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After 33 years as schools’ food chief, Nelda Gibbs is retiring

“I feel so blessed to have held this job these 33 years as Mathews County Schools Food Service Coordinator. I will be retiring in June but looking forward to serving as overseer for Meals on Wheels. That’s after our family (husband Stuart, two sons and a granddaughter) take a three-week vacation at Lake Tahoe.”

Nelda’s career began in 1990 when she “decided to take a job “where I would be with my children.” She was a teacher’s assistant but a lot of her work was with the food service department or the cafeteria program. “When the position as director of School Nutrition Meal Program at elementary and middle schools became available, Mr. Harry Ward asked me to take over the job for one month. My answer was ‘no way’ but I relented. When the month was up no replacement had been found. Then he asked me to take it for a year. I felt overwhelmed.”

But with the determination to do it correctly, Nelda made contact with the Department of Education where she spent many hours on the phone ...

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