In the News

When you work for more than 50 years, retirement doesn’t come easy.

Eva Payne’s career as a teacher started in a one-room school house in her native West Virginia.

Over the years, her students included her own son and daughter.

But when she reached the mandatory retirement age, her life had to change.

She was living in Loudoun County then.

“They won’t let you teach after 70,” she noted of Virginia.

So, she had to rearrange her life.

“I had a lot of things to do at home,” said the 95-year-old Frederick County resident, looking back.

But, she also had time for others.

“Whenever someone needed me,” she said, she lent a hand.

It was the sort of thing she learned growing up in the little town of Chloe, with three sisters and three brothers.

Some of her retirement work was informal. She would baby sit for mothers in her community in Lovettesville or tend an ailing neighbor.

Some of it was more formal, like working in the local library, or joining the Quota Club.

“My daughter belonged and she talked me into joining. She thought it was a good organization.”

Payne and her husband had moved to Clarke County and then, when he died, she moved to Frederick, next door to her daughter.

“I wanted her to meet people,” Pam Throckmorton explained. “I invited her to what I was participating in.”

Throckmorton said she liked the idea of giving her time to a local service club.

“You actually see where the money is going.”

Sharing a club affiliation with her mother gave the two of them time together, much as they had when Throckmorton was a child.

When her mother was teaching in Lovettsville, Throckmorton rode to school each day with her. And then, there was the second grade, when her mother was her teacher.

“At first it was a game,” Throckmorton said. “I called her Mrs. Payne until they found out. Then, I called her mom.”

Throckmorton never got to the ride the school bus, an experience she missed.

But she said, “I couldn’t get out of doing my homework,” especially when the teacher could check up on her at home. “I passed the second grade with flying colors.”

Second grade, by the way, was Payne’s favorite.

Second graders “always come with something to tell you.” she said.

Payne found Quota Club was “a good way to meet people,” but she also shares Throckmorton’s pleasure in serving her neighbors.

Quota Clubs work for their communities and Payne likes that.

“It’s an international organization,” she pointed out, so she could also reach out to the world.

Quota has approximately 7,500 members in 320 clubs in 14 countries, according to the Quota International of Winchester Web site.

The Quotarian motto is, “We share.”

Quota focuses on services to deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired individuals and disadvantaged women and children.

Payne, who wears a hearing aid herself, can see the value in providing such appliances to those who need them.

“We also do scholarships for the local high schools,” she added.

When she joined Quota five years ago, Payne worked on a number of the club committees and fundraisers.

“She has a wonderful spirit and outlook on life,” said Sue Robinson, who was a member of Quota when Payne first joined it.

When the Winchester club celebrated its 50th anniversary, the members decided they wanted to have an old-fashioned tea and invited Quota Clubs from other parts of the Valley.

Payne volunteered her home for the event.

“She pulled out her best china. She showed everybody how you do a tea,” Robinson recalled.

Payne says she really enjoys company, and she has a lot of it. “Friends come and stay two or three days.”

And, even through her health doesn’t allow her to get out as often as she did, Payne is still a member and still helps Quota.

“She is our hospitality committee chair,” Robinson said. “She sends birthday cards to each of us and, if anyone is sick, she contacts them.”

She invites the members to her home for gatherings and she’s full of ideas for projects.

“She’s encouraging Quota to produce a local cookbook,” said Lee Perkins, who recently co-chaired Quota’s largest fundraiser, Kitchen Kapers.

“She is a sweet, genuine lady,” said six-year Quota member Kimberly Smith, who shares Payne’s occupation. Smith teaches statistics and geometry at Heritage High School in Loudoun County.

“We share stories. It’s fun to talk to her,” Smith said.

While Payne found Quota a great place to meet new friends, she did find out there were other folks from her hometown here.

Helen and Rector Brown are also from Chloe and are now frequent visitors to Payne’s home, keeping memories alive.

The Calhoun County community was a place where neighbors were valued and people helped each other.

Payne said she’d like to see others join Quota.

It’s a way to keep those values alive.

Source: The Winchester Star, Saturday, November 18, 2006

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