CAMDEN, S.C. (BP)–If you’re a telemarketer, Jean Norman may give you a few seconds longer than some people.
Norman, who celebrated 50 years as volunteer music and choir director at Wateree Baptist Church, Camden, S.C., in October, recalls the 40th anniversary of her service there in 1990.
Honored with a trip to the state church music directors’ annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., the 75-year-old Norman looks back with amusement at the day she received the phone call about being named volunteer musician of the year.
“I thought he was a telemarketer, but I did listen to what he had to say,” she said. “I’m glad I did.”
Norman and her husband, David, moved to Camden in 1950 and soon joined Wateree Baptist Church. When Norman began singing in the choir, the church was without a music director, and what started out as a temporary stint has turned into a half-century of service.
“I have a wonderful group of people to work with,” Norman said. “The choir has been my lifeline.”
Stretching beyond her music, Norman also has led an adult Sunday school class for women the past 35 years.
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Condensed from a news story by Holly Becker in the South Carolina newsjournal Baptist Courier. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at www.bpnews.net. Photo title: JEAN NORMAN.
