Mitzi Hunter knew that she’d been selected the Piedmont region’s SHIIP Coordinator of the Year.

What she didn’t know was that she was going to receive the award from the state’s Commissioner of Insurance.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey made a stop at Davie Senior Services on Sept. 7. Not coincidentally, Hunter was at the center taking part in a training program for the state’s Senior Health Insurance Information Program.

Causey made the stop during a trip to visit fire departments in Davie County.

“I was very surprised,” Hunter said after receiving the award. Hunter has been a program coordinator for six years.

Hunter won the praise of the area’s two members of the N.C. General Assembly.

“She’s been the friendly face that people see when they come into the center,” Rep. Julia Howard said.

“She’s been indispensable to the mission of the senior center,” said Sen. Dan Barrett. “I don’t see how we could do much better.”

Howard and Barrett got wind of the commissioner’s visit and were on hand for the presentation.

Hunter plans to retire at the end of the year. But she’s not leaving the program. “I’m still going to volunteer as a counselor,” she said.

SHIIP, the Seniors Health Insurance Information Program, is a division of the N.C. Department of Insurance that provides free unbiased Medicare counseling to all 100 counties in North Carolina.