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Mark Boardman
A long-time commitment to the Three Valley Conservation Trust and its efforts to preserve the region’s natural areas has taken on a variety of faces for Mark Boardman.
He led a restoration effort at the Ruder Preserve for the trust and has served as chair of the board, giving countless hours to events and activities of the organization. He served as acting executive director for seven months in 2017 as they searched for a new director, overseeing management of the office and staff.
Nominations for Citizen of the Years recognition also noted his efforts at making the natural world more accessible to handicapped persons with construction of an elevated walkway and bringing together Miami students and Oxford residents as volunteers for the trust.
The 14-month project to plan and construct that walkway, now nearing completion, was the subject one of two letters of nomination for Boardman as Citizen of the Years.
Dr. Ellen Buerk wrote to commend him and the Three Valley Conservation Trust for the work of restoration of the Ruder Preserve and construction of the walkway to allow handicapped persons to enjoy one of Oxford’s Natural Areas.
“As the spouse of a man who had a stroke and used a wheelchair, I know how much he would have enjoyed being able to go to the natural areas around Four Mile Creek in a wheelchair and enjoy the natural beauty of the creek,” she wrote.
She said many people of all ages came together for the project, giving it an even broader scope.
“The element of the project that I loved was the multigenerational coming together of Miami students and Oxford resident volunteers to remove invasive plants, plant trees and construct the elevated walkway that would allow easy access to the natural area for all,” Buerk wrote. “This project has been large in scope and required planning and construction over the last 14 months and is nearing completion.”
Three Valley Conservation Trust Executive Director Chad Smith came to that position as the result of a seven-month search, led by Boardman who was the chair of the board of trustees. During those seven months, Boardman served as interim director of the trust, not only keeping the operation going but overseeing a move to new office space.
Smith provided a letter of nomination pointing to those efforts.
“Mark Boardman is the chair of the board for the Three Valley Conservation Trust. Donating countless hours to Three Valley events and activities, he also leads the organization in mission and vision for the future,” Smith wrote. “Mark oversees monthly board meetings, serving on various committees, attending staff meetings, acting as the ‘editor’ and driving force behind the bi-annual newsletter, speaking on behalf of Three Valley at numerous civic and academic engagements and getting his hands dirty assisting staff and volunteers in invasive plant eradication and restoration and planting of native species at Ruder Preserve.”
As if all that was not enough, Smith’s letter explained Boardman served as more than a placeholder during the seven-month search for a new director.
“He also coordinated moving to a new office location at that time as well. He essentially worked a full-time job for seven months and still managed to organize and lead the Three Valley Board of Trustees,” Smith wrote. “Mark implemented many new best practices in office administration and organization that will be the standard at Three Valley for years to come.”
Sue Jones
Nominations of Sue Jones noted she is always seeking to make the Oxford community better and she does that through a varied menu of organizations and projects.
She has served as president of both the Miami University Art Museum and McGuffey Museum docent programs and baking and contributing treats to public gatherings of the McGuffey Museum. She also prepares and organizes the Kramer Elementary School backpack program providing supplies for underprivileged children and also makes string backpacks filled with snacks, socks, gloves, hats and a few small toys.
She is also active in the Oxford Needs Awareness group and the Oxford Area Homeless Coalition through the Family Resource Center.
The art museum docents submitted one of seven nominations for Jones noting her concern for keeping the museum available to all.
“In our work with Sue, we have been impressed with her concern for the ability of the Art Museum to be open to all, especially in its role of educating college and elementary students,” the letter read, going on to say the poet Maya Angelou urges people to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. “After retirement in 2004, Sue has had the time to live these words.”
The letter, signed by 14 museum docents, also points out the recipient’s concern for others through work with the Family Resource Center with a commitment to help those facing homelessness and hunger.
She enlisted the help of others in the community to fill dozens of backpacks she had made with non-perishable food items, gloves and socks for underprivileged in the community and then another project providing school supplies to Title I students.
“By allowing her many friends to contribute to these good works, Sue gives us all a way to give back,” the letter said.
Her efforts to help others extends to educating people about their needs. That was highlighted in a nomination written by Diane Ruther-Vierling, recently retired as director of the Family Resource Center. She said the subject of getting publicity about the community’s non-profit agencies came up in a discussion at a Needs Awareness meeting
“Sue suggested offering an ILR class about non-profits and was instrumental in getting a six- or eight-week-long class offered that was taught by the non-profit directors and leaders in town,” Ruther-Vierling wrote. “The classes were well attended and I believe allowed many community members to learn more about the world of non-profits and the clients they serve.”
Carmen Geshan, a reading intervention specialist at Kramer Elementary, wrote a letter focused on those string backpacks.
The letter told about Jones taking on the project to help provide school supplies for the students and quickly soliciting donations and help in preparing them.
“The students were so excited to receive a handmade backpack full of pencils, markers, glue, scissors, crayons, paper, etc. It was an awesome day when we presented them to the students,” Geshan wrote. “The most impressive part of this process was how quickly Sue jumped into action. In a month, Sue had solicited, made and distributed 90 backpacks full of great school supplies for our students.”
Kathy McMahon-Klosterman
Fighting for others through activities in a variety of organizations for many years, Kathy McMahon-Klosterman was recognized as one of the Citizens of the Years for 2018.
A nomination for her selection cited varied efforts as a board member and officer in the League of Women Voters, Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice, the Institute for Learning in Retirement and the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
She has also contributed in a material way to help in other local causes, baking pies for the Three Valley Conservation Trust fundraiser, cooking up pots of soup for the annual Empty Bowls event, managing a listserv for caregivers of those with Parkinsons Disease, helping with the NAACP scholarship committee and training parent volunteers for Everybody Counts.
It was also noted she opens her home as a place of hospitality with a gift of friendship and support.
In nominating McMahon-Klosterman for the Citizen of the Years recognition, Patricia Kaufman wrote that she boasts of being a “born and bred townie” because Oxford is made special by its citizens who contribute time, energy, money and talent to make it a welcoming and exciting place. For that reason, she wrote, she was nominating McMahon-Klosterman as one of the people who contributes to the community in many ways.
“She has been a tireless supporter, board member and officer in the League of Women Voters, Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice, the Institute for Learning in Retirement as well as the County Board of Developmental Disabilities,” Kaufman wrote. “She definitely puts her support for our local organizations and individuals into action.”
In addition to her own service areas, McMahon-Klosterman has also served as faculty advisor for student organizations who help others, including Best Buddies and America Reads.
“If Sartre is right when he says we are the sum of our actions, Kathy McMahon-Klosterman certainly practices what she preaches. She is willing to take the difficult road, the one not easily traveled in standing up for her friends, fellow citizen with special needs and beliefs that make our town a place in which we can all feel safe and respected,” the nomination letter read. “The gift of friendship and support that she offers others needs to be honored and celebrated. Her home has been a place of hospitality and comfort for many in our community.”
Kaufman related how every visitor to McMahon-Klosterman’s home will be served tea and cookies and no one is ever made to feel unwelcome.
“If you need a ride to the hospital or the doctor’s office, a visit to a nursing home, a meal brought in, help with a community event or good cause, then she never hesitates to step up to the plate,” the letter said. “We are indeed immensely richer for having her in our community.”
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