An ‘old-fashioned' lifestyle: After a half-century, Mildred Taylor is Walton County's face of volunteerism

Mildred Taylor is a pro at improving her community, although she has spent 50 years not getting paid for her work.

The longtime Walton County resident, who has been volunteering in the county since 1959, was recently awarded a plaque and a service pin for her 50 years of volunteer service by the state Home and Community Educators at their annual conference in Altamonte Springs.

She was also honored at a recent Walton County Commission meeting.

“I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to say,” Taylor said. “It really touched me.”

Her half-century journey began in 1959 when Taylor and her husband, Virlyn, moved to Florida from Jasper, Ga.

“We came to Florida for work,” Taylor said. “My husband worked in the poultry business, and that’s what brought us here.”

Shortly after moving, Taylor was approached by a neighbor that wanted her to join the local homemakers club.

“I told her that I didn’t think I had time to help out,” she said. “She looked at me and told me that it wasn’t what I could do for them, but what they could do for me.”

Taylor “thought that was different,” so she decided to join.

One of the first things that Taylor learned with the homemakers club was to etch initials on glass and ceramics.

“We also made ‘ouch dolls’ for the children who were getting shots,” Taylor said. “The little cotton dolls had a sad face on one side and a happy face on the other. We would show the kids the sad face and tell them that is what they looked like now, but then we showed them the happy face and told them that is what they would look like when they were done.”

Taylor still had some of those “ouch dolls” and recently donated them to the health department.

Volunteering has been a staple of life for Taylor. Even with small children at home, she found time to offer her services to those who needed them.

“It really wasn’t that hard. Everyone was doing it,” she said. “I would just take the kids to meetings with me. And then once school started I would just go on the days they were in class.”

Taylor also worked for about five years at a jewelry store and four years at the extension while still volunteering.

While Taylor has no idea how many hours she has volunteered so far, she knows “it’s quite a few.”

“Mrs. Taylor has spent countless hours teaching others skills such as sewing, gardening, family finance, food preservation, cooking and nutrition,” said Kendra Zamojski, a Walton County Extension agent. “I hope her story inspires others to volunteer their time and talents. Volunteers are so vital to communities.”

One of the biggest changes Taylor has seen over the years is the reduction in volunteers.

“It’s really sad. I know that our homemakers club is the only one in Walton County,” Taylor said. “There used to be as many as 10 clubs.”

Taylor believes that one of the main reasons for the lack of volunteers is that “women have to help their husbands make a living.”

“It’s very complicated now,” she said. “They have more things to worry about than they did back when I was younger.”

After all her years of volunteering, the thing that Taylor is most proud of was learning nutrition.

“Nowadays most people just eat stuff because it is quick,” she said. “When I was growing up you couldn’t do that.

“We had to make everything from scratch. We still have a garden and grow most of our own vegetables,” she said. “Maybe I’m just a little old fashioned, but that is how we do it.”

Ken Little, citizens services director for Walton County, said volunteers like Taylor don’t come around often and Walton County is proud to embrace her.

“Fifty years of service in an organization is an impressive record,” he said. “It’s a tribute to her dedication and to the people she serves. I can’t think of anyone else who has won this award.”