DEMOPOLIS – After retiring from 25 years of teaching at Westside Elementary School, Brenda Parr has something new to keep her busy, only she doesn’t get paid for her time.

Parr joined the “Pink Ladies” volunteer auxiliary at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in 2000 and is approaching her fifth anniversary.

She said she joined the auxiliary because Jimmie McCollum, fellow Pink Lady, would always talk about how much fun the group was as they volunteered together at the library of First Baptist Church, where they are members.

“She asked me and I just couldn’t say no,” Parr said. “My friends tease me because I have a hard time saying no.”

Since then, Parr has held many leadership positions in the hospital auxiliary.

Parr served as secretary in 2003-2004 and as president in 2004-2005.

She was just voted to serve as president again for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

Parr said during her past year as president the ladies have begun to offer snacks to patients twice a day and she is working on organizing records for the group.

Although she enjoys every activity the group hosts, Parr said her favorite event is the jewelry sale.

“I love the jewelry sale,” she said. “Before when I used to work I never could wear much jewelry, but now I wear too much,” she said as she flashed her numerous rings and bracelets.

On Nov. 21, Parr said, she and her husband Charles will have been happily married for 30 years.

And although Parr and her husband don’t have any children she always said her students were her children. She even works with some of her “children” at BWWMH.

In the past Parr and Charles enjoyed trips to Europe, but she said now they are “homebodies.”

“His favorite thing to do is work in the yard and I like to work in the garden,” she said. “I used to work at Bargain Box, but I stopped that about a year ago.”

Parr is also a member of the study club, music study club, and she continues to volunteer at her church once a week.

She enjoys reading and working out in the Wellness Center and wants to get back into the routine of going.

But until she starts her daily visits to the center, Parr will continue to add on to her 1,100 hours of volunteer work at BWWMH.