by Mel Rubenstein

Contributor

When using libraries, it doesn’t take long to realize how important volunteers are to provide the services you need. So, it was natural for this columnist to seek out one of those volunteers to be featured in this column.

A recent experience at the Fayetteville Free Library led me to contact Monica Kayla, director of innovation acceleration, to see if she could recommend such a person. Kayla soon responded with the name of Patricia Hudelson, and what you are about to read this is the result of an interview I had with her (guess where) … at the Fayetteville Free Library, in one of their convenient private meeting rooms.

Pat Hudelson was born in Syracuse and attended Central High School. After high school, she admitted to having no ambition or interest in furthering her education, but one of Pat’s friends motivated her to take up nursing. A few years later, she completed her training at the Bellevue Hospital School for Nursing in New York City. Hudelson spent the next six years as a nurse in England, then returned to Syracuse and earned a bachelor’s degree in public health nursing at Syracuse University.

Pat met her husband, George, who had moved to Syracuse from Ohio to work as an engineer at the Carrier Corporation in 1952. “When George came from the flat lands of Ohio to the rolling hills of Central New York he was truly amazed at the beauty here,” she said. “Lucky for me.”

After they were married, they bought a home in Brookside in Fayetteville, and had three children. Pat eventually felt that she needed to have an activity where she would be involved with adults. While her mother helped with the kids, she began volunteering a few hours a week at the (old) Fayetteville Library.

“The old library was in house in the middle of the village and although it was quite small, people loved the atmosphere,” she said.

Hudelson volunteered the library on Friday nights for five years. Her primary duty was to make a record of what books the people took out of the library. After the kids grew up and were out of the house, the Hudelsons moved to Cazenovia, but Pat continued to volunteer at the Fayetteville Library.

For the most part, her time at the library was routine, except when a car crashed into a parked car in front of the building. Upon rushing to the scene, several of the staff members found the driver dazed and drunk. They helped the man into the library and Pat, using her nursing skills, did what she could until help arrived.

When the library moved to a newer, larger location on Orchard Street, it was re-named the Fayetteville Free Library (FFL). Soon, the library paid for Hudelson’s tuition to take two graduate classes at Syracuse University where she earned a master’s degree in library science.

One thing Pat realized was that she preferred assisting adults in the library rather than working on children’s projects. At the beginning, Pat was not qualified to do any of the technological things, but when the library became more automated she stuck with it and while on the job learned how to use the computers. Laughing, she said, “My kids would be proud of me.”

When George passed away, Pat also began volunteering at the Cazenovia Public Library, while still keeping involved with the FFL. She said that the Cazenovia Library had a special draw: the mummy. The mummy was obtained by a library patrician who traveled to Egypt in 1894. This mummy is now called the Cazenovia Mummy and is believed to be 2,110 years old.

Pat involved herself in volunteering for the Cazenovia book sale, the food program and the immunization clinic for cats and dogs.

Pat was also a volunteer with the Central New York Medical Reserve Corps that assists communities during public health emergencies and acts of terrorism.

With it all, Pat has always loved the outdoors. To satisfy that need, she began volunteering for the North Country Scenic Trail (N.C.T.). The N.C.T. is a footpath that stretches approximately 4,600 miles from eastern New York to Lake Sakakawea in central North Dakota. Pat volunteered her time in the Central New York region of the trail doing maintenance work, like fixing wash-outs, trimming branches and weeding. And during Cazenovia Days, she staffs a table outdoors with information about the North Country Trail.

In addition to enjoying the outdoors, Pat liked to travel, so she was always on the lookout for volunteer opportunities that required travel. That led to her going to Nicaragua with a group that constructed concrete stations where women could wash in privacy and do their laundry without having to carry heavy tubs of water long distances. This was a true luxury for rural people.

In recent years, Pat Hudelslon has had two joint replacements that have caused her to cut back on physically demanding activities. But, this has not stopped her from staying active in many of her volunteer projects, or in her favorite hobbie, learning Spanish. That’s right … I said learning Spanish.

For many of us learning Spanish meant a course while in high school. For Pat, it has been a lifetime activity, that she calls her ‘hobbie.’ After taking Spanish classes in high school and college she took advantage of her desire to travel and went to places like Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, and Spain to continue her hobbie of learning Spanish. Pat says it was a win-win for her.

Pat took a few minutes during this interview to talk about her friend, Diane Adams. For a number of years, Adams has gone to libraries and collected old calendars for their pictures. She then distributed the calendars to nursing homes where the residents could enjoy the beautiful pictures. Because of the effects of aging, Adams can no longer continue this activity, so she if looking for someone to take over. If you are interested contact Diane at 315-637-6632.

In the meantime, say hello to Pat Hudelson when your see her volunteering at the library.

To recommend someone with a stellar record of volunteering to be featured in this column contact Mel Rubenstein: [email protected] or 315-682-7162.