KINGFIELD – The Kingfield community kicked off its annual Festival Days Friday with the 2006 Mrs. Kingfield award ceremony, held under the tent in the center of town.
This year’s recipient of honor was Georgie (Donahue) Woodford, a Kingfield native and longtime elementary school secretary.
“One could say Georgie Woodford is the Kingfield Elementary School,” said emcee Jack McKee Friday night during his introduction. “She has been a fixture (there) since 1981.”
In 1965, Woodford married her husband, George Woodford, and George and Georgie have been an item ever since.
“Did someone somewhere, at some time, just think it would be nifty to have a George and Georgie team?” McKee asked the gathering. “Is Georgie in fact her name? Could her name really be Mary or Jane or Matilda?”
As the crowd giggled over that question, McKee said, “Nope, it’s really Georgie. Our Georgie was named for an aunt, so it is legitimate.”
Family and children figure very high on Woodford’s list of important things in life, McKee said. She is the proud mother of four children, Annette Woodford Stanley, Christopher, Patrick and Adam, and numerous grandchildren whom she delights in every day. Yet being at the helm of the local elementary school office for the past 25 years has given her hundreds of other children to help raise.
“The most enjoyable part of it all is to watch those kids as they make that trip from kindergarten through eighth grade and on to Mt. Abram (High School),” Woodford said.
“If ever there was a misnomer, school secretary is it,” McKee said. “The school secretary is mother, school nurse, ed tech, office manager, administrative assistant, disciplinarian, parental chaplain, manager of lost and found and a whole lot more. She even coached girls’ basketball for several years and loved it. Georgie does it all with a warm and somewhat mischievous smile.”
Woodford has also been very active in her church over the years and to no one’s surprise, her chief dedication is to the children. She has served as treasurer and sunday school teacher for many years, as well as director of vacation Bible schools.
As it turned out, Friday was Georgie Woodford’s birthday, as well as a day of honor bestowed on her by her fellow citizens. As a special tribute, the nearly 100 people in attendance rose and sang “Happy Birthday” to their Mrs. Kingfield 2006.
McKee summed of the evening with “The community is truly blessed with Georgie Woodford’s love for and dedication to the children of Kingfield and the surrounding area.”
Comments are no longer available on this story