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By PENNY FLETCHER
Penny Fletcher Photo
Alice Fry of Sun City Center was honored at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina June 8 for the work she and her many South County volunteers did on the Pillows for Patriots project highlighted in The Observer News last fall.
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When I first met Alice Fry last fall, her living room was filled with tiny pillows made of all colors and materials. They were part of a project later named Pillows for Patriots and were headed for her garage to join the hundreds of other pillows in boxes being readied for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At that time, Alice told me they were tiny so the soldiers could use them between their heads and the sand or mud whenever they had a chance to rest. Anything larger would have been too bulky to fit into the packs of heavy gear used on the battlefield.
Her goal was to send 500 of these tiny, soft pillows to her daughter Susan Shepard who works on base at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, but with the help of many groups and individuals in South County, she ended up with 1,500.
June 8, Alice was honored at a Volunteer Recognition Ceremony at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and given a Certificate of Thanks by Vice Admiral William H. McRaven.
“I want all the groups and individuals who worked on the pillows and the churches and others who served as drop-off points, and all those who drove pillows from one location to another, to know that they are part of this award. If it hadn’t been for them, I would not have received it,” Alice told me last week.
For the second time this year, she had prepared good strong coffee for us to share in her kitchen as she told me about the recent events in her life.
Her flight arrived in North Carolina with about only an hour to spare before the military ceremony began, and the next day was just as busy because her grandson James (Susan’s son) was graduating. The day following that was his 19th birthday, and also a celebration of his acceptance into all four military academies to which he had applied.
“He chose VMI (Virginia Military Institute) because of his love of science, math and technology,” Alice explained. “Imagine him having won four military scholarships and being able to choose!”
As we were talking about the things the troops needed – especially moist towelettes to wipe the sand from their faces – I noticed a copy of South Bay Hospital’s summer edition of its magazine, Living Well on a nearby table and realized it was Alice and her husband Bill on the cover.
“Oh yes,” the modest 80-year-old said in a very matter-of-fact manner like it was something we all did every day, “That was because I saved his life.”
I picked it up and read the feature article inside.
It seems Alice had recently gone to a hospital-sponsored seminar about strokes given by South Bay’s Stroke Coordinator Kim McKell, a Registered Nurse.
“Thanks to the information I learned there, I was able to evaluate Bill,” she told me. “It was a privilege to have that knowledge just when I needed it.”
Thanks to Alice’s fast action, Bill is back volunteering at the Sun City Center Computer Club helping people with computer problems or who just want to learn new things.
Being that as of this writing it is only the end of June, one can only wonder what the rest of this summer will hold for Alice.
*Perhaps you have something you’d like to share. Or maybe you’d rather tell the community about your favorite charity or cause: or sound off about something you think needs change. That’s what “Over Coffee” is about. It really doesn’t matter whether we actually drink any coffee or not (although I probably will). It’s what you have to say that’s important. E-mail me any time at
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and suggest a meeting place. No matter what’s going on, I’m usually available to share just one more cup.
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