Mallard Landing Resident Receives Recognition for Volunteer Service

Online, June 30, 2010 (Newswire.com) - SALISBURY, Maryland (July 29, 2010) - On any given Day, Winston Sibert might spend the morning finishing a drop-leaf table in his workshop, then head off for a soft crab lunch with friends in Princess Anne before attending a meeting of the Quality Assurance Team at Dove Point. That's not bad for a man who laughs that he's now been retired for one year longer than he worked.

His working career was just as lively. As a cartographer working for the US Geologic Survey, he traveled the world mapping places like Kenya, where Masai warriors gifted him with hunting spears. His looked skyward, too, as part of the team which chose the landing site for Neil Armstrong on the moon.

Now 89 years old, Sibert generates an infectious energy. On June 13th he received a Senior Volunteer Recognition award from the Wicomico County Commission on Aging. The theme is "Celebrate Aging," and the award is given to those active older volunteers who have "demonstrated a significant contribution to our county."

Sitting in his living room of the house in Mallard Landing that he shares with his Siamese cat, Sam, he shares stories of his life and interests. At an age when many people are sitting back, his schedule is busier than most people who are working full-time jobs.
"I needed to move into a house with a two car garage so I'd have someplace to work," he says as he ushers visitors to his workshop. His hutches and wall sconces would fit well in Colonial Williamsburg. A deacon's bench sits in the middle of the space. It belongs to a neighbor, he explains. "She wants me to shorten it a bit. When you have a hobby like this, you get to know all of your neighbors."

Furniture has taken a back seat to decoy carving, though. He's experimenting with using wood burning to create shadings of feathers rather than painting them. "I keep entering contests, but there's no category for what I do," he says with some frustration. "None of the judges know how to place them." Sibert takes advantage of living just a few blocks from the Ward Museum for Wildfowl Art to volunteer as a docent and resident carver.

His most passionate interest, though, is in working with groups dedicated to helping the disabled. By his estimation, he's volunteered over 10-thousand hours to Dove Point, the Holly Center, and the Epilepsy Association of the Eastern Shore since moving to Salisbury in 1985. The move was triggered by the need to find care for his daughter who was confined to a wheelchair due to a brain tumor.

"We were living on the western shore, but when she turned 21, there were no more schools or treatment programs for her. I heard about Don Hackett and the group homes and services he was developing in Wicomico County and called him. When he told me what he could do for my daughter and what he wanted to create for disabled people, we had to move here."

He's deeply involved in creating group homes styled to accommodate wheelchairs, railings, and other structural needs to allow people with physical disabilities to live comfortably and independently. He also serves on committees that oversee procedures and quality assurance at centers for the disabled. "We meet monthly to review any problems or incidents that have occurred and make sure they are addressed properly. It's important to have that oversight so the staff stays on top of things to fix issues and avoid problems."

For someone as independent as Sibert, living in a community like Mallard Landing is an ideal situation. "My late wife and I were the first people to buy a house here," he says. "I looked at the way it works and liked it. I own my house, but I don't have to deal with the maintenance and landscaping. I don't cook, so I go to the pub at the clubhouse, and I take advantage of the cleaning service, too." When Delmarva was digging out from last winter's blizzards, Sibert and several other residents were on a Caribbean cruise he organized. "We thought about all of you every night when we watched the sunset over the ocean."

Contact:
Valerie Gravenor
[email protected]
(443-260-2025