Cleaning Drawers & Connecting Dots
Junior League’s investment in Ozark Greenways comes full circle two decades later.
The transition at one of our favorite partner organizations — Ozark Greenways Executive Director Terry Whaley’s retirement coupled with Mary Kromrey’s promotion to his job — includes an interesting angle that occurred to me when I was cleaning out drawers at home recently.
Terry just retired as OG’s director after 22 great years of building trails and promoting them not only for recreation, but as alternative ways to get around. Mary joined OG last year and succeeded Terry as Executive Director this month. She’s got just as big a personality, infectious enthusiasm and side of sassiness as Terry, so she’ll follow in his footprints quite well.
In the mid-’90s, about the time Terry arrived in town as OG’s second-ever director, the Junior League of Springfield had adopted Greenways as one of its signature projects. As a JLS member then, I chose Greenways for my service project. We spent much of our time in those days building (and rebuilding) the Volunteer Nature Trail near the Southwest Treatment Plant, until Terry had the bright idea to put down a hard surface so it didn’t wash out in heavy rains.
I loved those Saturdays — cutting trail, moving rock and mulch, planting trees — the fresh air and hard work were balm for my soul through a challenging stretch of life. I’ve lasted in Greenways much longer than I did in the Junior League, eventually joining the OG board and now as a donor and advisory board member. Finding a volunteer recognition plaque in the drawer I was cleaning reminded me why choosing volunteer work that contrasts with workaday roles has been particularly satisfying. While the Junior League later focused its priority projects even more tightly on children’s issues, its decision to support Greenways when it did was a significant boost for volunteers, resources and credibility for Greene County’s fledgling network of trails.
While Terry, longtime staff member Lori Tack and the trusty troupe of volunteers were hacking our way through those early trails, Mary was a young teen growing up in Mountain View, Ark. She gained an appreciation for the creeks and rivers and hiking trails around her family’s home in the country near the small town known for its folk music traditions.
After moving to Springfield for her master’s degree in health promotion and wellness management, she worked for the Ozarks Regional YMCA and participates on the Healthy Living Alliance. She’s quite suited for the role of advancing the healthy lifestyle benefits afforded by our network of greenways, now grown to 72 miles.
Oh, and she’s also president of the Junior League of Springfield this year, the same year she was named the Executive Director of Ozark Greenways. She joined the JLS about 10 years ago at the urging of good friends Susie Turner and Ashley French, both of whom also have served as presidents. So far, she’s says she’s managing the transition of a new job and now leading both Greenways and the JLS.
“I haven’t dropped all of the balls at the exact same moment, but I’ve definitely had to chase a few,” she laughs.
I’d guess you’d call it coming full circle in some sense, or what I call “three degrees of Springfield.” I’d also call it a community win, spanning the past 22 years, for the Junior League of Springfield, for the smart folks who hired Terry Whaley, for the thoughtful process of grooming his successor, and for the energetic woman now connecting the dots for two of Springfield’s best assets.
Louise Knauer is the Chief Operating Officer at the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Ozark Greenways and the Junior League of Springfield are two of the CFO’s many nonprofit partner agencies.
