Page 20--SUSQUEHANNA BULLETIN Betty Groff attends Nationwide Board of Directors meeting in Ohio ‘Each one of us has a purpose.’ After she had been selected as the first woman ever to sit on the board of directors for Nationwide Corporation, Betty Groff had a glimpse into the board room in Columbus, Ohio, and saw the massive chairs grouped. around the im- pressive long table. The night before her first board meeting last Thurs- day she didn’t sleep very soundly. She kept dreaming about sitting in one of those huge directors’ chairs and feeling lost in it. But next day, seated as the one woman among the eleven other male directors, Betty Groff felt ‘‘very comfortable.” She was escorted into that impressive room on the arm of J. F. Timilty, 80-year-old former police commissioner of the city of Boston, a distinguished gentleman with a reputation for escor- ing ladies, having been a frequent escort for Rose Kennedy. One of the other board members remarked that it would have been inappropriate for any board member other than Timilty f to escort the first woman director into Nationwide’s board room. Nationwide had brought Betty to Columbus in the company jet, which put down at Olmstead just for her. Some changes had to be made to ready Nationwide’s headquarters for their first female director. There was no ladies room for the directors. One had to be constructed and then mark- ed with a shiny new brass plate: ‘LADIES.”’ “If you just say ‘yes’ at the right time.”’ “¢...a whole new world for ’ me. In chairman Jeffers’ ele- gantly appointed private dining room, where the directors adjourned briefly for refreshments, one of them remarked that Betty ‘added class to the coffee break.” Betty was impressed too by her colleagues, all leaders from many different professional backgrounds. She was impressed by their concern, not just for the welfare of Nationwide Insu- rance, but for the condition of the country and of the entire world, of which they keenly recognize they are a part. The directors discussed possible ways to get people more interested in work, government, and economic problems like the shortage of energy. Betty was impressed most of all by the integrity and the concern for people shown by her fellow direc- tors. Pioneer Fire Company to dedicate by Hazel Baker Judges for the Marietta Pioneer Fire Company No. 1 dedication parade to be held Saturday, May 31, at 3 p.m. will be Mrs. Henry Lenhert, Lenherts Cabinet Shop, Marietta; Elton Reed, Howe Fire Apparatus Company; Dennis Murray, chief of Londonderry Fire Company; and John Blessing, chief of Liberty Fire Company, Mid- dletown. The parade route will be east on Market Street to Chestnut Street, north on Chestnut Street to East Walnut to the War Memori- al Park where it will disband. A carnival featur- New Fire Hall ing the Adams Brothers as entertainment, as well as games and food will be available for the remainder of the evening. It is said that a disastrous fire, consuming nearly a block of frame houses along Front Street in Marietta about 1838, started the She feels she has a lot to learn on many different subjects, . but is confident she can make a worthwhile contribution in her new role as a leader in one of the major economic enterprises in the country. Betty Groff is very grate- ful to local people who recommended her for the directorship. ‘‘They’re o- pening up a whole new. world for me. “I've benefitted from Abe’s (her husband’s) ex- periences as township su- pervisor. He’s benefitting from my new experiences... “Life is so full of surprises. If you just say ‘yes’ at the right time, every day becomes a greater challenge. ‘““Each one of us has a purpose. When we are willing to accept that, there is no end to the possibili- ties.”’ ‘Life is so full of surprises. . . Opportunities come along. movement for an organized fire company for the com- munity. In the early spring of 1840 a group of citizens met in the interest of fire prevention and fire fighting. They applied for a state act of incorporation under the name of Pioneer Fire Com- pany of Marietta. The first meeting after incorporation was held in January of 1841. John L. Libhart was elected the first president. A new hand pumper for two men was bought and housed on April 24, 1841. The next piece of equip- ment, a used suction type pump, was purchased June 16, 1869. A Silsby Rotary ‘Some people thought 1 was foolish...’ A young woman, Betty Groff looks back to the time she and Abe started their own business, Groff’s Farm Restaurant. ‘‘Abe said 1 could do this as a hobby. Some people thought I was foolish, giving up my privacy, letting strangers into my house, but they didn’t know how much I like people, lots of people. “I've always considered this the diamond in my own backyard. : “lI don’t believe that success is something you go in search of. Success is happiness in being where you are. You measure success in happiness and satisfaction. . . ‘Opportunity knocks but once. Success is the ability of accepting opportunities. If you don’t accept opportu- nities, put them off, they don’t knock again. Steam Engine was obtained in 1872; a hook and ladder the same year; a chemical truck in 1920, as well as a rotary pump, motorized by members of the company in 1927 and used until 1959. In 1946 a two stage centifugal 750 GPM American La France pumper was placed May 28, 1975 “You make a few mis- takes, if you procrastinate long enough. You have to have confidence and faith, and then move. ‘“My father told me never to set financial goals. He said, ‘Setyour goals, but not money goals. You'll be disappointed if you do.’ “I've never set money goals. . . “We're so busy sharing our life and enjoying each other and what we're doing.We never have the time to be unhappy or worry about any mistakes we made.”’ Betty Groff said goodby to the reporter from the Susquehanna Bulletin, then cheerily turned to the next business for the day, saying ‘“Yes’’ to life as it come along at Groff’s Farm. ‘...a diamond in my own backyard.’ new fire hall, Saturday, May 31 into action and in 1959 a new Howe pumper mounted on an International chassis with a S500 booster tank was operated by the volunteers. A squad truck was added in 1969 as well as the building lot for the new structure which will be dedicated on May 31. 1841 Marietta fire engine
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