The Volunteer Master: Martha Diehl

I would always volunteer to have a meal with Martha! Finally got to have an It's My Treat meal with my long-lost friend Martha Diehl. I have known Martha for many many years (decades?). We met at WILL, the PBS/NPR stations here in town.

I don't know if I have shared how I got my start in the video business, but it all started over 25 years ago when I was a volunteer at WILL. I started running cameras for pledge drives and moved my way up to other positions until eventually getting a full-time job and the start of my video career. Martha has a similar story, starting as a volunteer at WILL and working her way up until she got a full-time job. So, we both started as volunteers and got to know each other as we worked on some projects together.

Even though I have known Martha forever, it has been years since we have gotten together to talk. Before we get into the conversation, let's talk about the meal. We made this appointment a couple of weeks ago, so Martha had no idea what she would be up for when the time came, but we decided on Farren's as good place and was close to where I work. As you all know, Farren's is well known for their burgers, and I always get burgers when I got out, so, of course, I got a pulled pork sandwich! Ha. I am living a life of adventure on these It's My Treat meals. Martha got a salad, and as usual, I forgot to ask if she liked it. It looked pretty good, and she didn't say anything bad about it, so I am going to assume that it was the best salad that she had had all day. My pulled pork sandwich was also the best pulled pork sandwich I had all day. What a co-inky-dink!

I can't believe is has been 10 years since we have been out for a meal together, but looking back at it, I am pretty sure it was back in 2014 when I came back down to Champaign to finish up my bachelor’s degree. I wasn't in town for very long because I went up to Chicago to get an MFA to finish up my education. That was a weird time in my life. I don't really like going to school, but I did the back-to-back degrees all at one time. Martha also has a couple of degrees. I had no idea about her undergrad in history and poli-sci, but I did know her Master's was in Library Science.

I didn't get back to Champaign until 2019, but by that time Martha had moved to Texas, so we didn't get a chance to reconnect. It wasn't until recently that I made the connection that she had moved back into town during the pandemic. That was such an odd time that a lot was probably missed. Sorry that we didn't get together earlier, but glad we have finally reconnected. It was so great to catch up after all those years. Most of the talk was reminiscing about work and catching up on family, which probably isn't of much interest to anyone but us.

But there is one part of the conversation that I would like to talk about, and if you know my style of hinting at the theme of the post in the first sentence, you may have guessed that this one is about volunteering. As I mentioned, we met back in the day where we were both volunteers at WILL. Martha is the master of volunteering. She is currently a volunteer at the Mahomet museum and at the Friends Shop at the Champaign Public Library. Martha is special; she is so smart, organized, and hardworking that she would wonderful addition to any organization. I am sure her skills would make her highly compensated if she was seeking money, but she seems to get more pleasure by volunteering for organizations that she believes in. What an amazing way to live your life. I am a big believer in giving back, and Martha has done that to an extent that I have not.

She also talked about some of the volunteer work she did down in Texas where she read with grade school students and did volunteer research at a museum down there. One of the people she mentioned researching was Karl Baur, a test pilot back in the years after WWII. Seems like he has an interesting story if you are ever looking for something to learn about.

Martha also mentioned some words of wisdom that I imparted on her when we worked together. I have no memory of saying these things, but I'm going to accept credit for them because it makes me seem like I knew what I was talking about. Ha. First thing I told her was when she was working on a project on one of the computers. She was worried about doing something wrong. I was nice enough to tell her that she didn't know enough to break anything. Ha. That doesn't seem very nice, but I am sure I meant it in a way that she didn't need to be nervous and feel free to experiment in any way she wanted and all would be fine. The other thing I told her when she was doing some research, was that some people see the forest, some people see the trees, but she sees the bark. Again, not sure that is super nice, but I was probably just commenting on how in depth she gets when she sets her mind to looking into something. Super detailed. I am guessing that they were received in a good way, because she still looks back on the advice fondly.

The other thing I told her wasn't about work, but about her house. She wanted a large kitchen. I asked her if she did the cooking, which she said she did, then I told her then she should have what she wants. Makes sense for the person doing the cooking to make the decisions about the kitchen.

When I mentioned that I was taking acting classes, Martha gave me a little homework assignment. She recommended that I look up Alan Alda's Clear+Vivid podcast. Love the guy as an actor, so I am sure it is a good one to check out. Always good to have a new podcast to listen to. clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com

Martha was very thankful for the meal and even send the digital postcard below, and she said that the next meal was on her. When I originally set out on this It's My Treat project, I figured I'd give it a chance for a year. Coming up on that time now, so I am thinking about if I want to continue. After Martha mentioned buying me a meal sometime, I thought maybe I should change the title of this project to It's Your Treat and just get other people to buy me a meal every week. Ha. That would be funny.

Thank you, Martha, for having a meal with me. It was so good to catch up with you. Looking forward to keeping better in contact in the future.