EDMONDS
Elsie Krueger gets a twinkle in her eye when she recalls traveling to distant lands with a group of friends. She was the first one to ride a camel. The gleam intensifies when she tells how she was the leading participant when it came to getting on an elephant, too.
Krueger, 90, of Edmonds, has a long history of get-up-and-go and get-the-job-done. It’s no wonder that she was recently awarded a 2009 Outstanding Volunteer Service Award from Gov. Chris Gregoire at the governor’s mansion. The lunch and tour of the grounds was followed the next day by a trip to Safeco Field in Seattle where Krueger and other award recipients from around the state had their photographs taken on the field before a Mariners game.
For eight years, Krueger has spent five days a week volunteering her time at the South County Senior Center in Edmonds.
“I love to be around people,” Krueger said. “It keeps me going.”
Krueger arrives at her volunteer post before the center opens at 8:30 a.m. She’s there serving lunch, coffee, giving tours and talking to people until 2 p.m.
“I like it all,” Krueger said.
Her volunteerism was honored in Olympia thanks to her membership in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Snohomish County, a program for volunteers over 55 years of age and sponsored by Catholic Community Services.
Program recruiter John McAlpine saw how many hours Krueger was working.
“I’d go to the database periodically and her name jumped out,” McAlpine said. “I’d say, ‘Is she really 90 years old?’”
Krueger has accumulated more than 12,000 volunteer hours in her tenure at the senior center.
“One of the big things it means to an organization like the senior center is to have someone there every day to man the battle station,” McAlpine said.
Volunteers perform tasks that employees do day-to-day. They do it without a paycheck.
When managers plan for people to be in roles, they depend on them.
“They need to know that they can count on volunteers,” McAlpine said. “Elsie sets a good example.”
As well as volunteering her time at the senior center, Krueger likes to go to plays in Seattle and Everett. She’s also a Mariners fan and goes to home games.
Krueger has traveled to Austria, Malaysia, Spain and Germany, just to name a few places. She still goes to London from time to time, although Edmonds is a favorite on her list.
“It’s a beautiful place to be,” Krueger said.
Christina Harper writes for the Herald of Everett.
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