"I'm just an ordinary person," says Lorene Thomason of Dexter, Mo. Hardly, say those who know her. She is, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman doing extraordinary things, and she clearly is "Making a Difference" in her community and beyond.
The modest senior was bestowed the 2009 Friends of the Library Award during a special presentation last week at the "Friends" Annual Fashion Show that drew a record crowd.
"I was simply shocked," Thomason said of the special presentation that honored her for continually giving of her time and talents on a number of community endeavors.
Thomason is a familiar face around Dexter and in Stoddard County when there is work underway to improve the community in which she lives. She has served on the Dexter Tree Board since the organization's inception and works annually on various projects within that entity, with special emphasis upon improving Dexter's historic downtown area.
She serves also on the board that governs the O.A.K.S. Senior Center in Dexter, the Women's Democratic Society, and for several years has volunteered her services within Pleasant Grove Church, where she has been a longtime member.
Recognizing the needs of her fellow senior citizens, Thomason is also a valued member of a group called The Silver Haired Legislature, a body of Missouri citizens 60 years and older who promote conscientious legislative advocacy for the state's older adults. Her volunteer commitment to the legislative efforts requires annual trips to the state capitol where her voice is representative of the Southeast Missouri region.
"Lorene is a tireless advocate for the ideals she believes in, not hesitating to take her causes to the state capitol and beyond," said Keller Public Library Director Pam Trammell, who has benefited first-hand from the service of Thomason through her continual efforts on the Friends of the Library board.
"Lorene is a proud flag-waving patriot," Trammell said, "who with pure enthusiasm makes Dexter and the surrounding community a better place in which to live."
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