FLORENCE, S.C. – Candle power came first at Wednesday’s McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting ceremony at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence. A few moments later, the family of JoAnn Denney Fisher flipped the switch to light the trees and other decorations around the medical center.
The ceremony also featured the presentation of the Spirit of Hospital Award to Betty Taylor, music by the Wilson High School Tiger Production and speeches by Will McLeod, senior vice president, McLeod Health and McLeod Regional Medical Center chief executive officer; McLeod Health Board of Trustees Chairman Ben Ziegler; Chip Munn, Signature Wealth Strategies chief executive officer; McLeod Hospice Chaplain Scott Ard and a closing prayer by Ridgecrest Baptist Church Pastor Lacy Gray.
McLeod welcomed the audience to the 37thannual “A Light For Someone You Love” McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting Ceremony.
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The ceremony, McLeod said, is a way to remember people who impacted your life and have “passed on.”
“So tonight I hope you can find comfort in the wonderful memories of those who have passed,” McLeod said, adding he urged those gathered to love and cherish the people who are involved in your life now.
He also thanked McLeod Hospice employees because they “love and serve this community.”
“So tonight, I’m thankful. I’m thankful for those individuals that listened to the calling. I’m thankful for this program. I’m thankful for McLeod. I’m thankful that you’ve taken time to come tonight and celebrate with us,” McLeod said.
Zeigler said he always looks forward to the McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting Ceremony.
It’s an important evening because December is a season of hope, birth and renewal.
“It is a great pleasure to be with you this evening as we honor those we have lost and those that are still here,” he said.
The Spirit of Hospice Award was established to honor individuals or groups that have positively impacted the care of McLeod Hospice patients and families, McLeod Hospice Administrator Crystal Orphan said. The award is kept secret until the night of the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony.
This year’s recipient was Betty Taylor, who has served for 12 years crocheting butterflies for McLeod Hospice patients and their families, Orphan said.
“For years her late husband, Ralph would drive her from Dillon each week to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church where she was part of the Prayer Shawl Ministry, crocheting items for hospice patients,” Orphan said.
Taylor’s goal was 1,000 butterflies a year. After her husband’s death, Taylor continues to crochet butterflies from her home in Dillon.
This year, she completed her 12,000th butterfly. Each one as beautiful and unique as our patients,” Orphan said.
Signature Wealth Strategies sponsored the McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting ceremony.
It’s not Christmas until the McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting ceremony arrives in early December, Munn said.
“I’m excited tonight just to be a part of the event,” Munn said.
It’s hard, Munn said, to think about hospice and not think of the C word.
“I thought about that a long time,” he said, “and the longer I did the more I thought of the fact, for me and my experience with the hospice house, the C word that always came to mind for me was comfort.”
When his grandmother was ill, the family wanted her to go to Hospice House because she would be comforted and comfortable, he said. The family would be comfortable and comforted as well.
“I can think of a better group of caregivers than those here at McLeod Hospice,” he said.
Ard led the lighting of the candles, and explained the significance of candle power.
“Candlepower is defined as a unit of measurement for luminous intensity,” Ard said. “… With candlepower in mind and with these memory candles in our hands let us consider for a few moments this evening the power these candles actually have.”
The candles help us reflect and remind everyone of their loved ones who had a huge impact on their lives, he said. The candles will give a warming sense of reassurance as they burn. They also remind people of the peace that God provides.
After the lighting of the candles and a song by Wilson High Tiger Production, the family of JoAnn Denney Fisher participated in the “Lighting of the Trees.”
Fisher’s daughter, Amy Fisher Urquhart talked about her mother and her legacy on the family before the family flipped the switch.
Urquhart said he mother loved Christmas, and was a good picker of Christmas gifts.
Fisher was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer on Easter Sunday in 2020. She was given three months to live. With the help of McLeod Regional Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic, Fisher lived fought the cancer for 16 months.
“Her strength gave us another summer together, another round of family birthdays, Easter and one last Christmas,” Urquhart said. “It’s particularly fitting for us to honor my mom with the McLeod Hospice Tree. My mom loved all holidays, but she really loved Christmas.”
Urquhart expressed the families thanks to McLeod Hospice. Her mother would be proud and pleased to know her gift eased the struggles of others, she said.
Family members flipped the switch. The trees and ornaments light and crowed oohed and aahed at the sight.
As the ceremony wrapped up, McLeod returned to the podium to say early reports showed the ceremony had raised more than $120,000 for McLeod Hospice.
