Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Chamber Honoree Thurman Touches Lives Of Many
LINCOLN — Doris Thurman, who volunteers in the Arkansas Country Doctor Museum, sews and bakes goods for others, has babysat children and helped elderly people, cooked for Kiwanis meetings and worked in school cafeterias.
Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce named Thurman as the recipient of the 2019 Bud Cox Award, an award given each year to an outstanding citizen who has given back to the community.
The award is presented during the Chamber’s annual banquet. This year’s banquet was held Friday at Lincoln High School. Guest speakers were Mayor Doug Hutchens and police Chief
Kenneth Albright.
Another award presented each year is the John M. Harvey Outstanding Youth Award. Lincoln High senior Cole Hunton received the 2019 Outstanding Youth Award.
Diana Hale with the Country Doctor Museum presented Thurman with the Bud Cox Award.
“This woman is amazing,” Hale said. “She’s always thinking of what she can do for others, not for herself.”
Hale added, “This lady is the most selfless and busy person I know, kinda like the Energizer bunny. The love and care given to her husband and daughter is just the beginning. She has worked and volunteered all her adult life and a lot of that time has been for others.”
Hale offered a long list of ways Thurman has served others.
For 14 years, Thurman worked in the athletic cafeteria at the University of Arkansas. For another 14 years, she worked in the cafeterias for Lincoln schools. She worked part-time giving out fruits and vegetables to Lincoln students during the campaign initiated by former First Lady Michelle Obama to provide healthy food to students.
Hale noted that Thurman babysat lots of children in the community, helped take care of older people around town, cooked for Kiwanis meetings for years, has worked on projects for Historic Cane Hill Museum and Leach Grocery Store and volunteered 14 years for LIFE Ministries in Prairie Grove.
She crochets, knits and does quilting. Thurman makes desserts and drops them off at the post office or fire station or other places just to say, “Thank you.”
“She has made hundreds of muumuus and I wear them and I tell you they are the most comfortable things ever,” Hale said. “She’s made fleece throws and baby blankets.”
Hale continued, “She can cook and sew like nobody’s business.”
At the Country Doctor Museum, Hale describes Thurman as her “left hand.” She sweeps, makes coffee, provides water to museum visitors, picks up sticks outside, is always helping.
Hale said what should be noted about all of the ways Thurman has served others is that she does it for nothing.
“You can’t pay her. We’ve all tried but you can’t.”
In asking Thurman to come forward, Hale said, “I’m sure that all of you have been touched by her one way or the other.”
Amara Kidd presented Hunton with the John M. Harvey Outstanding Youth Award, so named because of Harvey’s involvement with the youth in the area. Harvey loved to read and always carried a bag of books with him.
Kidd said that Hunton “embodies the spirit” of Harvey.
“Cole has a natural curiosity about the world around him, he’s an avid reader and has a true academic mind,” Kidd said in announcing Hunton as the recipient of the award.
She told him, “Always remember: keep searching for your answers and never stop reading.”