A heart for service: Verlene Beard’s many works earn Silverton’s Lifetime Achievement award

By Kristine Thomas

Verlene Beard is quite certain her friends and family “don’t have a clue” what she does on a given day.

They just know she’s always busy and if they want to reach her to not to call her home phone, because she won’t be there.

“They know to call my cell phone first,” she said, laughing. “It’s hard to keep up with me. I don’t like to sit around. I have to be doing something.”

For her countless volunteer hours, Beard will receive Silverton’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Silverton First Citizen Banquet on Saturday, Feb. 9 at The Oregon Garden.

“I was in shock when I received the award,” Beard said. “I thought ‘Oh, no. This is not happening and maybe it means I should say no to volunteering more often.’ ”

A gregarious woman with a keen sense of humor, Beard volunteers on several community projects and groups, specifically Silverton Health Auxiliary, Miller Cemetery and the First Christian Church.

At Silverton Health Auxiliary, she has served in numerous roles including president, manager of the gift shop and now assistant to the manager. She is a dispatcher for the CareVan and volunteers at Silverton Health with the annual fun run and other tasks.

For 43 years, she has been a board member of the Miller Cemetery and for 30 years, she has volunteered at First Christian Church, currently as the treasurer.

A 1957 Silverton High graduate, Beard’s sons are Mark and Bryan.  Mark and his wife Betty have two daughters, Danika, 24, and Kylee, 21. Bryan is on this third tour of duty in Kuwait and is stationed in Virginia.

Volunteering is part a community tradition and part a family tradition, she said.

Her mother, Verniece Meisenheimer, was a member of the Silverton Hospital Auxiliary.

Auxiliary members raise money to buy equipment for the hospital. They sew anatomy dolls for children who are having surgery. They plan and host fundraisers. They greet visitors and patients at the hospital, manage the gift shop and espresso bar, and award scholarships to students pursuing medical careers.

Verniece Meisenheimer now resides at the Davenport House, where Verlene is a regular visitor and helper.

“Verlene knows everyone there,” wrote Jane Jones, who nominated Beard for the recognition.

Jones said Beard “helps out everywhere, doing whatever she can.”

“Verlene is a virtually happy person, always with a smile on her face,” Jones said. “I think that she deserves the award because of her longevity of all of her volunteer work.”

After retiring from Roth’s where she worked for 32 years, Beard said she started volunteering because “you can only go out to lunch with friends so many times.”

Beard she said she blames her good friend Judy Schmidt for convincing her to volunteer with with the hospital auxiliary.

The director of volunteer services at Silverton Health, Schmidt said it’s easy to see why Beard received the Lifetime Achievement award.

“She has been committed to Silverton through volunteerism and community support for many, many years,” Schmidt said.

“Verlene is a remarkable woman who is kind, generous and caring. She doesn’t give of her time or energy for recognition or accolades but because she has a heart for service,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt has worked with Beard on many volunteer committees.

“Verlene is reliable, efficient and fun to work with.  Not only is Verlene a exceptional volunteer, but she is a true friend to so many,” Schmidt said.  “Verlene is a wonderful role model and I feel blessed to have her as a dear friend.”

A gracious woman, Beard has many friends who appreciate her kindness and her willingness to lend a hand. Often times, her friends shared, she doesn’t need to be asked, instead just offers to help.

Darby Hector, a teacher at Mark Twain Middle School, feels fortunate to call Beard a friend.

“Verlene Beard is an incredible woman. She goes above and beyond in any project that she takes on,” Hector said. “I believe she is motivated by her vision of volunteerism, seeing what needs to be done in a thoughtful and efficient manner.”

Many who have worked with Beard noted her honest and giving manner, plus her great sense of humor.

“You will not find a more dedicated person, either as a friend or a collaborator,” Hector said.

To understand how Beard often puts others first and believes in the importance of lending a hand, Cordie Brown shared a story of how Beard “loved to water ski and was really good at it.”

“Whenever someone wanted to learn how to water ski, Verlene would be out in the lake helping the person. She could have been out water skiing but she would patiently stay in the water until the young person got up on skis.”

“I think if you were to measure a person’s faith by the deeds they do, Verlene is a good example of someone who is never too busy to help anyone,” Brown said.

What all her friends shared was Beard’s a way of making any task fun.

A modest woman who would rather be doing a thousand different things than talking about herself, Beard says giving back to her community is her way of saying thank you for all the community has given her throughout the years. She’s grateful for the many friends she has met by volunteering.

“Volunteering keeps me going,” she said. “It gives me a good attitude and if someone is down, I can give them a smile, do something and hopefully brighten their day.”