Union Chamber honors Gina Peters for service

“I thought I was going because I’m Kiwanis president, and I sat at the Kiwanis table,” Peters told The Missourian. “And, a lady, when I came in the door said ‘Congratulations on your nomination.’ And I said, ‘Whaaat?’ ”

In recent years, Peters has not only been Union Kiwanis Club co-president, she has also been an impactful member of the Daughters of Isabella, a Catholic service organization that started as a female auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus. Though Peters officially retired in 2010, she continues to substitute teach a day or two each week after working 31 years at Union High School, 16 as a teacher and 15 as a counselor.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to someone older than 41 who has made a great difference to the community.

Unaware she was nominated, Peters did not prepare remarks in case she won. “So I’m standing up there on the podium, with my mouth open,” she recalled.

That left her with things she wanted to say later. “I wish I had said you get what you give,” Peters said Monday. “When I give to the community, I get back. And everybody is so supportive.”

As a teacher, Peters sponsored several high school clubs, like the Photo Club, Peer Helpers and overseeing the school yearbook. She also oversaw a one-page student newspaper that was published in The Missourian each week.

“We won lots of awards, the kids did,” she said.

She also sponsored the high school Scholar Bowl team, an official Missouri State High School Activities Association competition. “Whenever I would go to district coaches’ meetings, they would always look at me like, ‘Why in the heck are you here?’ because I’m not very athletic,” Peters recalled. “I said, ‘I’m a coach too.’ ”

As counselor, she set up peer counseling groups in and out of school facilities, where kids discussed challenges they were going through.

Peters started with the Daughters of Isabella while she still worked at Union High School and continued with the organization after retirement. She is most proud of starting the funeral luncheons the group puts on for families of people who pass away.

“I guess I became most aware that’s lacking, because when my mom passed away in a different community, nobody stepped in to do the funeral luncheon,” Peters said. “Here I was getting a caterer and a hall to do the funeral luncheon, instead of just sitting with my friends,” she said. “It’s so nice, that we in the Daughters of Isabella, when somebody asks us, we just take over. When people come to the funeral, they don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Peters also serves as the Daughters of Isabella’s scribe, sending out emails and newsletters. She received Isabellan of the Year in 2022.

Peters joined Kiwanis, a global volunteer service organization, in 2012. “That has been a godsend,” she said. “Its focus is on the children of our community.”

That includes programs like Terrific Kids, where they reward kids in schools for good behavior or grades, and the annual Angel Tree, which Kiwanis manages with United Bank of Union. The Angel Tree provides Christmas gifts for children in need. Kiwanis also sponsors a golf tournament, which raises money to help children’s groups, and read to children in school.

“We don’t just want to give money to organizations, we also want to hands-on do things for the organizations,” Peters said. “Even though I go into schools a couple times a week to teach, Kiwanis gives me a reason to do that.”

Kiwanis actually “gets in the trenches” and does the work, Peters said. “When we do a barbecue stand to raise money, people in the club have to work the barbecue stand,” she said. “We can’t hire out.”

As part of her duties with Kiwanis, Peters sponsors the Key Club at Union High, going to weekly meetings. “It really helps that I substitute teach, because the kids see me all the time,” she said.

Peters also expanded the Builders Club, the middle school version of Key Club, to Immaculate Conception, where her own children went. “It occurred to me that we did a lot of things in the public (middle) school, but we were lacking at Immaculate Conception,” she said. “That was a pet project of mine. ... They do a lot of service.”

Other award recipients at the Distinguished Service Awards ceremony include Addison Friese, Outstanding Student; Union High Assistant Principal Josh Hall, Outstanding Educator; retired Union Police Capt. Rick Neace, Shield Award for First Responders; Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Nonprofit Organization Award; American Legion Post 297’s Wreaths Across America, Community Project of the Year; John and Jeannine Moroney with W&M Restaurants/Taco Bell, Business of the Year; and L.J. Smith, Outstanding Young Person.

One additional award, the Long Haul Service Award, for people 65 and older, will be handed out May 18 at a barbecue in City Park. The deadline to nominate someone for the award is April 3. Call 636-583-8979 for more information.

While she wishes she had been able to invite her daughters to attend the dinner, Peters admits there was a positive aspect to not knowing about the award.

“I would have been nervous the whole time beforehand, so maybe it’s best,” she said.

Peters wishes she thanked her husband, Dennis, and twin daughters at the ceremony. “Being involved in those things took a lot of time at home,” she said. “I was probably not the best Suzy Homemaker.”