Teen known for giving time

Anyone who knew Callie Meadows easily spotted a funny, friendly, giving and outgoing 18-year-old with a bright future.

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"She brightened up the room when she came in," her aunt, Jean Grover, said.

Meadows' future was cut short Saturday when she died in a car wreck on Washington Road near Old Lincolnton Highway.

Meadows, a 2007 honor graduate of Greenbrier High School, was aiming for a career in the medical field as a nursing student at Augusta State University.

She also was the 2006-07 winner of the Rotary Zone Speech Contest for Augusta West Rotary Club, and earned the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2007.

"She was a pretty amazing young lady,' said Karen Ribble, who served as a scout leader to Meadows for about a decade. "She was a very ambitious young lady and everyone loved her."

And Meadows cared about others and regularly gave her time, Grover said. For her senior project, Grover said Meadows redesigned a children's room at an Augusta battered woman's shelter.

"She painted a mural and decorated one of the children's rooms so that the children, when they came there, they could have something bright and cheery to look at," Grover said. "She gave to everybody first."

Meadows, who loved animals, was a regular volunteer for Molly's Militia and worked summers at Doctors Hospital units, including the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, in addition to her job at Applebee's restaurant.

The bubbly teen also was active in the Lights of the World Teen Ministry Choir at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, where she was a member.

"She had a very good head on her shoulders," said Sharie Agee, parish administrator at the church. "She was very positive about everything. You don't see that in teenagers too much anymore."

Funeral services for Meadows are set for 2 p.m. today at Our Redeemer church at 402 Aumond Road in Augusta. Burial will follow in Westover Memorial Park.

She is survived by her parents, Louise Grover Meadows and Vince Meadows; her sister, Raela Meadows; and many other family members and friends.

Grover said Meadows was like her own child and could easily be found standing up for her peers. Grover said Meadows was a great role model for other people her age.

"I don't know many children like her," she said.