Merle Glenn is the Hill City Prevailer News Citizen of the Year for 2021

The year 2020 was a year of uncertainty with the pandemic barreling across the country. It was also a year in which many people opted out and sought a “new normal.” And while many communities looked to 2021 for relief, it seems that many people across the country “ opted out.” 

Many of us have seen the signs in storefronts that read  “please be kind to those of us  who showed up.” Community organizations struggled  to find volunteers, members with innovative ideas to bring people back to their “normal” lives. This is one of the greatest strengths of the Hill City Prevailer News Citizen of the Year for 2021, Merle Glenn. She gets involved in various community organizations and projects and she brings her ideas with her. 

“One of her big things is coming up with ideas,” said Mikal Lewis, who works with Merle on the Friends of the Library. “Some of the ideas seem so off the wall, but by the time they’re done those are the ideas we’re using. I don’t know where she comes up with them, but she’s really good at it.”

Garden club member Merlene Broer agrees with Lewis’ description of Merle.  Merlene and Merle organized this year’s Hill City Evergreen Garden Club Flower Show whose theme was Bountiful Blossoms.

“She has had a huge impact on the garden club flower show. It’s always the hardest thing to come up with a theme and developing categories for arrangements,” Broer said. “The last two years Merle came up with such fun themes, we never even had to discuss it.”  

Sue Anderson, who sat on a Star Spangled Planning Committee with Merle, echoes her knack for creativity and whimsicality.  

“The ideas Merle comes up with are just phenomenal,” Anderson said. “She just ran with the kids activities program. It’s awesome to see what she does with activities.”

Merle is also described as an overachiever of sorts. As Evergreen Garden Club treasurer Sherryl Alexander  notes,  she does more than anybody her age should ever do.”

In fact, even though Merle is very new to Hill City she has volunteered at the Hill City Visitor’s Center.

“This year, Merle has stepped up as a volunteer to assist us at the Chamber and Visitor Information Center with various  task-oriented projects.  We were the lucky beneficiary, as were many other Hill City organizations, of Merle’s desire to serve in the community,”  said Janet Wetovick-Bily, Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. 

Merle hosted an old- fashioned game event for Hill City’s Independence Day event. She shared her own personal history of games she played as a child then introduced children to classic games like three-legged  and sack races. 

Wetovick-Bily called Merle an “integral part of the inaugural Star Spangled Planning Committee ‘Dream Team.’”

Merle served as vice president of the Hill City Evergreen Garden Club and donated several items to its flower show. She showed up for several garden cleanups and is described by several members as being “generous and thoughtful.”

Merle also serves on the Friends of the Library alongside  Bonnie Guerre, who says, “Merle Glenn is a very helpful member to Friends of the Library.”  

Merle helps the organization to  get ready for the book sales in June and September.

“She’s always willing to help with preparations,” Guerre said.

Merle is also  an expert egg maker and helps with the rally breakfast and the Hill City Senior Center in general. 

Senior center board president Dale Householder described Merle as “an avid volunteer at the senior center.” He adds, “if you want something you can always count on Merle.”

And Merle is currently serving as a Hill City Public Library trustee, where she is described as a valuable member. 

All this, and she has an incredible sense of humor. She recently shared a humorous original poem at the Friends of the Library Christmas tea. The poem detailed the digestive woes Santa Claus must endure as he travels far and wide making Christmas gift deliveries. Guerre described Merle’s wit as adorable. 

“The fun thing about Merle is she is a crafty poet. In a matter of minutes, she can come up with a poem with fun language. And she always has a surprise ending with her poetry,” she said.  

Hilde Manuel, who served with Merle in a leadership position last year on the Hill City Evergreen Garden Club board, remembers Merle sharing a poem about volunteering that was also very sharp.

“She’s just quick to come up with a witty insight into the situation,” said Manuel, who elaborated on the poem. “It said something to the effect that pretty soon they’ll nominate you for something. It was as cute as can be.”

Merle is a newcomer to the community. It’s one of the reasons her passion, genetority and zeal is so touching. Merle moved to Hill City in 2018 to be close to her daughter Elle (Larsen).

Elle  says that her mom has always been an active volunteer in communities  in which she has lived.

“From PTA back in the 1970s, to a long stint with the American Red Cross in the early 2000s, she has given her time and shared her expertise to benefit others,” she said.

Merle had worked in several fields including broadcast journalism. She retired from her career as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Forest Service and then owned an antique store in Colorado. 

Merle left Colorado on the insistence of her daughter. The two visited Hill City prior to the move.

“We told my mom to just come see Hill City and then decide. We spent the day driving through the Hills and then walked up and down Main Street, stopping in every store that was open. We talked to lots of people and asked them what they loved about Hill City.  Everyone was so positive and friendly. By the end of our visit, my mom understood why we loved Hill City,” Elle said, adding jokingly, “I think the fact that she retired from the Forest Service and the school mascot is Smokey Bear helped seal the deal” for her move.

Elle has been told “more than once” that Hill City has been her mom’s  favorite place to live. Perhaps it is her love for Hill City that has caused her to jump right into the community. 

 “She’s always wanting to jump right in and do what we need to do,” Hill City Public Library director Tammy Alexander said. “She’s become a very valuable part of our library family. It seems like she’s involved in everything she can possibly be involved in. If something’s needed, she’s one of the first ones that goes for it. She’s become a very important part of our Hill City community.”

Those who have had the  good fortune to know Merle personally know she is an avid writer and poet as well as a veracious reader.

“She is such an avid user of the library. I mean she is just an outstanding reader of fiction, nonfiction, gardening materials, you name it,” Guerre said. “Pretty soon she will have read everything in our library.”

Sue Anderson calls Merle a “true friend. And as someone  who “is genuinely concerned about people.” When Anderson had knee surgery she said Merle was one of the first to offer to drive her to rehab.

“What a blessing to have in Hill City,” Anderson said.

How will Merle react to being named Citizen of the Year? Most agree it will be surprising to her.

“She’ll be pretty surprised, but yet I hope that she feels it’s rewarding too,  that all her extra efforts are recognized,” Guerre said. 

Many hope she will be proud, and share the sentiment so many of her friends and fellow volunteers, like Mikal Lewis share.

“She’s just a good egg. Tha’s all there is to it. And I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more than her.”