(left to right) WNBP' s Win Damon. Mary Ellen Hoiseth, Provident Bank CEO Charlie Cullen
NEWBURYPORT RESIDENT MARY ELLEN HOISETH RECOGNIZED AS A
WNBP/PROVIDENT BANK “LOCAL LEGEND”
Bresnahan teacher shares recognition with her first and second grade
Multiage Class of 2011
“A star doesn’t make a team, a team makes a star” is the motto that Mary Ellen Hoiseth, a life-long Newburyport resident and teacher at the Bresnahan Elementary School for 18 years, instills in her young students. It is the spirit of this important lesson and the remarkable actions of her first and second grade Multiage Class of 2011 that make her, and them, the next Provident Bank/WNBP Local Legend Award recipients.
“Mary Ellen Hoiseth is an inspiration as well as an educator,” says Charlie Cullen, president and CEO of The Provident Bank. “She instills with words and actions the meaningful life lesson of helping others among the most important and impressionable audience, young children.”
With husband Bruce and daughter, SPC Jillian Hoiseth, both in the Army Reserve, Mrs. Hoiseth knows how difficult it can be for US troops to be far away from home. In 2006, when her husband was first deployed to Iraq, she began a program in which her classes “adopt” a platoon. Every year since then, her six-to-eight year-old students collect items for care packages and write letters to boost the morale of US soldiers. Recently her class, with the help of four mothers, shipped nine care packages to a Marine unit in Afghanistan that included students’ inspirational letters, postcards and poems, hand-decorated red, white and blue pillow cases and paper flowers as well as snacks that the students collected.
In addition to supporting troops, Mrs. Hoiseth’s classes learn about the importance of helping others who are less fortunate. When her daughter Jillian, who is currently deployed as a member of a “Female Engagement Team” that reaches out to women and children in Afghanistan, informed her mother of how few possessions the children have, Mrs. Hoiseth immediately initiated a collection for school supplies, small toys, blankets, and winter clothing. Mrs. Hoiseth’s students are now collecting new and gently used backpacks that will be distributed with their handwritten notes to school-aged children in Afghanistan.
“Every time I help the troops it’s been with 110 percent support of my school community,” said
Mrs. Hoiseth. “The generosity of the students and their families and the Bresnahan School staff while my husband and daughter serve their country make them as much of a ‘local legend’ as me. I am very proud of my students and their enthusiasm for helping others. That is why I share this recognition with them.”
Mrs. Hoiseth’s passion for helping others is not only imparted to her students over 18 years of teaching, but also to her two daughters. Says Jillian, “Because of my Mom, I have been encouraged to show children here in Afghanistan the same passion for learning and self growth that she shows students back in the States. When I’m home, parents of kids in her classes as well as her student teachers and interns I see gush about my Mom who has inspired them. But to her, she’s ‘just doing her job.’”
Donations of backpacks for children in Afghanistan may be dropped off at the Bresnahan School’s Front Office at 333 High Street, Newburyport, through June 3, 2011. Mrs. Hoiseth’s multiage class is also accepting Staples gift cards that will be used to purchase schools supplies to put in the backpacks.
The Provident Bank/WNBP Local Legends Award recognizes citizens who quietly go above and beyond to help others and improve quality of life in our communities. Recipients are selected from Newburyport, Amesbury and seacoast New Hampshire communities and announced monthly on The Legends AM 1450 WNBP. Past recipients include Newburyport residents Geordie Vining and Don Hennigar; Amesbury residents Donna Collins and Harriett Woodsom Gould; and Hampton, NH, resident Vic Maloney. Suggestions for future recipients may be emailed to: legends@theprovidentbank.com.
Left to right: Win Damon, The Legends AM 1450 WNBP on-air host; Donna Collins, Local Legend award recipient;
and Charlie Cullen, president & CEO of The Provident Bank.
AMESBURY RESIDENT DONNA COLLINS RECOGNIZED AS THE NEXT
PROVIDENT BANK / WNBP “LOCAL LEGEND”
(March 16, 2011) – Amesbury resident and businesswoman Donna Collins, an active member and volunteer in several community, business and social services initiatives for more than 30 years, is the next recipient of the “Local Legends Award.” The Provident Bank and The Legends AM 1450 WNBP present the Local Legends Award to an individual who quietly goes above and beyond to make a difference in the community and in the lives of others.
“I recently asked Donna Collins if she had ever declined a volunteer request, and she said ‘probably, but I really can’t remember.’ That unassuming statement sums up why she is so deserving of the Local Legend award,” says Charlie Cullen, president and CEO of The Provident Bank. “For more than 30 years, Donna has given generously of her time and talents to support the community. She leads by example and Amesbury and its business community are better because of her.”
A native of Newburyport where she was the Class of 1973’s valedictorian, Donna moved to Amesbury in 1975 and has lived in the same home ever since. Like Newburyport, in Amesbury she found a quality school system for her daughter, as well as a community that welcomed and appreciated her time and contributions. Donna learned the importance of volunteerism and participating in causes from her father, Donald Emerson (who owned Emerson Electric in Salisbury), a past president of the Newburyport Rotary Club and the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce.
Donna is recognized for supporting and volunteering for numerous community and social services organizations in Amesbury, never hesitating to roll up her sleeves and handle any task needed. Among the many organizations she has or is currently supporting are: Amesbury Rotary Club (member since 1988); American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Amesbury for Africa; Our Neighbors Table; Amesbury Improvement Society (board member); CALM Valley; Amesbury Carriage Museum and Alliance; the Hat and Bartlett museums; Amesbury Public Library; Newburyport YWCA; Amesbury PTA (including board positions); Interact Club (student advisor); Cashman School Improvement Council; and the Merrimack Valley Coalition of Disabled Advocates.
Donna’s willing, can-do attitude also serves her well in business. Hired as a bookkeeper at Matick Corp. roofing company in 1977, she was frequently promoted and learned the trade from owner, Donald Matick. Rising from part-time bookkeeper to a full-time business partner, Donna eventually found herself climbing ladders and conducting roof inspections when she bought the business and became president in 1990 (she sold the business in 2007). She currently oversees condominium maintenance for Advantage Property Management in Amesbury.
Deeply vested in Amesbury’s business community, Donna served terms as executive director of the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce as well as the Alliance for Amesbury in the 1990s. Her diplomatic temperament and ability to build consensus and make difficult decisions helped those organizations and the business community successfully manage through a period of significant challenge and transition. Donna remains an active member of the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce, and is an Amesbury Zoning Board of Appeals member and former Finance Committee member, and a Corporator of The Provident Bank.
The Provident Bank/WNBP Local Legends Award recipients are selected from Newburyport, Amesbury and seacoast New Hampshire communities and announced monthly on The Legends AM 1450 WNBP. Past recipients include Newburyport residents Geordie Vining and Don Hennigar; Amesbury resident Harriett Woodsom Gould; and Hampton, NH, resident Vic Maloney.
Suggestions for future recipients may be emailed to: legends@theprovidentbank.com.