I believe this is a first for Hutterites.The late, Selma Maendel, who resided at the Fairholme Hutterite colony is one of the 2016 Agricultural Hall of Fame inductees. Knowing Selma, this recognition would not have been something she was striving for. She was more about working diligently, in her usual quiet, but strong way to make a difference at her own colony, and others as well. Selma's giving and friendly nature reached far beyond her Hutterite community. Remembering how selflessly Selma served others, brings to mind, Romans 12:10: Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. It's heartwarming to see that her services to the agricultural community is being recognized.
Selma passed away April 29, 2014, after a brief battle with brain cancer. During her illness, which she faced with patience, courage and grace, a Facebook was set up in her honour.
Selma was involved in many things. One of her projects was operating their long-arm sewing machine, with which she quilted numerous beautiful quilts. She was a guest blogger right here, back in August 2012. You can read her post, Long-Arm Quilting, here. Some of the others activities she was very good at were knitting, sewing and designing patterns, cooking and catering, writing newspaper articles, writing computer programs, soap making, organizing events like, Farm Safety Day Camps, Fairholme Bake Sale, Hutterite Track and Field Days and High-school Envirothons; all of this while serving as head cook at Fairholme. Selma was an excellent teacher and passed many of her skills on to family and friends. My sister, Elma has fond memories of the day Selma helped finish her quilt. "The way Selma thoroughly explained every step, felt like I taking a min-workshop on quilting with a long arm machine."
One year we hosted a Farm Safety Day Camp here at my colony. Selma was in charge of all the food and organized how and when it will be served. Our head cook still marvels how effortlessly she organized everything, "She was busy all day long and stayed calm and never seemed to tire. She has quite the gift! I know if she hadn't been here, things would have been a lot more hectic."
Here are some articles that give a glimpse into Selma's very full life:
Western Producer - New Products
Herald Leader - Mountain Poetry and Drama Festival
Research Gate - Low Prevalence of Psychosis Among Hutterites
"True leaders are selfless.
They have always been servants of the people first."
Unknown
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete