Caledonia Argus

Margaret Goetzinger chosen Outstanding Senior Citizen

Posted: 8/5/03

Whoever said that kindness is a lost art hasnít met Margaret Goetzinger.

Goetzinger, a Caledonia resident and longtime fixture of the Freeburg community, has been honored with the 2003 Outstanding Senior Citizen Award. She, along with Caledonia resident George Albert, will receive the award at the Houston County Fair in August.

The award comes in the wake of a quilt show honoring Goetzinger, held this past Spring in Freeburg. The event was a tribute to her efforts, year after year, in making hundreds of quilts, the lionís share of which she gave to family members and donated to worthy causes.

She began quilting in her early teens, and over the years she gave quilts to nursing homes, food shelves, and church raffles. All this while helping to run a farm and raising nine kids.

The idea that good deeds are best done quietly, without making a big fuss, is the unspoken principle behind Goetzingerís good will. Which is not to say that sheís a stranger to formal involvement in her community. She served on the SEMCAC board of directors for well over a decade. She has remained active with the Peace United Church of Christ for 60-some years. And she has worked with the Crooked Creek Homemakers and local 4-H chapters.

But it is the caring and compassion with which Goetzinger approaches day-to-day life that prompted three of her peers to recommend her for the award.

Friend and neighbor Peggy Derrick pegged Goetzinger as someone who refuses to steal the spotlight, in favor of doing small things to help out where she can.

ìShe is not one to get involved in many organizations, but she always chooses her commitments according to where she feels she can do the most good,î Derrick said. ìHer concern for others is always evident in her speech and actions, and her sense of community is broad and encompassingñ it doesnít stop at the doors of her church, or the borders of Freeburg.î

ìShe believes in reaching out to people,î Derrick added, ìand her faith and her love of humankind have been an example I will always treasure.î

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