Published: July 09, 2009 06:40 pm      

Celebration scheduled today for longtime volunteer, OCAA charter member

A special celebration will be held this Friday afternoon to bid farewell to a woman who has meant so much to an organization and a community.

A farewell reception will be held in honor of Pat Putnam, a charter member of the Orange Community Action Association and the sole remaining active charter member of the Thrift and Gift Shop, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, inside Wesley United Methodist Church at 401 37th St., which is just across the street from the Thrift and Gift Shop. Putnam will be moving to Boerne, Texas, so she can be closer to her daughter.

“Pat has always been there for us for so many years,” said Mary Holland of the Thrift and Gift Store. “She helped get the Thrift and Gift store started all those years ago, and she continues to be involved. We’re really going to miss her when she leaves.”

Putnam and her husband, Glen, arrived in Orange in 1948. As her husband pursued a career with DuPont, Putnam performed various volunteer duties while being a mother to five children.

Putnam has always been credited with her need to help others, especially adults, which makes sense why she was a founding member of the Orange Community Action Association. This organization, also referred to as the “Meals on Wheels” program, is well known for helping adults help themselves.

Putnam has also been associated with groups like Positive Education for Early Parenting, the mental health organization known as NAMI, and she helped form the Planned Living Assistant Network (PLAN), which acquired the old Salk School. The Thrift and Gift Shop relocated to this facility in 2002 and remains located there with many other non-profit organizations.

Putnam received a Key to the City of Orange from Mayor Brown Claybar in February in recognition of her years of volunteer service and dedication to helping those in need.

Putnam has performed countless hours of volunteer work, including at Shangri La.

“A lot of people don’t know how good of an environmentalist she really is,” said Michael Hoke, executive director of Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. “She tries to make everything as environmentally friendly as she can. She practices what she preaches too.”

Hoke considers Putnam a local hero, not only for the amount of time she spent with the nature classroom, but for all of her work in the area.

“She is a role model for everyone,” Hoke said. “Even me.”



Tommy Mann Jr. is a reporter for The Orange Leader. He can be reached at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com