Sonoma Valley Hospital names two Pulse Award winners

When Nancy Donnell Lilly received a call from David Pier, the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation executive director, she thought he would be asking for help on the hospital’s new capital campaign. Then, when Pier asked Maggie Salenger Haywood to meet him at Peet’s for coffee she was wondering whether he needed her to serve on a committee or to make a financial contribution.

Whatever the hospital needed Lilly and Haywood each knew they would say, “Yes.” That’s what they do.

Both longtime supporters of Sonoma Valley Hospital and well known for their community service throughout the Valley, they always step up when need arises.

This time the call was not to ask, “Please can you…” It was to say “Thank you. You’re amazing.”

Pier was letting Lilly and Haywood know that they are the recipients of the SVH Foundation’s Pulse award, which recognizes outstanding Sonoma Valley women who have made significant community contributions through their volunteerism and philanthropy. They will be honored at the 13th annual Celebration of Women luncheon on May 10 at Hanna Boys Center, a fundraising event that benefits women’s health and wellness programs at the hospital.

Supporting women’s health seems appropriate as both women are role models for physical fitness. Lilly is a lifelong dancer. Originally a ballerina, now she takes a modern dance class once a week and also does Pilates with a personal trainer. She is often out on the trails of the Bouverie Preserve, where she is a docent leading young students on educational hikes.

Haywood hikes the hilly Haywood Vineyards, which she and her husband Peter own, almost every day and goes on long rides with her biking group every Sunday morning. Her biking has also led to her personal appreciation of the hospital emergency care. A bug bit her arm as she was riding and knocking it away she lost control of her bike and ended up in the emergency room where they tended her multiple wounds. “It so nice that it is right here,” she said. Years ago when her son had a life-threatening asthma attack it was paramount that the hospital was only minutes away.

Haywood is a little anxious about making her speech at the luncheon, which will focus on how her respect for SVH’s care comes from her family’s personal experiences – Peter just had his second knee replacement there last week. “I’m not used to being the center of attention. I hope I get through it,” she said.

She’s lived in Sonoma almost 30 years, moving here from the Los Angeles area when she and Peter married. She is a real estate developer, and in L.A. she specialized in converting industrial buildings into art studios. Currently she is revitalizing distressed properties in the Springs.

Haywood is devoted to preserving nature, having served for eight years on the board of the Sonoma Land Trust. “I love what they do,” she said. She is also the former president of the board of the Sonoma Ecology Center and was on the Basin Advisory Panel that studied Sonoma Valley water preservation. She and Peter have been very involved in supporting the hospital, serving on multiple committees, including the committee that helped pass the bond that helped pay for the building of the new emergency department and surgery center.

She is very appreciative that she was able to be the co-chair of the task force that founded the Overlook Trail, one of the Valley’s most-used attractions. “That was a project I could really get my teeth into,” she said. She was the construction manager when the trail was built. She even helped remove poison oak from the trail herself, and had such a severe allergic reaction that – once again -- she ended up at SVH.

Lilly and her husband Tony live at Tallgrass Ranch where Nancy grew up. A native Sonoman she attended Prestwood and Sassarini schools and then headed to Dominican College in Marin County. Her dedication to community service began during the summer in college when she went to Tanzania to help build a school.

In her speech at the awards luncheon Lilly will talk about how her parents raised her to believe that giving back to your community is essential. “

She and Tony grow 130 acres of wine grapes and 275 olive trees. In 1998, Lilly became a certified olive oil taster by the California Olive Oil Council and is regularly on tasting panels to certify olive oil. Recently she traveled to Tokyo to judge a tasting of olive oils from all over the world. She presses, bottles and markets 132 gallons of her own extra virgin olive oil labeled Tallgrass Ranch, which is sold at Sonoma Market and other specialty stores.

“I am grateful that I am still able to live in Sonoma, because it is a community with a capital C. It is a place where people truly care and they step forward when something needs to be done. She encourages people to get involved and to “go out and help somebody.”

Grateful is the same word Haywood uses to explain how she feels about Sonoma and why she gets involved. “It’s a beautiful and wonderful community and that’s why I want to contribute,” she said.