BANGOR – Hospice of Eastern Maine, a program of Bangor Area Visiting Nurses, presented Judith “Scotty” Folger of Orono and Bob Thibodeau of Old Town with its highest honor, the Patricia Jameson Award, at its recent volunteer appreciation dinner.

The award for volunteer excellence was presented to Folger and Thibodeau in recognition of their outstanding service to hospice patients and families they served in 2005.

Folger spent her professional career teaching special education in Orono and molding many young lives. She is an accomplished sailor who has had her share of exciting adventures on the high seas. Since retirement, she has spent time traveling near and far. Her foreign destinations include Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, England and Ireland. Recently, she converted her cottage on Green Lake into a year-round home. Folger has two adult daughters.

Folger became a HOEM volunteer in August 1997 and has worked with nine patients and families since then. She devoted 151.74 hours serving her most recent patient and his family in 2005.

Folger is described as an upbeat, lively, gentle woman who brings great energy, love and laughter to the patients and families she serves. She is a volunteer who understands that hospice is about patient and family choice, and she gladly lets them set the agenda of any visit.

Thibodeau became a hospice volunteer with HOEM in November 2001 and has worked with eight patients and families since then.

He worked at the Georgia Pacific paper mill for 34 years, most recently in the shipping and receiving department. He enjoys building, tinkering around the house and cooking. He also enjoys camping, fishing and spending time with his wife Sue at their “non-hunting” camp in Greenbush. He has a grown daughter.

Thibodeau devoted 126.25 hours of service to HOEM in 2005. In addition to serving a long-term patient and family, he attended several volunteer support meetings, helped prepare for and attended the annual memorial service, secured the first corporate gift for BAVN’s Time to Care capital campaign, helped train new volunteers, and baked for the agency’s annual bake sale.

In his tenure as a volunteer, Thibodeau has been a member of HOEM’s Speakers’ Bureau. After his mother died in HOEM’s care in November 2002, he set up an endowment fund in her memory.

Thibodeau is described as an easy-going, soft-spoken man with a ready laugh who relates well to the patients and families he serves. He understands the hospice philosophy and lives by it, always respecting the right of the patient and family to make choices that are right for them.

The Patricia Jameson Award for Hospice Volunteer Excellence was established in honor of a woman who, after four years of serving patients and families as a hospice volunteer, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. After the diagnosis, she continued to volunteer with hospice patients until she was no longer able to do so. She herself then became a recipient of hospice services.