Peggy Jones has received the 2020 Stirling Dickinson Award [] Patronato Pro Niños

Peggy Jones has received the 2020 Stirling Dickinson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Patronato Pro Niños

Published March 4, 2021

Anyone who has had the pleasure of taking one of the Patronato Pro Niños top rated Historical Walking Tours, would likely have seen a smiling figure at the center of the crowd of eager visitors gathering in front of the Jardin.  Undoubtedly, it was the always effervescent Peggy Jones, greeting the visitors, sorting them into groups, and making announcements about upcoming special Tours and other events.  

But Peggy did so much more than just corral the crowds:  as Coordinator since 2017, she streamlined collection and donation processes, formalized the Greeter function, created Orientation and Training manuals for Volunteers, oversaw a complete revision of the Tour Script and more.    In short, whenever and wherever she saw an opportunity for improvement, she made it happen.  Not surprisingly, in her small graduating class in rural Wisconsin, she was awarded the “Spade Trophy, given to the student who always worked hard and “dug in” to get things done.”  Indeed, one of her daughters jokes fondly “that she is like a friendly drill sergeant”.

But her “steel in the velvet glove approach” gets results.  Over her tenure as leader, the Tours became a major contributor to the organization’s fundraising:  donations and the number of attendees grew significantly.

Peggy & Stan Jones visited San Miguel for the first time in 2005 and like many, bought a house here right after that visit!  After their retirement, they moved here full time, and Peggy channeled her boundless energy into volunteer roles:  she has worked with So Others May Eat for 12 years and started with the Historical Walking Tours in 2014, Architectural Tours in 2016 and became Co-Ordinator from 2017-2020.

In her gracious acceptance speech, Peggy said “Stirling Dickinson was an icon of service, benevolence, and commitment to the people of San Miguel, so there is a particular honor to this recognition that I truly appreciate.” As well, Peggy acknowledged her predecessor as Tour leader, Betse Davis, for being “not only a mentor, but in being a model of volunteerism.”

 The historical group tours from Patronato Pro Niños will restart as soon as recovery from the pandemic allows: until then, you can book a private tour, and if you would like to donate to this worthy cause, which for 50 years has provided medical services to the needy children of San Miguel, contact Executive Director, Nory Contractor at norycontractor@…

Cheryl Young
Volunteer