In terms of mileage, Rebecca Boston is going far. In terms of a challenge, it’s more than a leap.

Boston, the former director of the Department of Family and Children Services in Effingham County, has taken over the DFCS office in Bulloch County after splitting her time between the two for nearly a year.

“I’ve had 17 good years here,” she said as the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce feted her Tuesday afternoon at the county administrative complex.

The director of the Bulloch office retired last Sept. 1, and Boston filled in there while also running the Effingham office. She would spend mornings in Effingham and afternoons and evenings in Bulloch, working from 7 a.m. to 9 or 10 at night.

“I was going back and forth every day,” she said. “But I couldn’t have done it without the staff.”

Boston was hired as the full-time director in Bulloch on May 1 and her last day as the Effingham DFCS director was July 16. While her staff in Effingham was experienced, such is not the case in Bulloch, and Boston saw that as an opportunity to re-build the department and to let others blossom in her wake.

“Bulloch was undergoing a lot of changes,” she said. “I prayed long and hard about it. I feel I’ve got the skills. I felt it was time to step up to the plate and to allow some people here to step up. I was certainly comfortable here. A lot of us have grown up together professionally.

“I know it’s time for me to move aside,” Boston told the audience. “It’s an opportunity for many of you to serve, and I know you will do well. It’s an opportunity for me to teach them and to get them to grow.”

Jane Sack, supervisor of Child Protective Services, recalled that she and Boston had been through thick and thin.

“I know she’s going to be missed,” she said, “but I hear she’s cracking the whip in Bulloch County.”

Vicki Riggins, a former supervisor under Boston, will take over the Effingham DFCS office.

Boston came to the Effingham office from Chatham County in 1981, hired by former director Ruth Lee. When Lee stepped down in 1990, Boston stepped in.

“She has not only served well as the county director,” Lee said. “She has been very active in community affairs. Anything that has needed to be done, she has been there. She has been a real asset to the county.”

Boston started as a supervisor for eligibility and social services at the Effingham DFCS. She and Lee became close friends over the years.

“It was sort of like one of my children leaving home,” Lee said of Boston’s departure for Bulloch County.

“She’s left the best job she’s ever had.”

“When I found out she was going to Statesboro, I was mad with her also,” cracked Reggie Loper, president of the Effingham Exchange Club. “She has always been there to help us.”

Sherry Loper called Boston “fearless,” noting how she and Boston delivered meals in the middle of the night to places Loper was nervous about going to even during the day.

Effingham Hospital Administrator Norma Jean Morgan called upon Boston for advice, even when she was working for the state in Atlanta because Boston knew where to point her for the answers she needed.

“She is a wealth of information,” Morgan said. “On behalf of Effingham Hospital, we say thanks for your service and leadership.”

Riggins worked with Boston for 10 years, four of them with Boston as her direct supervisor. Boston is also Riggins’ assigned mentor.

“I don’t know if she could ever know how much her counsel has meant to me,” Riggins said.

Riggins said she’s already called on Boston a few times since she went to Bulloch County exclusively and is glad Boston is so close.

“I can’t imagine taking this job without her over there,” Riggins said.