BELLA VISTA — Jane Barfield was a busy volunteer until the coronavirus made her a little less busy.
Barfield is on the board of the Bella Vista Courtesy Van and is in charge of schedulers. When the virus hit, the van temporarily stopped its service.
Many of the volunteer drivers are themselves at high risk for the virus, she said. The service is now getting ready to start again, but only if the number of cases goes down and stays down for two weeks. When it opens, it will probably only drive people to medical appointments, rather than the usual trips to grocery stores and salons, until things settle down.
The Courtesy Van is Bar-field’s latest volunteer job but not her only one.
When she moved to Bella Vista in 2006, she volunteered at the library and helped during the transition to the city. She also served on the Joint Advisory Committee on Recreation. Before that, in Vernon, Texas, she worked with a program helping battered women.
A teacher for 21 years, Jane Barfield was working in Texas, teaching a technology class at Lockheed Martin, when she met her husband, Dave Bar-field. After they were married, they volunteered together in Texas.
She taught computer classes to the battered women in Texas, while other volunteers cared for the women’s children and served a meal. She often cooked those meals for 20 or 30 people. She also worked with Dave at a shelter.
“I owned the first personal computer in Vernon, Texas,” she said. Remembering it was about the size of a suitcase.
“We’re giver-backers,” she said. Most volunteers agree, she said, that they get more back than they put in. “It’s a heart thing.”
Eventually, they were ready to retire, but they didn’t know exactly where to live. Both Jane and Dave have grown children who live all over. Jane has a twin sister who has spent part of her life overseas.
They learned over the years, that you don’t have to be geographically close to have a close relationship.
“Everyone who knew me knew I wanted to get out of Texas,” Barfield said, saying her native state is just too hot. She wanted to return to Marietta, Ga., where they lived briefly, but her husband didn’t like the traffic in that area.
He suggested they buy an RV and spend some time looking for the perfect place to live.
Since their RV adventure began in the winter, their first destination was the gulf shore of Texas, where they ran into a couple from Bella Vista. Armed with an invitation to visit Bella Vista, the Barfields next headed to Memphis In May, a music and barbecue festival. Although their RV was still new, it broke down near Bella Vista, so the Barfields stopped to visit their friends.
They let their friends show them around to be polite, but they ended up liking what they saw.
“Suddenly, we were homeowners,” she said. But they continued to travel and never saw a place they liked better.
Until she hurt her back, the Barfields were often outdoors together, golfing, kayaking, walking and fly fishing. The back injury has slowed Barfield down, but she still accompanies Dave on fly fishing expeditions. Occasionally, they rent a pontoon on Loch Lomond.
Recently, they added a screened room to their home which makes a great place to watch birds and read. Their house, she said, is now perfect and they have no plans to move.
Lynn Atkins may be reached by email at latkins@nwadg.com .
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