On Saturday, Val Burridge was awarded a 50-year voluntary service medal by Plunket's Taieri branch.
The 73-year-old was overwhelmed at a gathering organised in her honour.
Surrounded by friends and family, she was taken on a trip down memory lane as her involvement in Plunket from 1958 to 2009 was remembered.
"No wonder I was hardly ever at home," she said, laughing.
She started as a committee member of the Mosgiel Plunket Mothers, after being introduced to the group by a neighbour, and has been everything, including treasurer and vice-president of the Taieri branch, and New Zealand executive councillor for the Otago area.
In 1987, she was awarded the Jocelyn Ryeburn Cup for services to Plunket and took great pride in setting up the Plunket Home Help Work Skills Programme in 1983.
Meeting a range of people from all over New Zealand and the "wonderful friendships" she formed gave her a great deal of pleasure.
The 50-year medal allowed her to "update" her CV and badge collection and puts her in elite company, with just three others having the honour in Otago.
She believed Plunket was important because "it's for the babies and the mums".
"They kept a watchful eye on the whole family," she said.
A great job was still being done by Plunket through play-groups as the organisation adapted to modern parenting, she said.
Though she had "sat back" for the past six years, she still attended meetings to "make up the numbers" and her friendships will no doubt keep her involved for a while yet.
