Garfield Memorial Health Care Foundation (GMHCF) held its annual benefit dinner on Thursday, August 25 at Ebenezer’s in beautiful Bryce Canyon City. Those in attendance enjoyed an evening filled with excellent food, amazing entertainment, and were also able to visit with old friends and family.
Soon after dinner you could hear an auctioneer’s voice as he opened the live auction. It was fun watching people get competitive as they tried to outbid their neighbor for a coveted world-class pie donated by the Pines Restaurant, while others worked hard to possibly win the chance to own a beautiful handmade quilt among many other prizes.
The will to remain competitive carried over to the silent auction as individuals tried to outbid one another, but maybe in a more sneaky, quiet way.
At 7:45 PM, the evening took a slight turn from its usual course, as the GMHCF Board announced that this year would be the kick-off of a program to highlight and honor former employees of Garfield Memorial Hospital.
Honored at this year’s event were the late Stanley J. Bezek Jr., MD, Hilma Talbot Excell, RN (deceased), and Louise Sandin Holman, RN. A video was shown to honor them followed by loving tributes from family members.
Their families were awarded plaques, which will now hang on a wall at the entrance of Garfield Memorial Hospital for the next full year. This new program, entitled the “Wall of Gratitude,” allows us the privilege to thank those individuals who have truly made the difference in healthcare in our local area.
The night of the benefit dinner had a warm special feeling about it that sometimes is forgotten in today’s society. Although we were specifically in attendance to raise money and awareness for Garfield Memorial Hospital, we also hope that individuals took away from this event the feeling that it’s okay to still have a heart filled with gratitude.
We as a board (GMHCF) are in awe and are truly thankful for the professional service that is given at our hospital and our main goal is to always bring awareness to this great cause.
We wish to thank all those who donated to this worthy cause and want you to know that we wouldn’t be able to do this without your ongoing love and support! We look forward to seeing everyone at the Festival of Trees this coming November.
Sincerely and with heartfelt thanks,
– by Monica Taylor, GMHCF Board Chair
Feature image caption: The Garfield Memorial Hospital Care Foundation dinner at Ebenezer’s. After dinner there was a live auction, where GMH attendees enjoyed seeing people get competitive bidding over the Pines pies.