SCUGOG: The Auxiliary to Lakeridge Health Port Perry is inviting the community to help them celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Camille’s Corner gift shop in the Port Perry hospital early next week. The hospital auxiliary will hold a celebration on Monday, September 23rd, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. There will be speeches at 11 a.m. from special guests such as Lakeridge Health CEO Matthew Anderson and other Lakeridge Health representatives and Scugog Mayor Bobbie Drew. There will also be sales, draws, and cake. “We’re really hoping people will turn out for the celebration of 50 years of our gift shop,” longtime Auxiliary member Ilean Pugh said. On September 23rd, 1969 the then named Women’s Auxiliary of the Community Memorial Hospital opened a tuck shop inside the east doors of the hospital. Auxiliary members took turns working at the shop. The shop did not move to its present location in the lobby until January 28th, 1995. In 1999, they gave the gift shop its official name Camille’s Corner after auxiliary members held a naming competition, eventually choosing to name it after Camille Crozier. “She had worked in the gift shop since the opening day in 1969, had taken a weekly shift continuously since then and held the positions of shop buyer and treasurer for many years” read a Port Perry hospital auxiliary press release. “Camille kept doing shifts at Camille’s Corner well into her late 80’s, often taking the last one of the day, then driving herself back to her home on the Island at 7:30 p.m. [in the] winter and summer.” Ms Pugh, who had her name submitted as an option, told The Standard what the contest was like. “It was kind of a fun thing, because they discussed [what they planned to name the shop]. It was nice, because Camille had been one of the first ones [to work in the shop] when they had opened the little corner. It’s also so great that she is still with us.” Ruth Spearing, from the auxiliary, talked about Ms Crozier. “Camille has been wonderful to work with. She has been so active for all the years she was here until not too long ago when she retired. She was so active, always here, always pleasant,” she said. “She would attend meetings and she’d sit there quietly and then suddenly she would give her opinion on something.” Ms Crozier currently lives at West Shore Retirement Village. “I did a lot. I enjoyed it,” Ms Crozier said, in a press release. The Port Perry hospital and Camille’s Corner is located at 451 Paxton Street.
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