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ARTHUR B. POOLE
AWARD
1982 Honoree
POLLY
DOREMUS
Mary “Polly”
Doremus, who lives on South Road, has been named this
year’s Award recipient.
Mrs. Doremus has been involved in volunteer efforts
for 40 years. She laughingly says her volunteer work
started before she was ten.
She explains that she missed her eighth birthday celebration
due to illness. As a belated party, she was given permission
to hold a picnic for the children at the Brooker Memorial.
The successful event became an annual one for the next
eight years and the future Mrs. William Doremus first
realized that volunteering was “a fulfilling way
of life.”
Mrs. Doremus spend her youth in Torrington and attended
local schools. Upon graduation from high school she
went to art school in New York City and after a year
of study received a summer job back in Torrington in
the advertizing department of the W. W. Mertz department
store. The man she was temporarily replacing never returned
so her summer position turned into a full time job.
In the early 1940’s, Mrs. Doremus was a part of
the district committee which helped with the formation
of the state Child and Family Services in Hartford.
Several years later, she helped to form the district
office in Torrington and she has continued to maintain
a tie with the group, at one point serving as the president
of the Board of Directors.
She also helped to remodel the present offices on Prospect
Street. “I like to keep a finger in the pie, “
she said.
In 1950, Mrs. Doremus and her family moved to Harwinton
and her volunteer work became family oriented: scouts,
school and church.
She stayed active in volunteer efforts even during the
four-year period when her husband’s business took
the family to Pittsburgh.
Within ten years of the Doremus families return to Harwinton,
the first selectman asked Mrs. Doremus to sere on the
newly formed Recreation Commission. The commission was
started to correspond with the acquisition and development
of a parcel of land off Route 118 into a recreation
area. Mrs. Doremus was instrumental in the creation
of many of the programs which now exist including the
playground and swimming activities.
In 1969 Mrs. Doremus was asked to join the board of
the Community Council of Northwest Connecticut. This
agency served as a monitor for all of the social service
agencies in the area including the Retired Senior Volunteer
Program, Host Home, Outreach and the Youth Services
Bureau.
She has also served on the Public Health Nursing Association
and the Friends of T.A. Hungerford Library. Currently,
Mrs. Doremus is serving as the Municipal Agent for Aging
in Harwinton where her responsibilities include channeling
federal funds to the proper places and people.
Soures:
Harwinton Historical Society Scrapbook
The Republican American Newspaper
For Photos
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