Chris O'Connor
chris@thecatoctinbanner.com

There are people who possess an indefinable "something" that inspires them to give the gift of their time.

Chubbie Lillard and Edna Tressler are two such people — volunteers extraordinaire. They’ve delivered noonday meals to residents who are unable to prepare their own for over thirty years.

"I feel that it’s a job that needs to be done," Miss Chubbie says. "I feel like I’m doing a good turn."

Miss Edna agrees, adding "I enjoy getting out and talking to people."

Reminiscing, the ladies said that sometimes there was more in store for them at a meal recipient’s home, like an ever-vigilant goose.

"As soon as you turned in the driveway that goose’d be after your car," Miss Edna laughed. "You’d pull

up as close as you could, jump out and get inside before the goose gotcha."

Pat Troxell knows the two ladies well. She was Coordinator for Thurmont Seniors from 1977-1999.

"They are both nice folks to begin with…always in a positive mood. I’ve never seen either one of them angry."

She sheds light on that certain "something" they bring to the job.

"They are very devoted. They come from a generation where they say they are gonna do something, and they do it," she explains. "There’s no hanging back."

The task is simple enough. Pack up food, drive to the recipient’s home, drop the meal and head on down the road. But Chubbie Lillard and Edna Tressler have always done more.

Pat Troxell recalls how folks looked forward to their visits, helping many enjoy a diversion from sitting in a chair for hours on end, to setting meals in different places in the home, helping someone get up from bed or summoning help when another had fallen from a wheelchair. And the list goes on and on.

"They had lots of little errands they’d do for folks," she recalls. "Everything that they do is above the call of duty…everything. They’ve done a lot for the community by delivering lunches."

Anna Rollins Thurmont Senior Center Coordinator confirms how valuable these two ladies are to Meals on Wheels and the individuals it serves.

"They are gentle and kind," she says. "They bring humor to their job. These are ladies who have lived in the community and represent what is good and positive in giving back…"

But delivering meals for over 30 years?

"The accrual of what they’ve done is remarkable," Ms. Rollins affirms. You can’t buy that kind of dedication and commitment."

They do their job at their own expense. But they aren’t counting.

There is no expectation of "payback" when they’ve finished meal deliveries to return to the recipient’s home place. A promise to return is just that—all in the spirit of generosity and giving.

So many years of dedication has bought them a little "something", though.

It has to do with folks’ fond regard for Chubbie Lillard and Edna Tressler and their years of kind, good care for others. That little "something" isn’t always palpable or easily quantified. Pat Troxell can put it into words, "People love them."