Mount Airy Hall of Fame set to induct five, celebrate 20 years

The Historical Society of Mount Airy has announced its inductees into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame to make up the Class of 2019.The inductees are Arnold William. &#8220;Bill&#8221; Butts, Wayne Donald Esworthy, Mary Elizabeth Hushour, Francesco &#8220;Frank&#8221; Illiano and Dr. Bruce John Walz.The 2019 class will be officially inducted at the Historical Society of Mount Airy&#8217;s annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner on March 19 at the American Legion home, 801 Prospect Road, Mount Airy.Tickets are on sale through March 8. The price this is $25 per person. Tickets may be purchased from the Blossom &amp; Basket Boutique, 3 North Main Street (behind the Mount Airy Station). The social hour begins at 5 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner at 6 p.m. and ending with the induction ceremony.This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Mount Airy Hall of Fame.Arnold William &quot;Bill&quot; ButtsFinancial adviser/community volunteerBorn and raised as an only child on a farm in Central Texas near Austin, &#8220;Sonny&#8221; graduated from Rockdale High School in 1964, went off to college at the University of North Texas, Denton and immediately changed his first name to &#8220;Bill.&#8221; He graduated in 1968 with a degree in English, taught High School English and Spanish for 5 years before going back for a Master&#8217;s Degree in Communications from UT /Austin in 1975.Bill married Glee in 1972 and they began their family with daughter, Brittany in 1976, followed three years later with son, Brel. After producing educational media in Austin, Bill landed a job with the company that ultimately became Time Warner Communications. Over a 25-year span with TWC and thereafter as a marketing &amp; business development executive, Bill &amp; Glee moved a lot: from Texas to Reading, Pennsylvania, with subsequent moves to Colorado, North Carolina, Hawaii, back to Texas, Louisiana, Poland and finally back to the United States.In 2003, Bill and Glee arrived in Maryland and decided to make Mount Airy their home as Bill embarked on a new career as a financial adviser &amp; retirement planner.On the community service side, Bill has been a member of the Mount Airy Planning Commission since 2010, serving five years as its chair, during which time the commission updated the Town Master Plan. In preparation for the update, Bill helped design and conduct a 2012 Community-wide Needs Assessment. Shortly afterward, he initiated an annual Information Town Commissions Exchange to facilitate implementation of the Master Plan. And when the League of Women&#8217;s Voters was no longer able to continue offering their local election candidate forums, Bill utilized his producer experience to continue the live local forums to benefit both the candidates and the local electorate.Other local service includes: board member of the Mt. Airy Disaster Relief Fund since its inception in 2006; Executive Board Member &amp; Finance Committee Chair for the Carroll Media Center; and active member of Mt. Airy Kiwanis since 2004. Kiwanis positions include: club President (2005-07), Membership chair (since 2008), Capital District Communications Committee Chair (2010-12) and Strategic Planning Committee Chair (2018-19).Bill is also a member and staunch supporter of the Mt. Airy Chamber (GMACC), MAMSA, and the Mt. Airy Arts Alliance. And since 2012, both Bill and Glee have been board members of A is For Africa (AIFA), a local nonprofit focused on supporting educational improvement and community development in Tanzania, as well as providing an international link for our local community and children.Wayne Donald EsworthyVolunteer firefighterWayne Esworthy was born in New Midway, Maryland on Dec. 15, 1947. His family moved to Mount Airy in 1953. Wayne attended Mt. Airy Elementary School and Mt. Airy High School, graduating in 1965.Wayne is a Vietnam veteran having served in the United States Army from 1967 to 1969. After military service, he returned to Mount Airy and started working at Mt. Airy Locker (now Wagner&#8217;s Meats). He retired in 2014 with 44 years of service.Wayne is a Life Member of the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Company and just recently completed 50 years active service. Wayne served as president of the fire company from 1979 to 1982.Wayne is married to Jean Roberts Esworthy of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They were married in 1970. They have three children and five grandchildren. Wayne and Jean are active members of the Locust Grove Church of the Brethren.Mary Elizabeth HushourCommunity volunteerMary Hushour was born in Easton and spent most of her childhood living on Maryland&#8217;s Eastern Shore following her father&#8217;s career in the Navy. Upon graduating from Villa Julie College she resided and worked in Annapolis as a real estate settlement officer. In 1987, she married Larry Hushour and after 13 years of continued Navy relocations, she settled in Mount Airy with Larry and their two children, Brian and Elizabeth.When Elizabeth entered Girl Scouts, Mary became a GSA leader. Beyond maintaining her troop through two Gold Award recipients, Mary&#8217;s most significant contribution occurred when she helped staff, then directed the GSA Summer Camp for Nation&#8217;s Capital district at Camp WestMar, near Thurmont, from 2002-2004. Mary also served on the Committee for BSA Troop 460 as secretary and helped with their annual bingo fundraisers.Mary served on the town&#8217;s Beautification Commission from 2007-2017. She served as chair for 3 of those years and was instrumental in the design and installation of the Park&#8217;s uniform entry signs. She also assisted the commission in the town&#8217;s &#8220;Welcome&#8221; sign project that is now installed aside SH27.Mary became active in the Rails to Trails project in 2013, and has maintained the social media aspects for the project through today. As well, she functioned as the primary fundraiser gleaning well over $20,000 dollars through four annual bingo events and other raffles. She became familiar with grant writing and contributed to numerous applications for the trail. When the &#8220;Mackenzie the caboose&#8221; project emerged, her skillset naturally transferred to the new undertaking where she successfully garnered a State bond to help offset the costs of a pavilion destined to protect the caboose.Her many accomplishments were acknowledged by the town when the mayor presented her with the first &#8220;Mayoral Award for Exemplary Community Service&#8221; in 2017.Since &#8220;Mackenzie&#8221; arrived on Main Street, Mary has managed the displays in the caboose and enjoys decorating the interior for Christmas and even created a &#8220;seek and find&#8221; game that the children love. During the summer, you&#8217;ll likely hear her singing at the Farmer&#8217;s Market. She currently is contributing to the historical society by fundraising, helping with grants and managing their social media presence.Mary is a successful realtor in Mount Airy with Long and Foster. She sincerely believes in giving back to her community.Francesco &quot;Frank&quot; IllianoBusinessman/community supporterHusband, father, grandfather, restaurateur, businessman, employer, sponsor, supporter, coach.In his 30 years in Mount Airy, Frank has touched countless lives by donating his time, financial support and tray after tray of baked ziti to innumerable local organizations, fundraisers and causes.Frank was born and raised in Monte di Procida, a picturesque fishing town on Italy&#8217;s Sorrento Coast. He grew up in the kitchens of family restaurants and later in the galleys of Mediterranean cargo ships.He and his brothers came to Carroll County in the early 1980s, and within a decade Frank had opened the New York J&amp;P Pizza in Mount Airy, met and married his wife Miia. They raised their children Amber, Randy and Gennaro here &#8212; with grandson Finn joining the family in September 2017.From MAVFC to MAYAA, and every civic group, school, church, sports league and scouting troop in between, it&#8217;s hard to find a local endeavor that has not benefited from Frank&#8217;s support at some stage, either through J&amp;P or its sister restaurant, The Mount Airy Inn.In recent years Frank has been an instrumental part of the Illiano Project, a grass roots organization set up to combat the devastating effects of the opioid crisis on our community.Dr. Bruce John WalzVolunteer firefighter/health services providerBruce moved to the Mount Airy area when he was 2 years old. He always considered Mount Airy his hometown. Bruce attended parochial school, the Mount Airy schools, and South Carroll High School (Class of 1971).Bruce began his career as a volunteer fireman in 1970 with the Winfield Community Volunteer Fire Company. He joined the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company in 1990. He began providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) in 1975, often responding on MAVFC calls, especially at night. He served as one of two main ALS instructors for the Carroll County ALS Program. In 1990, Bruce became an active member of the MAVFC and received numerous response awards both for fire and EMS. He served as a line and chief officer. He also served on the Board of Managers. In 2005, Bruce &#8220;retired&#8221; from active emergency response after 35 years, 30 as an ALS provider. He served as second and first vice president, becoming president from 2014-2017. He was inducted into the Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association Hall of Fame in 2009.In 2006, Bruce was appointed to the Board of Supervisors of Elections, becoming chair in 2008. Bruce was successful in moving the town from paper ballots to electronic voting.Bruce is professor and past chair of the Department of Emergency Health Services at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Initiatives and an affiliate professor in the School of Public Policy. He has been in the University System of Maryland since 1979, having served with the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute until 1987 when he joined the faculty of UMBC. Bruce has been involved in many aspects of EMS education development. He was a group leader for development of the National Standard Paramedic and Intermediate Curriculum as well as the National EMS Educational Standards. He is a charter member of the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE) and past president. He was on the board of Advocates for EMS and is a past president. He is on the editorial board of Prehospital Emergency Care. He has contributed to various publications. He is the author of Introduction to EMS Systems and co-author of Foundations of EMS Systems. He has presented at international, national, and regional EMS conferences.Bruce received the Lifetime Achievement Award from NAEMSE and the prestigious University System of Maryland Board of Regents&#8217; Faculty Award for Public Service for his efforts to establish an EMS Caucus in the U.S. Congress. Bruce received a doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park, a master&#8217;s degree from Hood College Graduate School, and a bachelor&#8217;s degree from Western Maryland College. His hobbies include photography, woodworking, amateur radio, and boating. He can often be found with Bentley, his English Springer Spaniel, on R2T and at various town parks and events.Wayne Evans works on a display during final construction of the Mount Airy Historical Society home in the Mount Airy Train Station in 2018.

Mount Airy Hall of Fame set to induct five, celebrate 20 years

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