REM Award Honorees (2018) — Sheila Bacon (REM)
REM loves all volunteers who work to make the world a better place. Sometimes that love is so strong you just need to find a way to let someone know how deeply appreciative you are. And the REM Award was born! We are especially glad for the REM Award this year because we have an amazing volunteer to honor.
Sheila Bacon is amazing in so many different ways. She’s full of passion for whatever tasks she takes on but is also very methodical and organized. A person is usually strongly one or the other...but she’s strongly both. She’s strongly many opposites. She’s strongly serious about her work and yet quite playful and has a great sense of humor. She’s always on time and keeps a tight schedule...but she’s very tolerant of others who do not.
In REM, Sheila leads the REM Craft Fair, managing 70+ crafters and several thousand guests and many REM volunteers. She has coalesced task descriptions for every piece of that REM Community Initiative...a goal REM has had for all of its projects for 23 years. Sheila made it happen for one of our most expansive and intricate projects. Many other REM leaders will be using her model to design their teams. She also serves on the REM Board and will be the first in line when jobs arise...like painting our new spaces, setting up for special events or lugging items for a yard sale. She also serves in leadership positions for other organizations and projects in the community including PFLAG Waterville and the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church where she chairs the Reconciling Ministries Team and the annual Church Fair Planning Committee.
As John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote, “Love, love, love...all you need is love.” Sheila has what we all need. Sheila loves people. And she loves working with people and coaxing out the team spirit in everyone. It’s a gift she shares with all who work with her, and it’s definitely contagious.