Mayor shares excitement about Olney’s future at Amity Club meeting

The Amity Club held its monthly meeting Thursday, March 3, at Olney Heritage Museum. President Gail Spears called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m., and past president Bobby Wright offered the invocation. The members recited the club collect, and Secretary Margie Snyder facilitated roll call. The members present included Evelyn Altmiller, Judy Averett, Rita Choate, Nita Hearne, Ann Lundy, Marilyn Norris, Gail Spears, Jeanie Spivey, Donna Sullivan, Lucretia Taylor, Phyllis Whitsitt, Judi Winslow, Kristi Nantz, JoAn Key and Ronni Walker. Carolyn Penn was absent and excused.

Next, the program leader Phyllis Whitsitt asked members to introduce their guests invited to the meeting. Guests included Sherry Altmiller, Deidre Choat-Brown, Sandra Jacobs, Barbara Larimore, Jan Myers, Carla Perry, Mayor Rue Rogers and his wife Anna, and Gina Keating along with her mother, Margaret Romero who was visiting from Vancouver British Columbia. After the reading and approval of the previous meeting minutes, Whitsitt introduced Mayor Rogers as the keynote speaker.

The members and guests extended a warm welcome to Rogers as he stepped up to share his excitement about various projects in Olney. He talked extensively about the projects and events associated with the Keep Olney Beautiful board and the Olney Chamber of Commerce.

The mayor touted the Junior Altruistic club for laying the foundation for Keep Olney Beautiful, which became a nonprofit 501c3 tax-exempt organization that serves the community.

“The board of Keep Olney Beautiful has done tremendous things from the beginning. I joined in 2016, have been serving on the committee since then, and it’s fun. We have 12 members, and we meet once a month to discuss ways to make Olney better. We want to make Olney more beautiful and improve the quality of life for the residents. Our mission is to make Olney the best small town in America, and we can’t be complacent,” Rogers said.

Opening the floor for questions from the audience, Rogers addressed concerns about the water treatment plant, the roads, and the new athletic facility, among other issues. In addition, he mentioned two big projects in the works this year: the City pool and the Olney Civic Center. Olney Enterprise will publish additional information that Mayor Rogers discussed in upcoming issues.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m. The members and guests continued the conversation and enjoyed refreshments prepared by the program committee, including hostess Lucretia Taylor and co-hostesses Judy Averett and Ronni Walker.