By SUE ELLEN ROSS – Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Although Dorothy Millet has been retired for many years, she remembers what it took to make a pleasant environment in the work place. Sshe has taken that attitude to the River Parishes Hospital gift shop, where she volunteers two days a week.

“We have team work and good communication,” she said of her fellow volunteers. ‘”It’s a pleasure to come to work.”

Millet, 84, used to work as keypunch operator at Chevron Oil before she retired, so she is familiar with office work. But today’s technology amazes her.

The key punch cards she worked with at the oil company have long vanished, with computers now recording all customer information.

“Invoices were transferred to the keypunch cards. That’s the way we kept track of our customers and our billing,” she said. “My job was to verify that the information was put in correctly.”

The gift shop seems like the right fit for this Garyville resident. She likes to talk with people, and gets many opportunities to do just that.

“I meet new people all the time,” she said. “And I also enjoy running into old friends.”

The dedicated volunteer says she sees a different side of herself when serving at the hospital. It also gives her an inside view of the staff that operates the hospital.

When River Parishes Hospital first settled in LaPlace, Millet and her neighbors were relieved that they didn’t have to travel far for good medical care.

“We had to go all the way to Metairie or New Orleans,” she said. “Now, we have it all right here. Everyone on the staff is very competent.”

For information on volunteering at River Parishes Hospital, call Claudette Henry at 651-1482.