By TARA SHAVER
AARP Community Outreach Director

Don’t you think it’s appropriate that the first National Volunteer Director for AARP comes from the Volunteer State?

Margot Seay, a Kingsport resident who has served as AARP Tennessee’s state president for the past six years, will spend the next two years traveling the country in her new role – providing advice and leadership for the Office of Volunteerism and Service.

Although AARP Tennessee’s staff and volunteers will greatly miss Margot’s counsel, energy and passion, we are excited to share her with the rest of the nation. However, her departure leaves a huge hole for our team and for nearly 670,000 AARP members in this state. And we want to begin filling it as soon as possible.

So we are seeking applications for the state president position and we’re also looking for folks to join our executive council of volunteer leaders. Members of the executive council, headed by the state president, serve as advisors to the Tennessee staff and represent AARP throughout the state for various media, speaking and volunteer opportunities.

AARP Tennessee is excited that two fantastic volunteers already have stepped up to new leadership roles. Debbie Pare’ of Mt. Juliet and Stan Peppenhorst of Memphis are filling the executive council seats left open by the departure of long-time leaders Jane Fabian of Nashville and John Strong of Millington.

Debbie came to AARP’s attention through her volunteer work as the Director for the Senior Citizens Awareness Network (SCAN) with the Wilson County Sheriff’s Department. She was a finalist for the Andrus award, AARP’s greatest volunteer honor. Debbie also serves on the Greater Nashville Regional Council on Aging and Disability advisory board and the Wilson County Community Help Center Board of Trustees.

Stan is a volunteer legislative activist on AARP’s advocacy team and has worked in political advocacy for over 20 years. Stan has been president of several political clubs in Shelby County and a member of the Tennessee Government Affairs Committee for the American Chemical Society. He taught physics and chemistry for 35 years, and is an independent science education consultant, a science content review panelist for ACT, Inc., and reviewer of middle and high school texts.

If you would like to join Debbie, Stan and the other AARP leaders in our Volunteer State, please submit applications to Michelle Wisner at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 24. Please clearly indicate your interest in either the state president position or the executive council member position, or both. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/tnaarpvols.

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed passing along “Messages from Margot” in columns and newsletters that provided news and information to thousands of Tennesseans. This time we have a “Message for Margot,” and it’s a simple one: Thank you for all that you’ve done to help our state become a better place for people of all ages.