"I've always had great respect for them (the Red Cross)," Jane Hulsey said Friday prior to a tribute that was paid to her during an afternoon open house at the chapter office marking the 90th anniversary of the Red Cross in Gainesville.
"I enjoyed every minute of it," Hulsey said of her time as a volunteer and the 18 years she spent as executive director of the chapter. "I've always wanted to help. It was just the greatest experience for me."
From teaching kids how to swim, teaching CPR and First Aid, and helping folks when disaster struck, Hulsey covered the bases before retiring several years ago, but she says her first love was the water and the Red Cross programs associated with it.
"I've always been interested in aquatics and so...when Lake Lanier came along, it seemed time to try and help make it safer and so I happened to be in the right place at the right time."
Hulsey helped start the first Red Cross swimming lessons program in the county and says she still sees people around town who tell her that she taught their mother how to swim.
As for Friday's tribute, Hulsey said "I was just shocked, I really was" when she was contacted about it, adding, "I didn't feel like I deserved it. I was just doing my job."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/6/88918