Three of the new inductees to the Alabama Senior Citizen Hall of Fame share a special bond with one another.

They’re all from Moody.

Annie Lee, Grace Bailey and Doris George all received letters informing them of their coming inductions earlier this year. The ceremony takes place Aug. 21, at First Baptist Church in Montgomery.

“For the first time in the history of the Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, three persons from the same Senior Center will receive the same award,” said Hall of Fame Director Melvin G. Cooper in his letters to the trio.

“We are really proud of our ladies,” Addie Duke, director of the senior center, said. “They just give of their time; whenever I need them, they are willing to go and do whatever needs to be done.”

All three were deferential in their comments about the honor.

“Addie came up with it, and she says, ‘I’m putting some of you up for it,’” Annie Lee said. “And I begged her not to, and she insisted she do it. And then she told me we had won.

“Supposedly it’s the first time three people from one center won at one time, so she’s real proud of us.”

Each new inductee was complimentary of the other two as well.

“I’m glad,” said George. “They’re all really good. Grace has been doing it for a long time, and Anne has been doing it for a long time.

“Anne even worked after she had eye surgery. She’d still drive and come deliver meals and stuff.”

“I would love to see Doris be recognized,” Bailey said. “She does so much. She comes over there and volunteers to serve food and she gets her meal free for doing that. It would make me feel good for her to be recognized.”

All three have been volunteers at the center since the middle of the last decade. And all three find the work fulfilling.

“I look forward to it,” Bailey said. “They’re always so glad to see me and I’m glad to see them. I just wouldn’t take anything for it. It’s just the feeling I get.”

They also complimented the work Duke does for the Moody senior center.

“She is a special person and she really has gone out for those people there,” Lee said. “And she really deserves to be recognized. She needs it more than anybody.

“There was never really much going on (before she came). She works very hard at it.”

The city has already recognized the three for their honor. Eleanor Clinkscales, from Ragland, will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame this August.

“I just look forward to serving,” said George. “By helping serve stuff I get to meet all the new people and meet them and greet them and doing something I enjoy.”

Contact Will Heath at wheath@thestclairtimes.com.