Shepherd’s Center honors volunteers at annual luncheon

By Judie Holcomb-Pack April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, but the Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem got a jump on celebrating their volunteers at their annual appreciation luncheon on March 21 at Ardmore Baptist Church. The luncheon began with a welcome by Shepherd’s Center board chair, Fred Johnson, and a blessing given by Rev. Craig Schaub of Parkway United Church of Christ. The luncheon was catered by Mrs. Pumpkin’s Bakery-Deli.  The keynote address was given by Randell Jones, an award-winning author and storyteller. Most of his books feature historical aspects of North Carolina and he has written frequently about Daniel Boone.  Jones presented an interesting program about Lucy Bramlett Patterson and her lifetime of volunteer service that has had lasting effects on our Winston-Salem community, as well as North Carolina and beyond. She graduated from the Salem Female Academy (now Salem College) in 1882. A passion for literacy, she helped establish Winston-Salem’s first library in 1905, a Carnegie Library at the corner of Cherry and Third Streets, called the Patterson Library. The building is still there and is now a Catholic church. In her honor, the former Depot Street was renamed Patterson Avenue. Patterson lived a life of service and...