|
Giesla Schluter
Terrell is The Story Woman's Club's 2010 "Unsung Hero."
Gisela was born in Northern Germany during World War emerging from those difficult years with a fierce determination to do all within her power to assure that those around her would not suffer hardship or hunger. Ever since moving here in 1994, her Story volunteer efforts have had the recurring themes of using music and gardening to help others.
|
| Gisela has been a music teacher for
over 40 years and currently gives lessons at low cost to over a dozen
piano and stringed instrument students.
Her involvement with students extends beyond teaching.
She regularly finds instruments, bows, and music for her pupils
and even drives them to regular orchestra rehearsals if they need
transportation. She leads
the Story School string program and founded the Buffalo Chamber
Ensemble. Gisela is an
accomplished violist and plays with the Buffalo Chamber Ensemble, the
Wyoming Symphony, the Powder River Symphony, occasionally in Montana and
South Dakota orchestras, and in several duet and trio groups.
She often performs in nursing homes, senior centers, and for ill
members of the community.
|
 |
 |
There are probably few residents of
Story who have not enjoyed food from Gisela's garden.
She is a talented and knowledgeable gardener who teaches others
how to create soil and grow plants inexpensively in the mountains; she
is a favorite speaker at the Story Garden Club.
Many gardens in Story have free plants from Gisela's garden.
She regularly uses her knowledge and produce to provide food to
those who are sick in the community. The
Story Library usually has a basket of Gisela’s dried fruit for workers
and patrons to enjoy.
|
| Gisela began a program following Hurricane Katrina to sell her jams and jellies to raise funds to help those in places that may have missed out on government programs. Through friends she found specific needs, such as rubber boots for children, and made sure those needs were met through her "Katrina Jar." She also helped those in Kaycee, WY after the flooding there. This year she instigated a Story Community effort to help Haitians after the earthquake that sent over $500 to the Red Cross. |  |
 |
Gisela helps those who are seriously
ill or injured in Story. She
regularly walks and even boards dogs of those who cannot care for their
dogs during the time they are away for cancer treatments or unable to
walk. She goes each week to
help provide physical therapy to a paralyzed woman in Sheridan.
This year she gave a motorized chair to an elderly Story
resident. Gisela and a
friend recently provided a musical concert for an auction to raise money
for the treatment of a local breast cancer patient.
In the five years since the death of her husband, Clyde, Gisela
has been a regular in the American Cancer Society's annual walk.
Each year she walks up to 20 miles a night to raise money for
cancer research, always carrying the American flag that Clyde carried in
the Story Days Parade the year he died.
|
|
Gisela said, "I think Story is an absolutely fabulous place to be!" Because of this lady's helpful heart, great talents, and enormous efforts, it is a better place for us all!
|
|