At the community’s annual membership meeting on Saturday, Aug. 10, longtime Ocean Pines resident Barb Peletier was recognized as the Sam Wilkinson Volunteer of the Year.
OPA Recreation and Parks Department Director Debbie Donahue presents Barb Peletier with this year’s Sam Wilkinson Volunteer of the Year award at the annual board membership meeting on Aug. 10.
Photo courtesy Ocean Pines Association
By Tara Fischer, Staff Writer
At the community’s annual membership meeting on Aug. 10, longtime Ocean Pines resident Barb Peletier was recognized as the Sam Wilkinson Volunteer of the Year.
Debbie Donahue, director of the Ocean Pines Association’s Recreation and Parks Department, presented the award.
Donahue said that Peletier was born in New Jersey and married in 1962 before she and her husband moved to Maryland. The pair retired to Ocean Pines in 2003 and have three children, eight grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
The do-gooder spent her earlier years working at a pediatrician’s office before moving to officer manager for a general practitioner and eventually transitioning to caring for geriatrics at a cardiology practice. During this period, Peletier raised her three children and spent her days volunteering at their extracurricular activities.
“She learned from her mother at an early age to care for others before herself,” Donahue said. “The very young and the older folks have always had a special place in Barbara’s heart.”
Since 2003, the Ocean Pines resident “quickly found ways to help the community,” Donahue added. She volunteered as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Ocean Pines and Ocean City, a service group dedicated to neighborhood improvement, spearheading pancake breakfasts, German dinners, and fruit and car raffle sales.
While running the concession stand for the community’s concert series, a weekly summer event each Thursday at White Horse Park, Peletier became known for her mini-baked goods.
“The concert patrons loved her little pies,” the recreation and parks director said.
According to Donahue, the volunteer shifted from member to president of the Kiwanis Club and served two terms in that position.
Peletier also supported the nonprofit Worcester GOLD, an emergency financial and essential need assistance organization, by donating gifts to two families at Christmas, school supplies during the fall, and turkeys for Thanksgiving. The volunteer participated in food drives for the American Association of Retired Persons, ran the Diakonia homeless pantry, where she distributed bags of food to as many as 20 local families a day, and currently works with the Twilight Wish Foundation to fulfill lifelong dreams and necessities of county elderly.
Donahue said that Peletier cooked for years at the Recreation and Parks Department’s Breakfast with Santa and their Easter events.
The volunteer’s husband described her as someone who “cannot stay idle.”
In an attempt to help and stay busy, Peletier recently scheduled time to organize Donahue’s office.
“This year’s volunteer of the year is an amazing woman who can always count on being a big part of all we do here in the recreation and parks department,” the director said. “We appreciate her more than she will ever know.”
The Sam Wilkinson Volunteer Award has been given out each year since 2003 and recognizes local volunteers who dedicate their time to others. The acknowledgment honors its namesake, an eight-year-old boy who was killed in a tragic water accident in Ocean City.
According to a press release by OPA Public Relations and Marketing Director Josh Davis, Wilkinson played soccer in Ocean Pines. His father was a volunteer coach and assisted in many OPA recreation and park activities.
Peletier was recognized by Ocean Pines staff and membership at the community’s public annual meeting on Saturday, Aug. 10.