Hometown Heroes
The Holyoke Enterprise is shining a light on local heroes who are stepping up to serve their community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shanda Willmon
“I know I don’t live there anymore but I’d like to nominate Shanda Willmon at Hometown Liquor for her donation of the first five $100 gift certificates to local restaurants for a drawing at the store. After announcing the drawing would be the last week of March, the kindness spread quickly, and the community rallied behind her in donating more to support local restaurants. From what I understand, it gained another month’s worth of winners. I’ve been telling everyone I know how inspiring my hometown is since.” — Anonymous
“I would like to suggest Shanda as a person that has made an impact on the community during this time. She got gift certificates for restuarants and gave them away. Others saw what she did and gave too — over $2,000 to these struggling businesses.” — Anonymous
Lois White
“I would like to nominate Lois White. As of March 23, Lois decided to take over the deliveries to our seniors and shutins for the Meet and Eat Program here in Holyoke. She is doing this for the safety of the people we deliver to and the rest of our delivery crew. She is going to be moving away to Fruita very soon, and she is going to be missed at Meet and Eat. Thank you, Lois.” — Sherry Simms
Trisha Herman
“Trisha is passionate about the welfare of our community. During the coronavirus pandemic, she’s found creative ways to help others by offering free Zoom classes through the Holyoke Fitness Club, fitness Facebook groups, helping her Bible study stay connected on Zoom, encouraging others to support local businesses and directing churches/businesses to helpful financial resources like the Payment Protection Plan. She shines a bright light, and our town is blessed by her leadership.” — Samantha Krieger
Joan Price
“Joan spent much of her Easter weekend helping an elderly neighbor who now finds it difficult to maintain the beautiful flower beds which have always filled her yard. Early Friday morning, Joan began the massive spring cleaning job to get her neighbor’s beds ready for their spring and summer blooms.” — John and Lynn Schneider
Bob Heldenbrand
“I would like to nominate Bob Heldenbrand for the hometown hero. He operates our emergency management department and has been manning the emergency operations center for 31 days, keeping information for all agencies and coordinating what is needed for Phillips County. He operates behind the scenes and has been commended by the northeast health department for how well he manages this and other emergencies in our county.” — Tiffany Watson
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