COUNTY NEWS
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Crawford County JP is named ‘Citizen of the Year’ Crawford County community leader and
Justice of the Peace Mary Blount was named the recipient of the Iverson Riggs Memorial Citizen of the Year Award at the annual ban- quet of the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce. Blount, vice president of Citizens Bank &
Trust, was introduced at the June 16 event as “a woman God has given us to make our com- munity a better place to live.” She has served on the Crawford County
Quorum Court (Dist. 7) for five years; she has served three years as budget chairman. Looking over a full house at the Van Bu-
ren High School Commons Area, a humbled Blount said she saw many in the crowd who were deserving of the award. She was quick to first thank God, then her family and fellow employees at Citizens who allow her serve the community. Serving twice as president of the GFWC
Women’s League of Van Buren, Blount spear- headed the efforts to raise $22,000 for com- puter technology at Stepping Stone School and $17,000 for girls softball fields at the Field of Dreams Sports Complex. Blount is a Sunday school teacher at Oak
Grove Baptist Church where she served on the new sanctuary committee and volunteers in children’s church and the nursery. She is an active supporter of the Crawford County Girls Softball Association and the business she and husband Ronnie own, Ron’s Auto Body, sponsors the fast-pitch softball team, the Diamond Divas, for whom Blount keeps the scorebook. As vice president of Citizens, she has imple- mented financial programs for junior high and high school students and for the past five years has overseen the Dollars and Sense Pro- gram and fourth grade students in Van Buren, Mountainburg and Cedarville public schools. Blount volunteers in first grade classes at
J.J. Izard and Rena Elementary schools and Mountainburg schools, promoting a lifetime habit of saving for their future through the motto, “Spend Some, Save Some and Give Some.” She has completed the ABA School of Bank
Marketing and Management in Dallas, is a graduate of Leadership Crawford County and regularly participates in the Van Buren School District’s Education Foundation Prize Patrol. Blount has organized fundraisers for St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and takes pride in sending notes to students who
COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2011
Mary Blount with her citizen of the year plaque and family. From left are sister Beverly Harrison, hus- band Ronnie Blount, Blount, mother and father Bill and Lula Farrar and daughter and her husband Landi and Gary Brown. Photo by Kenneth Fry / Press Argus-Courier
are recognized in the newspaper for academic, athletic or character achievements. Serving the banking industry for 35 years,
Blount was Business and Professional Wom- en’s woman of the year in 1996 and 2005, GFWC’s woman of the year in 1999, presi- dent of Financial Women International in 1996-97, served on the board for the Boys and Girls Club of Van Buren and Girls Shelter and volunteered as a mentor with the Crawford County Mentoring Program and served on the program’s board. Donna Parker, who received the citizen of
the year award in 2009, said Blount epitomizes the spirit of the award, established in 1987 in memory of Iverson Riggs, founder and pub- lisher of the Van Buren Courier newspaper. “Never has Mary pursued her volunteer
efforts for personal gain or recognition - her focus has always been on bettering the circum- stances of the less fortunate, improving the quality of life in our community and honoring God through her actions.” Valerie Burns, a teacher at Rena Elementary School, said Blount is a person who will vol- unteer her time on a moment’s notice just by making a phone call to her. “Mary Blount is quick to respond to any
need,” Burns said. “She does so often as a silent helper for those who might need groceries or a meal paid for or assistance in any way.” Burns said Blount is a person who can be
depended on to help. “Her whole life revolves around helping others to make Van Buren a great place to live,” Burns said. Joyce Sanders, Rena principal, lauded
Blount for her efforts with the Dollars and Sense Program. “When Mary is at our school, you can tell she has a heart for the students and staff of our school,” Sanders said. “She genuinely loves working with people. Her profession is in Van Buren and her heart is in Van Buren.”
– By Kenneth Fry, Editor Press Argus-Courier
••••••••••••••••••• (Did an aspect of county government
“make news” recently in your county? Did any of your county officials or staff get an award, appointment, or pat on the back? Please let us know about it for the next edi- tion of County Lines magazine. You can write up a couple of paragraphs about it, OR if something ran in your local paper, call and ask them to forward the story to us. We encourage you or your newspaper to attach a good-quality photo, too: email
rkemp@arcounties.org)
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