two Auxilians have reviewed capital equipment wish lists, and agonized over worthy scholarship and new hospital programs. They have tirelessly stuffed envelopes, printed labels, collected checks and booked bands.

“The Tree of Lights has been Jean Goodnight and Sue Fiedler,” said President and CEO James Hamill. He should know. Mr. Hamill has participated in the Tree of Lights ceremony for as long as Jean and Sue have organized the event. “They are the drivers behind its huge success,” he added. Mitch Towe, director of volunteer services, couldn’t agree more. “Without them there would not be a Tree of Lights—they are so dedicated to it.”

When they are not raising money through the Tree of Lights, Jean manages the Auxiliary’s front office and volunteers in the emergency department two days a week. Sue, a former Auxiliary president, works in the coffee shop four hours a week and serves as the parliamentarian for the board of directors. Sue has volunteered at Washington County Hospital since 1977. Jean and her husband started out as hospital messengers in 1988. Before joining the Auxiliary, the couple volunteered as math and grammar teachers.

Every year Jean and Sue mail thousands of donation letters and handle thousands of dollars. And every year they are amazed at how small contributions help achieve their annual Tree of Lights goal. “This campaign appeals to so many people,” says Jean. “It’s a time to honor family members and friends,” continues Jean. “We touch a lot of people—it’s really a tender thing.” Mr. Hamill acknowledges that the campaign generates money for worthy causes, but also sees recognizing loved as the heart of the campaign.

After the tree is lit and the brass quintet plays its final number, the dynamic duo will have logged in several hundred hours between August and December. “It’s a continual process of keeping up and keeping track!” comments Sue. One year, Jean drove to every dollar store in town looking for replacement doves and angels for the tree. How did they get so good at this? “We don’t know any better and we won’t take no for an answer,” says Jean. They get assistance from their fellow volunteers and from every available hand they can find!

Handing over the torch
Although the two have been poetry in motion for the last eleven years, they know it is time to hand over the torch to the next chair and co-chair of the Tree of Lights. Jean and Sue realize it might not be so easy to break up this team. “We’ve been so close throughout this campaign,” says Jean. But Sue needs to visit her grandchildren more often, work on her golf game, and perhaps take a bus trip to New York. Jean needs to whip up a dozen baby stockings for the hospital’s Christmas baby arrivals, and devote more energy to teaching ballroom dancing with her husband (after all, they are sought-after instructors). The “golden years” are defined as the advanced years in life, or retirement from active work. For these two golden girls, inactivity is the farthest thing from their minds.

Making a donation
For 2009, the Tree of Lights campaign will raise money to benefit the critical care patients at Washington County Hospital. Donations will provide state-of-the-art equipment to help physicians easily pinpoint veins for IV access in very sick patients. Most patients in the critical care units need to have multiple IV linesfor their many medications. Sometimes, physicians insert one large IV line into a large vein in the neck. The large IV line, known as a central line, has three access ports for different medications and for IV fluids to be administered at one time. A physician uses anatomical landmarks for location of the vein, and finding the vein can be difficult.

Your donation will help to purchase the SiteRite Ultrasound Machine. It is a portable ultrasound imaging system designed to aid vein location in the neck. Compared to the use of anatomical landmarks, the SiteRite is easier to use and gives good quality images, increases the speed of vein access, decreases the number of attempts to locate the vein, and thus reduces the failure rate. These features of the SiteRite Ultrasound Machine will provide for increased patient safety.

There are five Tree of Lights giving opportunities.

A gift of $500 will place a light in the Circle of Lights at the top of the tree.

A gift of $100 will provide a Life Light to be lit annually.

A gift of $50 purchases one angel for the tree.

A gift of $25 purchases one dove for the tree.

A gift of $10 purchases one light for the tree.

Each person you honor will be listed on the Scroll of Honor in the hospital's main lobby. You can also choose to have your honorees informed of your thoughtful acknowledgement.

Donations, which are tax deductible, will be accepted through December 31, 2009.

Washington County Hospital Auxiliary Inc. reserves the right to review and approve all messages on the donor plaques for the Tree of Lights campaign.

Tree lighting ceremony
Please join us for the lighting of the tree, followed by a reception.

Sunday, December 6, 2009
5:00 pm
Washington County Hospital
Main Lobby

We hope to see you there!