TEHKUMMAH—“It just seems that I’ve always been a volunteer, but I’d have to say that my pride and joy is the Triangle Club,” says Tehkummah Talk and Times columnist Pat Hall from her home in that community.
Ms. Hall spoke of the hard work she and Keith Legge put into seeing the building acquired by the Township of Tehkummah from the Orange Lodge and transformed, thanks to many volunteer hours, into the bustling Triangle Club we know today.
“Then we had to work hard to get the community involved—to get people away from their television sets,” she laughed. “But once they got involved, there was no holding them back.”
She recalled fondly the men working at renovations and the women cooking and holding quilting bees to have the finished product raffled off for the cause.
“I’ve been involved in everything over the years—the museum, library,” Ms. Hall continues. “I used to drive the books from Mrs. Young’s house (she housed the library at one time) in Manitowaning.” Ms. Hall was instrumental in seeing a Tehkummah library established, even finding the perfect candidate for the first librarian thanks to her contacts on the mail route she once drove. Ms. Hall has also canvassed for the Canadian Cancer Society, is the past president of the United Church Women, sat for a term on council and so much more.
“I’m a good starter, not a good finisher,” she chuckles.
Ms. Hall is also well known for volunteering her musical talents. “I love singing—I really do.”
“It’s worthwhile,” Ms. Hall says of volunteering. “For myself, it was good for me. I needed more than what my life was giving me.”
These days Ms. Hall is taking a step back from her volunteer duties as she undergoes cancer treatment in the form of chemotherapy followed by 28 rounds of radiation. She thanks fellow volunteer Dorothy Cronk for filing in for her during cribbage days at the club while she recuperates.
“It’s another interesting chapter,” Ms. Hall says of her cancer, “but I’m dealing with it well. You don’t change what is.”
“I would encourage anyone to volunteer—it’s important to see what’s going on,” Ms. Hall adds.