Seventy-five years old, with a newborn.
The man and woman with the little kid in the middle politely threaded through the proceedings at Mon Health Medical Center on Tuesday.
“Excuse us,” the adults said.
The man was holding a bouquet of helium balloons and the woman had a gift bag with writing on the side.
“Baby Boy!” the message proclaimed.
Which was a vote for the future — and a birthday within a birthday — at the medical center on J.D. Anderson Drive.
Mon Health’s Auxiliary celebrated its 75th anniversary, but it didn’t spend a lot of time looking back during the brief program in the main lobby.
That’s because it was too busy looking forward.
The annual Ball of the Year is coming up in November and the lobby was already twinkling with Yuletide cheer, courtesy of Kathy Pompili’s “Trees to Go” fundraiser.
“I figured you can’t go wrong with Christmas trees,” the longtime volunteer and auxiliary board member said.
She came up with the idea of raffling off fully decorated trees seven years ago. Every bit of what is brought in goes back to patient services.
“Something we can do,” she said.
Which has long been the mantra of the auxiliary that began its first outreach in 1944, when families across Morgantown and Monongalia County were still hoping for sons and husbands to come home alive and intact from the war.
All these years later, Mon Health Medical Center is still part of the weave, which is why Jennifer Ogden, new knee and all, hobbled to the main lobby Tuesday.
“I wasn’t missing this,” said Ogden, who is also on the auxiliary.
“We all go together,” she patting her knee and tapping her cane for emphasis. “There’s always somebody to take the lead.”
Ron Stovash gave the second opinion to that prognosis. He’s the board chair of Mon Health System, which oversees the medical center.
“We’re a community,” he said, “and we deliver quality care. That’s why people come here.”
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