XENIA — The Greene County Women’s Hall of Fame will add four members next month.
Laura Bader of Beavercreek Township, Judy Baker of Xenia, Frances O’Shaughnessy of Beavercreek and the late Kay Webster of Beavercreek will be honored during the 39th Annual Recognition Day Luncheon Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019.
The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Walnut Grove Country Club, 5050 Linden Avenue in Riverside. This year’s featured speaker will be Xenia Board of Education member Cheryl Marcus.
Bader will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for her endeavors as community volunteer. Her generous contributions of time and talent to her community have touched the lives of children and adults from various walks of life, according to a release from the hall of fame committee. She was instrumental in establishing the Beavercreek Women’s League (BWL), a well-respected community action group. Under Bader’s leadership in 1969, a group of women banded together to form a traffic safety committee strongly and successfully advocating for increased police presence, increased penalties for drunk drivers and other changes. This committee grew and became the BWL now celebrating 50 years of community service. She was highly involved promoting and preserving local history through the Beavercreek Historical Society for 25 years. As originator of the organization’s first newsletter, she published it monthly for nine years. Bader was a major player in researching and writing the second section of the local history book Beavercreek Chronicles and led the effort to obtain Beavercreek’s first Ohio Historical Marker commemorating the site of the first courthouse in Greene County at Alpha. She was an adult 4-H leader for 15 years impacting the lives of many young people. Her former 4-H’ers credit her with instilling valuable lessons they carried into adulthood. Bader has been an inspiration and driving force for positive outcomes in her community.
Baker will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for her endeavors in social services. She has been the executive director of the Golden Age Senior Center, also known as the Xenia Adult Recreation and Services Center, since May 2003. In her position she has responsibility for the transportation department, which records almost 300,000 miles per year, the support services to coordinate home delivered meal routes, homemaking services needed by the senior population such as shopping, housework, errands, etc., and food services, which prepares the food for members and the public at lunch time as well as the food for home delivery. Baker played a big part in the REACH program to raise funds that resulted in the new YMCA, senior center and the Central State and Clark State annexes that are housed in the building on Progress Drive in Xenia. Because the center is a non-profit agency, Baker additionally prepares and submits grants to various agencies for assistance with funds. She participates in the 100 Plus Women Making A Difference in Greene County which benefits many charities, and is an active member and secretary of the Xenia Rotary Club. She is actively involved in different activities that aid the seniors of the area, be it fund-raising or other needs.
O’Shaughnessy will be inducted for her work in crises/disaster services and as a community volunteer. She has devoted a major portion of her life to helping those experiencing human disasters, health crises and other situations while employed in a leadership role by the American Red Cross (ARC) and later post-retirement as a volunteer for the organization. Through employment with the ARC, her work included the Seattle Earthquake in 2001, hurricanes Katrina (2005), Ike (2008), Harvey (2018) and other natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes. From 2000 to 2016, O’Shaughnessy was emergency services director, responsible for delivery of emergency services in a 3-county area. As a volunteer, O’Shaughnessy organized the Miami Valley Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) group with Miami Valley Emergency Management director and United Way support to help agencies prepare and cooperate during disaster incidents. She currently serves as regional disaster director volunteer partner. As a volunteer, O’Shaughnessy was the director of the Red Cross disaster response following the local 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes. She is member of the Beavercreek Women’s League, St. Vincent DePaul Society and Beavercreek Rotary Club, where she has served as president and received the Penick Community Service Award. She is selfless and always ready to assist others in their in time of need, according to the committee.
Webster will be honored posthumously for her endeavors as a librarian and children’s literacy advocate. Webster, after a working career with Greene County Public Library (GCPL) for more than 40 years, died in 2018 but left behind a legacy as a tireless leader and proponent of children’s literacy. She introduced the Dolly Parton Imagination Library project which brought more than 250,000 books to more than 10,000 children from birth to five years of age in Greene County. If a child takes part in that program from birth, they’ll “graduate” at age five with a set of 60 books. She oversaw children’s programming for GCPL with hundreds of programs that now serve more than 60,000 people a year, including summer reading programs, programs for preschoolers throughout the year, and bookmobile scheduling to schools, preschools and parks all year round. Webster was an active member of the Altrusa Club of Dayton where she served as president, and along with her husband was instrumental in fundraising. She never stopped working to make Greene County a better place to live
Reservations are $20 and must be paid in advance by mail by Sept. 21. Note on your check if you prefer the vegetarian option for lunch. Your receipt will be held at the door. Checks should be made payable to the Greene County Women’s Hall of Fame and should be mailed to PO Box 703, Fairborn, Ohio 45324.
For more information about reservations, call Ann Byrd, hall of fame chair, at 937-429-1805.
