News : Vinton Women's Club relives story of Dr. Maggie Mangold

Dr. Maggie Mangold told the Vinton Women's Club about growing up in Vinton during their banquet.

Every September, the Vinton Women's Club hears from an area professional during its fall banquet. That person tells the organization about their job, and their childhood.

But last night, the club heard from someone its members have known for decades; someone they knew as a very young child.

Bonnie Sanders introduced the speaker, Dr. Maggie Mangold. Sanders told the group how she remembered a very young Maggie Karr singing in a pageant, and how energetic she was. Later, Sanders was a youth leader who recalled other teens asking Maggie why she was so happy.

"Because I choose to be," Sanders recalls hearing Maggie reply.

Sanders said she takes joy from the children who grow up in the Vinton area, watching them mature into adults. She said it's a special joy when those children come back to Vinton to live, work and help others here.

"Now, she is here to help us with our health issues," Sanders told the VWC members.

Dr. Mangold returned to Vinton in 2010, and is on the staff of the Virginia Gay Hospital and Clinics. She shared her story with nearly 40 VWC members who attended the annual event.

Maggie, the daughter of Kurt and Lu Karr, told the group about growing up in Vinton. She recalled an era when neighbors would share sugar and watch each other's kids -- an era that is gone, except for places like Vinton, where it still continues. She made the ladies laugh when she recalled playing baseball in a the back yard of one of her friends. When Maggie's father told the kids they probably shouldn't play baseball so close to the house, her friend told Kurt that she was the one who had the authority over that back yard, not him.

"By the time I was in my teens, I knew I wanted to be a doctor," she said. "I was counting down the days to my 14th birthday, so I could begin volunteering."

First at Virginia Gay Hospital, then at St. Luke's, Maggie was a volunteer, and later an intern who was earning college credit while still in high school. She finished college in three years before going on to medical school.

After sharing her story, Dr. Mangold discussed women's health issues with the ladies in attendance.