Lifelong resident volunteers with youth programs
By Mary Heinrich
The Shinnston News & Harrison County Journal has named Lynn Williams-Vance as Citizen of the Month, a recognition sponsored by Dorsey Funeral Home in Shinnston – locally owned and operated.
Lynn Williams-Vance serves on the board for the Lincoln High School Band Boosters and is a troop leader for the Shinnston Girl Scouts Troop # 31558. Using her background in journalism, a field she worked in for over ten years, Lynn serves as the publicity manager for both the Lincoln High Band Boosters and the Lincoln High tennis teams.
A lifelong resident of the Shinnston/ Enterprise area and the mother of a high school senior, she said that she began working in her community because of her daughter.
“She wanted to join these groups and I told her that once she joined, she was in,” Williams-Vance said. “She started Girl Scouts in the second grade and band in the fifth. We’ve been doing this a long time.”
Williams-Vance said that the opportunity to genuinely get to know other people is one of her favorite things about living in a small town. She also said that her child going to school with the children of her own former classmates is an advantage of life in rural America.
Life in small-town America has changed though. Vance said the changes in schools are the most notable. The small, community schools have been replaced by larger, conjoined schools, creating an entirely new culture in the area.
Another change she mentioned was the sprucing up of downtown Shinnston. She said the “addition of the mom-and-pop stores in downtown Shinnston has been great.”
Vance would like to remind everyone that the Band Boosters annual Strawberry Sale is currently underway. Strawberries cost $30 for a flat and $15 for a half flat. Orders are due by Feb. 24. To order, see any Lincoln High band student. If you do not know any students, please feel free to order on the band’s Facebook page, “Fans of the Lincoln High School Marching Band – Shinnston, WV, at https://www.facebook.com/LincolnMarchingCougars or on their webpage at https:\\lincolncougars.wixsite.com/band.
Williams-Vance works as a secretary for the Harrison County Board of Education and is preparing for her only daughter’s graduation from Lincoln High School. A Cougar until the end, Vance wants to remind other adults to get involved in the community.
“You don’t have to have a child in the school system to help,” she said. “Anyone can help out with the Band Boosters. The tennis courts need to be resurfaced soon. These programs need people to help.”
