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Gleneely’s Martha calls it a day
10.04.08
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Daffodil Day worker
retires after 21 years of loyal service
by Liam Porter, Inishowen
Independent
HAVING spent the past 21 years promoting Daffodil
Day in the Gleneely area, Martha Hutchinson has
decided it's time to call it a day - but she will
still be around to lend a helping had to her
replacement next year.
Speaking this week to the Inishowen Independent,
Martha explained that she had first become involved
with Daffodil Day when she was asked by Tom Farren
from Carndonagh.
“He asked me if I would help out up in the Gleneely
area so that’s how it all began, but when I was
doing so well he said for me to work away up here on
my own and it just went from there.”
Over the years Martha has been involved in promoting
Daffodil Day not just in the Gleneely and Culdaff
areas, but also in Greencastle and Moville. |
“I have had some great
people helping me out in these areas over the years
and it’s great to think that there will be a good
team around to keep this tradition going,” she said.
Initially much of Martha’s Daffodil Day selling took
place from a table placed on the roadside near her
home, but when the table was clattered by a vehicle
they decided it might be best to change location.
“The car was trying to stop but didn’t get stopped
on time and knocked the table over and broke the
legs of it. After that we thought, maybe this is a
bit dangerous and we moved our selling spot to down |
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outside the village
shop.”
One thing the Gleneely woman has noticed over the
years is how much more generous people have become
in relation to their support for Daffodil Day.
“At the start there wasn’t as much talk about cancer
as there is now, but these days it seems as every
house has been affected by it in some way. What
we’ve found now is that nobody will pass you now
when you are selling daffodils and it’s clear to see
how strong the support is when you realise we’ve
raised almost €10,000 this year alone.”
Not alone have the people been generous in
supporting sales of daffodils, they have been
equally generous in helping supply them.
“I used to get daffodils for years from Patrick
McCarroll in Carndonagh, but I’d take them from
anywhere I could get them, they all had to be pulled
and bunched so it was hard work.”
With arthritis now setting in, that hard work is
something that Martha feels she’s not really up to
next year, but with replacements already lined up
she will be still available on the sidelines to
help.
“It will take a while to get used to deciding how
many daffodils to order and things like that so I’m
still going to help out with things like that until
they can find their feet,” she said.
But even though she won’t be out and about selling
next year, Martha can rest assured in the knowledge
that her work over the years has gone towards a
cause dear to the hearts of thousands of people in
Inishowen. |
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