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Giving to the community
Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
One of Mary Lynn Huntwork’s hobbies is tending to her flowers. Here, she stands next to a rose that was given to her by a friend to plant in ‘The Jungle,’ which is what Huntwork’s children call her flowerbeds in the back yard.
There’s no doubt that Mary Lynn Huntwork is actively involved in the city of George.
She’ll tell you about all of her activities, but she’ll need to take a deep breath beforehand to do so.
She’s a member of the George City Council, the town’s Arbor Day/Tree City board, the town’s community hall board and Christ the Savior Lutheran Church. and vice president of the local Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. She’s also involved with the town’s ongoing beautification effort, a past president of George Elementary School Parent Volunteer Committee, a member of the Quincy Youth Baseball board and a fill-in baseball and soccer coach when needed.
The fact that Huntwork finds time for all of this in addition to being a wife and mother of five children is impressive. But Huntwork is the kind of person who probably wouldn’t know what to do with herself if she wasn’t that busy, and might not enjoy it much anyway.
“I just enjoy helping people,” she said. “How do I find time to do it all? I just do, I guess. I just have to manage my time. My kids are supportive of the things I do because most of the time it’s because of them I’m doing it.”
Huntwork cares a lot about the city of George because she lived most of her life there. She moved to George in 1967 with her parents and three brothers when he father took a job running a gas station. Huntwork moved away from George three separate times — once to Alaska, once to Florida and once to Connecticut — and returned every single time. She came back to George for good in 1981.
“It’s a small town, and I like small towns,” said Huntwork, who with her husband, John, has five children — Alissa, 29; Jacob, 27; Kelssie, 25; Mickey, 15; and Michael, 11 — and three grandchildren. “I like the hometown atmosphere and the community pride. I like it here because of the people. I’ve got a lot of friends who live in George and around George out in the country. I enjoy it here.”
Huntwork has been on the George City Council since 2002 because she wanted to try to affect positive changes within the community. She thinks the town can still improve in a lot of areas.
“I wanted to make a difference, to keep Charlie Brown’s dream alive,” she said. “But I don’t feel it’s safe around here to walk on the streets. Not too long ago my 11-year-old son was riding his bike down a nearby road and a man in an SUV pulled up to him and pointed a gun at him. People know there’s no police in this city, and they feel like they can do what they want.”
On the other hand, there are times when Huntwork can smile at the thought of her hometown pride showing itself in the form of something like the community hall remodeling project.
“That’s the greatest thing that’s happened to George in a long time,” she said. “Not a lot of people understand, but that’s a great source of pride for us.”
Huntwork enjoys being part of the political process, but knows there are ups and downs that are involved in the processes politicians must go through in order to affect the positive change they seek.
“There’s only so much I can do. I’ve only got one vote,” she said. “I tell my kids to vote because one vote can make a difference. Politics can be hard because there’s so many laws and rules and ordinances. You should know every one of them, but you can’t. I like being part of the process, but it’s frustrating when people come in and think they can do whatever they want regardless of the law.”
But at times, she’s also felt like she’s been able to make a true difference to her hometown, a feeling she relishes. One of her next endeavors will be to work on a committee to bestow George with a colonial theme.
“We’re going to start looking at that after the comprehensive growth plan is presented at the next city council meeting,” she said. “When I first moved here, I remember dressing up in a colonial dress and handing out flags on the Fourth of July. Back then there was talk about doing a theme. I don’t know why it didn’t happen, but we have the chance now. All it takes is money, time and people with enthusiasm who are motivated to get the job done.”
