A BEM has been awarded to Eva Baxter for services to young people, performing arts and the community in south west Ulster.
A retired civil servant – originally from Pettigo and now living in Ballinamallard – Mrs. Baxter, 73, has been involved in performing arts and working with young people since she was 18.
“I am very humbled to be recognised for something that I enjoy every minute of doing,” she told The Impartial Reporter.
Mrs. Baxter is a qualified speech and drama teacher under the international awarding body New Era Academy, which enables students to acquire university points. She is also an examiner for speech and drama internationally, having examined as widely as Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Another interest is writing, researching and performing monologues about women in history, including Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles, who founded Methodism. Mrs. Baxter is currently performing her unique brand of story-telling across Northern Ireland at various women’s clubs.
No stranger to awards, in 1990 Mrs. Baxter became the first woman in Northern Ireland to become an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies which recognises distinguished achievement in agriculture and related land-based industries. This was in light of her work on a farm diversification project with her husband Noel, when they diversified their Kesh dairy farm into a self-catering and coffee shop business called the Willow Pattern Complex. Two years later Mrs. Baxter was named UTV Farming Ulster Woman of the Year.
“I love performing,” Mrs. Baxter commented. “I feel very unworthy to have been named on the New Year Honours list but delighted too.”