Portrait of a giving woman

One can hardly doubt Claire Kennedy Bartlett's eligibility for the Jack Reardon distinguished graduate award from St. Mary/St. Alphonsus Regional Catholic School in Glens Falls.

Recipients are supposed to do "an exemplary job of living out the Catholic faith," and Mrs. Bartlett's list of accomplishments reads like a resume for the award:

* 1956, joins the guild of Glens Falls Hospital;

* 1959, becomes a board member for the Family Service Association;

* 1965, starts Warren County Homemaker Services (now Greater Adirondack Home Aides) to help homebound elderly;

* 1971, co-founds Voluntary Action Center to coordinate non-profits' needs with volunteers;

* over several decades, serves on the boards of the above organizations as well as the Homemaker-Home Health Aide Association, Warren County Youth Board, State Communities Aid Association, Warren-Washington Counties Community Services and countless others; and

* develops a passion for art, volunteering at the Hyde Collection and the Glens Falls Symphony and serving on the board of the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.

Day's work

"I don't cook much," Mrs. Bartlett offered as an explanation, adding: "A lot of stuff I did was at home. A lot of work was done by phone."

Dorothy Day was probably the first inspiration for Mrs. Bartlett's tireless volunteer work. As a college student in New Rochelle, she often traveled to New York City to help out at Day's Catholic Worker sites.

Mrs. Bartlett remembered the famed activist as "somewhat intimidating, but a fantastic person!"

Home town

A psychology major, Mrs. Bartlett went on to become a Social Services caseworker. Although she lived in several different cities, she eventually returned to her much-loved hometown, where she and her husband, Richard, raised their two children.

The couple attend St. Mary's parish in the winter and Blessed Sacrament in Bolton Landing in the summer.

"You go to the grocery store and see people you went to high school with," Mrs. Bartlett said of Glens Falls. "It's a very comfortable experience."

Volunteering

Looking back, the 1946 alumnus of St. Mary's Academy (before it merged with St. Alphonsus School) thought her nearest and dearest volunteer position over the years was with the Voluntary Action Center. It encompassed many services, from meals for the homebound to "friendly visiting."

She enjoyed the challenge of studying which organizations in the Glens Falls area offered which services, and trying to decide what else was needed while avoiding duplication.

Mrs. Bartlett was also proud of Greater Adirondack Home Aides, originally created to help both the elderly or ill and new mothers who needed a "mother's helper" when coming home from the hospital with a new baby. Now, the organization provides a host of services.

Up north

Though the North Country of the Albany Diocese is often referred to as a place where poverty hits many residents hard, Mrs. Bartlett objects to that.

"I don't think the needs are any different than anywhere else," she said of her hometown. "Maybe [the people are] spread out a little, but there are job needs everywhere."

In fact, the active senior hopes more people begin to see Glens Falls as a cultural haven. She cited the local symphony and the Hyde Museum as two must-see spots, and said local theater is gaining momentum, as well.

Of late, the arts have become Mrs. Bartlett's focus. She volunteers as a gallery attendant at the Hyde Collection, saying that she's there to make sure visiting schoolchildren don't knock over any priceless works of art. She also boasted about a recent snow sculpture contest in the center of town.

Who? Me?

When Mrs. Bartlett received a call recently to tell her she'd won the distinguished graduate award, she assumed that the caller was asking her to chair a benefit.

"I don't feel particularly dignified," she mused. "I'm honored and very happy to be associated with the school. They're doing a great job there."

She joked that it felt strange to be in St. Mary/St. Alphonsus' "great hall" in a different capacity than when she was a student. "I used to look out the window when Father Dugan was giving us weekly instructions," she remembered.

In fact, St. Mary/St. Alphonsus is the target of Mrs. Bartlett's next volunteer effort: She wants members of her graduating class to sponsor a classroom. "We'd better hurry," she noted. "We're getting old."

(2/4/04)