BMP Auxiliary’s hundredth anniversary

Everyone is cordially invited to celebrate 100 years of the BMP Hospital Auxiliary. This venerable institution came into existence in September of 1917, and it is hard to imagine a group that has been around for so long, and that has had such a meaningful impact on us. Anyone who has ever been to the BMP Hospital has been directly affected by the work of these devoted volunteers.

The hospital was founded in 1911 by Dr. F.H Pickel. Just six years later, the Auxiliary was born under the name, “The Association of the District of Bedford General Hospital.” The founding women included Mrs. Jane Parsons, Miss Dorothy Walsh, Mrs. W.F. Vilas, Mrs. Fred Hayes, Mrs. Ed Goyette, Mrs. F. Goroux, Mrs. JJ Barker, Mrs. Pickel, Mrs. Curly, Mrs. Robb, Mrs. Windsor, Mrs. Oliver and Clement Cady.

A little research shows some astonishing facts about the group. When it was founded, there was no public funding for the hospital. Every cent had to be paid by the patients or by public charity. The need was not for morale-boosting visitors or gifts to newborn babies. They literally had to create the hospital. They paid to put in the driveway, they paid to buy the first sterilizer; the first stove. They collected food door to door to feed the patients. The history of the BMP Hospital Auxiliary is a reminder of the power of women in our society to accomplish great things by working together.

Right from the start, fundraising began. The list of activities organized by these women is staggering, from card parties, dances, raffles, concerts, plays and garden picnics to rummage sales and pledge drives. They earned every cent, donating not just time, but often their own money. In 1931, they paid $900 for a medical refrigerator. Imagine the determination it took to raise that much money in the middle of the depression! In July of that year came the first talk of renaming the hospital to the Brome Missisquoi Perkins Hospital.

Playwright Laura Teasdale has been preparing a special tribute just for the occasion that she will perform at the anniversary supper.

Tirelessly meeting every month, this group continues to be relevant and needed. They change and adapt to stay current with the times (male members were accepted into the auxiliary in the early 1990s) but at it’s core, this amazing group continues to be about one thing… the well being of the patients, and by extension, the whole community. The

amount of money they have raised on our behalf in these hundred years is practically incalculable. So is our gratitude.

The 100th anniversary supper will be held on September 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Auberge West Brome. Tickets are $100 (with a $50 tax receipt) and include a sumptuous meal and a special performance by Laura Teasdale. Tickets can be purchased at the BMP Auxiliary boutique or call Karin at 450-263-9769 for information.

Correction The headline in a front page story about the upcoming air show in Bromont in last week’s Brome County News had the incorrect acronym. The headline read, Bromont’s SCCACE readying for air show. The acronym should have been SSACE (Spectacle et Salon Aérien des Cantons de l’est).