Edge appointed to city council
At their Oct. 19 meeting, Holyoke City Council members went through an open voting process to appoint Cathy Edge to the seat left vacant when Steve Moore resigned Sept. 21. She will be sworn in at the Nov. 2 meeting.
Five other residents officially put their names forward as candidates to fill the vacancy. Kimberlee Bennett, Steve Brown, Hannah Goodman, Gary Herr and Shanda Willmon joined Edge as they were all ranked by council members in order of preference through multiple rounds. The candidates’ names were listed alphabetically, and council members read off their numbered rankings aloud for each round.
In the first round, a council member’s first choice received six points, the second choice received five and so on to their last choice, who received one point. At the end of each round, the candidate with the lowest total was eliminated.
Bennett and Edge were in the final round, which was a 4-2 roll call vote that appointed Edge.
Mayor Orville Tonsing and council members Brian Akey, Kevin Scott and Gene Bittner voted for Edge. Council members John Schneider and Ashley Sullivan voted for Bennett.
Edge excited to join council
Edge is looking forward to serving on city council. “I love Holyoke,” she said. “I love the people. They’re so helpful. They’re warm. The schools are very helpful. The churches are really nice.”
She attended Highland High School in Denver, where she grew up after moving there from Sioux City, Iowa, when she was in fifth grade.
She later moved to Grant, Nebraska, where she owned a fabric store. She then worked at Jack’s Bean Company in Grant, doing secretarial work. After moving to Holyoke 20 years ago, she worked for Blackwolf Brokerage for 10 years and was head of accounting.
She said she has always thought Holyoke is a nice little town. Her husband, Ron, has family here and works as a farmer in Holyoke for Pro-Ag, which is based in Wray. “It’s a great place to raise kids,” she added.
Edge has guardianship of her granddaughter, Elizabeth, who is in fifth grade at Holyoke Elementary School. Edge has helped with 4-H, which Elizabeth is involved in.
She has also served on the GPRC/Peerless Theatre board and volunteers at Creative Traditions.
Edge said she loves Zion Lutheran Church, where she teaches Sunday school and where she and Ron were welcomed with open arms.
“I’m looking forward to working with the council and learning what it takes to run a town,” said Edge, who said she’d like to see the streets improved and see something done with the tennis courts.
She said her friends talked her into running for city council in the last election since she likes to help people and has a reputation among her friends of being a go-getter and getting things done.
Edge noted that she is a good listener and has an outgoing personality that will help her on the council. She wants people to take pride in their town and would like to see businesses come to the empty buildings downtown.
In her free time, Edge loves sewing. She has made quilts for nursing home residents and others who need them and has made chemotherapy quilts for Melissa Memorial Hospital. She also enjoys camping at Enders Reservoir and Lake McConaughy.