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Unsung Heroes: Scott is artist, caregiver, mom, volunteer, activist

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Unsung heroes Scott is artist, caregiver, mom, volunteer, activist
by Nancy Conlon

I looked up hero in the dictionary. It read: "One greatly regarded for achievements or qualities." I looked up unsung as well. It was simple. Unsung means not yet sung. I am here to "sing" for Mary Scott. But, whatever you do, don't call her a hero, at least not to her face.

Say "Pookie" to the average woman on the street and she might think you were being a little forward. Say "Pookie" to seniors and staff at HSRC and you'll see people smile.

Pookie is the official HSRC mascot. This large pooch is frequently seen in Mary's second floor cartoon corner. Mary arrives early for work long before most of us are out of the shower. Marker in hand, she uses the activities of the day as her cartoon inspirations. I recently went through a thick file of her cartoons. Pookie and his friends have made us laugh at so many things: bingo, Y2K, holidays, birthdays, computers, the weather, e-mail, the Safety Committee, tax assistance, motherhood, fatherhood and haircuts. I like the one where Joe, our HSRC barber, starts cutting hair in the shape of bonsai trees having just attended a class on bonsai!

By 7 a.m., Mary starts her job as a nurse case manager helping frail elders stay in their homes. She's been helping seniors since 1988. For Mary, it is more than a job. Known for her compassionate ways, she's touched many lives.

With donations received from copies of her cartoons, she started a fund to honor our care providers who help seniors stay at home. Mary wanted to do something that let these care providers, who are paid minimum wage, know their work was important.

Mary uses her cartooning talent to educate seniors and children. She has illustrated booklets that show both populations how to eat well, prevent accidents and be healthier. A gifted teacher, Mary has used her nursing background to teach CPR to staff and caregiving skills to in-home workers.

Mary's day ends at 1 p.m. here, but it's just beginning on the home front when she returns to the 1890's farmhouse she shares with her husband and two children. As her husband heads to his job, most of us would be ready for a nap. Not Mary! I know because I live in her neighborhood. I've passed her along the rural road we share as I drive home. There she is, pushing her kids in a stroller and lugging a plastic bag of litter that careless people have tossed from their cars.

Mary volunteers in her daughter's classroom and donates time to clean up the Freshwater Grange. Cartoonist, nurse, parent and volunteer-and community activist. Mary has worked hard trying to find ways to get speeding motorists to slow down along her road which goes by the neighborhood school.

Mary's cartoons make us laugh. They also remind us of what's really important in life-caring for one another and doing our part to make this world a better place. She doesn't want you to recognize her for being a hero because she knows there's a hero in all of us. Even Pookie!

Nancy Conlon is Social Services Director for the Humboldt Senior Resource Center.

One-time article Copyright 2000 by Humboldt Senior Resource Center .