September '98 was National Baby Health Month

"Labor of Love"

On the morning of September 2nd, Shirley Jones, Florence Henderson and Barbara Billingsly
were present for the dedication of a very special new hospital wing in Southern California.

The ladies were driven in style to and from Glendale Memorial Hospital.
They were chauffeured through town in a black stretch limousine.
The ceremony began at 11:00 AM    Shirley, Barbara, and Florence
were escorted from the lounge area across the hall, to the waiting crowd of eager reporters.
Shirley walked in first, with Mr. Groff, who was the public relations man responsible for
this very pleasant and well organized event.

The Hospital's three honored guests stood quietly to the side
of the room while Dr. Robert Gall, the new unit director,
introduced the wonderful hospital staff and director.


The lighting for the room was difficult to judge. One portion of the NICU was lit up with professional
equipment for the television crews, while the area just off camera was dim by comparison.

There were plenty of interviews.
Top left: Shirley speaks with a man from a local radio station.
ABC got into the act with a segment for their News broadcast.
The bottom left shot is Shirley being interviewed by NBC and she's asked how
she felt when she first became a mother herself, back in 1958.
That's me checking my flash (it works) and the NBC cameraman getting
a clip of Shirley shaking hands at the conclusion of her Interview (soundfile)

Shirley was given the honor of cutting the ribbon for the dedication of the new Intensive Care Unit.
She was handed the big plastic scissors and waited patiently for her signal.
Unfortunately, the ribbon had other ideas and it was not properly secured at the post.
As Shirley stood there waiting for Barbara and Florence to get into position
the ribbon simply fluttered unceremoniously to the floor.



Shirley looked down and then with an amused look she said: "I didn't do a thing!"
The staff handed the end of the large pink ribbon to Florence Henderson
who held it in place as they pretended to cut the darn thing as the cameras rolled.
It was also rather funny when Florence forgot to let go of the ribbon!


In the photo to the right, Shirley meets little one-day-old Kenya
who is held by her mother Glenda.

The proud new mothers with their premature but healthy babies, sat behind the podium.
All of the newborns were only a few days old.
At one point during the presentation everyone was asked not to clap any more
because one of the babies in the next room was upset by all the racket we were making.
After the ceremony everyone had a chance to chat with Shirley, Barbara and Florence.


The brand new Intensive Care Unit actually opened on July 27th
and twenty-eight babies had already been cared for by the time this dedication took place
on Wednesday, September 2nd.
The smallest baby to date weighed in at a mere one pound fifteen ounces!


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