Jonesville announces Citizen of the Year awardee
JONESVILLE — The Jonesville City Council announced this week the selection of Mary Houchen as the 2024 Jonesville Citizen of the Year and Maria Mandrelle as the 2024 Jonesville Youth Citizen of the Year.
The public is invited to an award ceremony on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. at The Sauk Theatre to honor the contributions of these individuals.
Houchen is a lifelong resident of Jonesville. Service to her community goes back to her days as a patrol captain for the safety patrol as a student at Williams Elementary School.
After graduating with honors from Jonesville Community Schools, Houchen enjoyed a 20-year career as a dental hygienist. Along the way, she served as a room mother, a Brownie and Girl Scout leader, a softball coach and was the founding member of the Jonesville Junior Jills service club.
She volunteered at the Jonesville District Library as story hour coordinator, treasurer of the board and an officer for the Friends of the Library.
She has served as a docent at the Grosvenor House, a supporter of The Sauk and a member of the Hillsdale Garden Club.
Houchen currently co-chairs the Jonesville Chapter of 100 Women Who Care, an organization that has donated close to $50,000 to support local causes and organizations since 2015.
Houchen was nominated by Kathi Boyle, who has been her friend since kindergarten.
“Mary has done her best to share her vision of what Jonesville could be and served in many capacities to help it thrive as a safe, wonderful, energetic place to live and raise families,” Kathi said. “She doesn’t know any way to live other than in service.”
Mandrelle is a senior at Jonesville High School, where her hard work has earned her the achievement of Valedictorian.
She has served on the Hillsdale County Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council (YAC) for four years and is the current YAC vice president. She has participated in a number of YAC initiatives like Fill the Freezer and chaired the “Track the YAC” 5K event in 2023.
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Mandrelle is an accomplished student athlete, having earned Big Eight All Conference Academic awards in cross country and track. She is currently a member of the National Honor Society and Society for Women Engineers and volunteers to assist with teaching preschoolers at St. Catherine Laboure Parish in Concord.
“I’ve admired Maria’s ability to lead by both word and example,” said Jeff Gray who nominated her for the award. “By her service, leadership, and values, she demonstrates attributes to be proud of in the youth of our community.”
Tickets for the Awards Reception are available for $5.00 at the Jonesville City Hall. The Jonesville citizenship awards act to recognize the contributions of citizens to the Jonesville community based on several aspects including, community involvement, leadership and volunteerism.
— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Jonesville announces Citizen of the Year awardee
