Myers named Sauk Rapids Citizen of Year

by Dave DeMars

news@thenewsleaders.com

Smiling faces and helium-filled mylar balloons inhabit the room. On a somewhat overcast day on April 25, the Sauk Rapids Government Center Community Room and all of Sauk Rapids itself were brightened by the smile of their own April Myers, who was named Sauk Rapids Citizen of the Year 2016.

Myers is housing director for Good Shepherd Community in Sauk Rapids.

Myers would have made a politician cry with envy as she moved graciously through the crowd of well-wishers, shaking a hand here, accepting a hug there. Her memory for names and faces seemed never to fail her, and if by chance you were a stranger, it was not for long as she made all feel welcome and at ease.

Asked what it means to be named Citizen of the Year, she quickly replies it’s an honor and an award that belongs to everyone in the Sauk Rapids community because it takes so many people to build a village – a great village like Sauk Rapids.

“I feel very honored and very blessed because it’s certainly a privilege,” she said.

Born in Crosby-Ironton, one of seven children, she came to volunteering early in her life. Her mom and dad set the example. She remembers her parents expected she and her siblings would naturally volunteer, and that expectation became a lifelong habit.

“You know,” she said, “there has never been a day when I’ve said ‘Aw, I have to volunteer’ or ‘I don’t want to do that,’ because you never have any idea what kind of an experience you are going to have.”

She was at work when she got the news she’d been named Citizen of the Year.

“I was at work at Good Shepherd,” Myers said. “Our CEO told me there was a lady to see me, and I kind of got a little nervous because I don’t like to miss appointments, you know. All of a sudden Lisa Braun was there with flowers and made the announcement. I was speechless.”

If she was speechless, it was for a very short time. By her own admission, she is an extrovert and she loves to laugh and tell a good story. Her resume is a litany of good works.

“I don’t want to miss an opportunity,” she said, “and I love giving back. Our community has so many opportunities to jump in and be a part of things, and I’ve met so many wonderful people throughout every experience I’ve had whether it be volunteering to help the drama department at the high school, serving on an advisory board for community education or the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, or volunteering in my church, Living Waters.”

She talked of how all her volunteering has a kind of regenerative transformation for her, and then she expressed concerns for her husband, Scott, and daughter Megan, a junior at the College of St. Benedict. They are a little more introverted than she is, and she smiled as she said that for a time, she may have been exhausting them with her busy schedule and being involved in so many activities. In the end, she said, the involvement was great because they could experience it all together as a family.

“You deserve it,” said a garrulous Rodney Schultz. “It couldn’t have gone to a nicer person!”
He stopped. April’s arms opened and offered a warm embrace and warm words to an old friend. Schultz, a retired mail carrier, saw Myers often on his rounds. She was never without her warm smile and easy way of making you feel at ease, he said.