Marcy Harrison: Retired but Not Retiring
Longtime CJ volunteer Marcy Harrison of Cypress Grove Lane took on the role of CJCA vice president of communications and editor of the 2021 Cabin John Directory in late 2019. Now that the directory project is just about wrapped up—look for your directory in the mail this March — Marcy is adding to her Cabin John volunteer duties.
As of February, Marcy is the business manager for The Village News. In that role, Marcy will be managing all of the newsletter’s display and classified advertising, subscriptions, and
the master mailing list.
Marcy will also continue to serve as a CJCA vice president of communications, focusing on maintaining directory listing information and helping with the Cabin John website.
The Cabin John Citizens Association would love to add a second vice president of communications. This volunteer would be responsible for publicizing CJCA events and other activities in the newsletter and on the CJCA listserv.
Anyone interested in learning more about this position is urged to contact CJCA President Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
The Village News recently interviewed Marcy about her new role and life in general:
Since we last interviewed you in late 2019, you retired from your job in the healthcare industry. How is that going?
I love, love, love it! Every day is a Saturday! I get great joy from little things that are new for me now—like how much easier it is to do errands during the week when there are few people out. I have the time to reconnect with friends, and to pursue new learning on miscellaneous topics.
I have always wanted to assume more volunteer service roles, such as the CJCA business manager, and to be more available to help out with our three daughters and our grandkids. Now I can. My youngest daughter is taking full advantage of my newly available time to help her plan her October wedding. I have not yet started all the home organization projects that are waiting for me, but I have been able to take up some new hobbies.
Tell us about that.
I’m diving deeply into birding. I’ve taken trips with the Audubon Naturalist Society and the Montgomery Bird Club. I’m participating in the backyard bird count and other bird counting efforts. I’m taking up bird photography. There is so much to learn!
Like a lot of people in the pandemic, I am doing more reading. I found the Diane Rehm Book Club online, and I am enjoying it a lot. I also plan to re-start piano and banjo lessons.
Do you have any post-pandemic retirement plans?
My husband and I hope to get back to doing more traveling. We were supposed to go to Portugal last October. I’ve been studying Portuguese online for a year!
I also hope to find a local book club, movie club, and game night group. If you have any suggestions for finding these, please let me know!
Nancy Russell: Leader of Spirited Community Outreach
Did you receive a CJ welcome bag when you moved to Cabin John? Have you attended the annual New Neighbor Potluck or bought a ticket to CJCA’s annual Chicken and Crab Feast fundraiser from a block coordinator? If so, you have Nancy Russell to thank.
For more than four years, Nancy has served as the CJCA’s vice president for community outreach. Nancy took the newly created position so that she could focus on creating community cohesion.
Elected in May 2017, Nancy had the CJ Block Coordinator Program up and running before the end of the year. After breaking down the community into 31 “blocks” of one to two dozen households, Nancy recruited one or more volunteers for each area.
In addition to welcome bag deliveries and ticket sales for the crab feast, block coordinators are occasionally asked to share important community news, such as when the revamped Neighbor 2 Neighbor assistance program — another Nancy led effort — was launched. In 2018, Nancy coordinated the inaugural New Neighbors Potluck held each spring.
Nancy has enriched the community well beyond her official role. Nancy and her husband Craig have been active members of the community since 2004 when they moved into their home on 76th Street, lending a hand at crab feasts, Fourth of July celebrations, and CJ holiday parties.
In March, Nancy and Craig will be moving to Sonoma, CA, which will surely benefit from their enthusiastic community spirit. The CJCA wishes them well in their new adventure and offers a heartfelt thanks for all the ways they enriched the community over the years.
BY SUSAN SHIPP
CJCA President