Jewell is a real gem
By Joanna Brazil
Main Street Association Coordinator
I'll never forget the day I first met Gladys Jewell. I was new in town, and was making my rounds meeting people.
I visited the senior center one afternoon to introduce myself, and found Gladys busy quilting with Maxine Seibel and Sarah Albright. I think I could have chatted all afternoon with the three ladies.
Since then, I have contacted Gladys for help in a variety of projects, and have come to know her as a gem in this community.
Gladys devotes much of her time and talents to the Peabody Senior Center. She assists with many of the center's activities and contributes significantly to fund-raisers — two of which are the senior center's famous peppernuts and the handmade quilts.
She, along with Arlene Unruh, Sadie Decker, Sally Motz, and Arlene Williams, quilt to raise funds for the center. When I asked about her quilting comrades, she adoringly spoke of Sarah Albright, who now resides at Peabody's Legacy Park, "She sure has been faithful and so kind." Many would say the same about Gladys.
Gladys' work on quilts has raised many funds for the center. She is there working just about every time I visit. She first learned to quilt when she joined her mother in a quilting group in the late 1930s in Burns. She and her late husband, Paul Jewell, began working with the senior center in the early 1990s. She helped in the kitchen and he drove the bus.
Gladys is modest about her contributions to the community, but proud of her family. She has three children, Janet Sims, Rex Jewell, and Bob Jewell, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Thanks to Gladys for all she does and gives to our community. I respect and appreciate her generosity. Jewell is indeed a real jewel.
