Donna Schmidt spends one day a week as one of the smiling faces greeting people who come into the main entrance at the Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood.
As one of the volunteers behind the desk, Schmidt helps direct people to what they are looking for and provides any other information she knows or can get for visitors.
Schmidt has been volunteering at the hospital for about five years.
When she didn’t have as much spare time, Schmidt used to be the office manager at the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce.
“It was a good job,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt has been a Cottonwood resident since 1994 and said that the 21 years here in the Verde Valley seems to have gone by relatively quickly, when she looks back on it.
Schmidt made her way to the Verde Valley from Southern California, Torrance, specifically.
In California, Schmidt’s line of work was a bit different from working with a chamber of commerce or greeting people at the hospital.
“I worked in the aerospace industry,” Schmidt said. “Allied Signal, which now is Honeywell.”
The company acquired Honeywell several years ago and took on the name.
Before moving to the area, Schmidt said she was already familiar with the Verde Valley.
“We belonged to Thousand Trails,” Schmidt said, speaking of the RV resort outside of Cottonwood where many people stay for extended visits.
“We also had a couple of friends who lived out here,” Schmidt said.
Traveling is still at the top of things Schmidt enjoys when she has the time.
Schmidt travels with her husband, John. They have been married more than 51 years.
The two met in Southern California because John, originally from Pittsburgh, was in the Navy and was stationed in Long Beach.
“Back when that was still a thing,” Schmidt said.
That was well before the shipyards there shut down in the 1990s.
Schmidt gets back to California fairly regularly to visit children who still live there.
“They never moved away,” Schmidt said. “They’ve got good jobs.”
Schmidt has three children, including one who lives in Las Vegas, another area that she frequently travels to.
Another spot that Schmidt has taken a liking to is Louisiana. The Pelican State holds a special charm for Schmidt, particularly New Orleans, although she has traveled throughout the state.
When the Schmidts aren’t traveling or Donna isn’t volunteering, they like to bowl, she said.
