Farewell, Kathy McCully

Kathy McCully is a woman who has inspired me. The following is a speech I wrote for her retirement party on Sunday, June 28, 2015 after serving as Isanti County Historical Society's Executive Director for 13 years (2003-2015).

Kathy McCully, left, selling tickets with Jenn and I for a fundraising event: a circus!

Part of the ICHS board in 2008 with Kathy McCully

The board with Kathy visiting West Riverside School.

State Capitol visit for Isanti County's 150th anniversary

It’s so nice to be here today, back with all of you lovely people. Knowing that Kathy was retiring prompted me to take a trip down memory lane, beginning with my first involvement with ICHS. I started as a new board member in 2004, shortly after ICHS had moved into the Heritage Center for the first time. I was new to boards in general, and was quickly elected Vice President — mostly because I didn’t say no! I didn’t think too much of it, but as some of you may know from serving on the ICHS board, one can quickly get promoted! And I was when Bill Leigh resigned from the board a few months later. Suddenly I was Board President! I didn’t know what I was doing, but Kathy took me under her wing and I learned what it meant to serve on a board, and specifically what it meant to serve on the ICHS Board.

It was a fantastic learning experience for me. Let me tell you what I learned from Kathy during the five years I was on the board, and since as I’ve assisted with updating the web site and Facebook page, helped with the e-Newsletter, and lent a hand with the Taste of Home Cooking show and expo.

1) A good leader inspires others with her vision. And Kathy is such a visionary.
She has never been satisfied with the status quo, but is always pushing for a better way to do things. Her desire to run the historical society as a business pushed the board to find ways for the society to earn money, as she saw that ICHS couldn’t rely on fundraising alone. She has always been thrifty with society funds, and solicited quite a few donated items to use for display space. (Regrettably most of these were lost in the fire.) She also signed us up for organizational and board training through the Initiative Foundation, training I look back on as being invaluable for me and the organization.

2) A good leader is enthusiastic.
Kathy’s enthusiasm is contagious. It’s tangible. She brings out the best in people, and makes organizing and running events just plain fun. I can’t begin to count the amount of belly laughs I’ve had with Kathy, many of them in the middle of what could have been boring financial planning meetings or stressful meetings going over last-minute event details.

3) A good leader plans for the future, but doesn’t forget the past.
Kathy has played an important role in preserving history for future generations. As she likes to say, “History is made by everyday people.” Because of that belief, Kathy didn’t confine ICHS to events that are typically viewed as “historical.” Instead, she knew that everything we do becomes history as soon as we do it, and that opened up the door for ICHS to host other sorts of events, including concerts, the IMAGE Art Show, and more. That doesn’t mean she forgot to bring in those events and speakers that are typically viewed of as “history,” because she did that too during her tenture with ICHS. She also supported work at St. John’s Historic Church, as well as a major renovation at Spencer Brook School in 2009 with the Spencer Brook Historical Association. There was continual maintenance work at West Riverside School. The Olson Summer Kitchen was moved to the Heritage Center property in 2006 - oh, that was an undertaking! And the Edblad Cabin just outside here was finally finished off last year.

Kathy told me once that every job she had prior prepared her for working at ICHS. She took all those things she had learned and applied them to this job. I don’t think there was a single week during her tenure at ICHS that Kathy stuck to the number of hours she was getting paid for. Instead, she poured her heart and soul into the historical society because she believes in its importance and its value.

4) A good leader isn’t afraid to take risks. She thinks outside the box.
Kathy knew that this little non-profit needed to raise lots of money to be able to finish and then pay off its building, this lovely Heritage Center. So she encouraged the board to think big. She was always hatching a new plan to raise money, and eager to support ideas that came her way. When STAR Publisher Jim Schmitz told me about a circus and then later about the Taste of Home, I passed that information to Kathy, and she was ready for the challenge.

We were all simply amazed that first year when the Taste of Home tickets sold out so quickly. Wow! We never knew what would happen when we hosted an event — would people come or would they not? But Kathy always encouraged us to push ahead and we planned for success.

During my time with ICHS, we published two History Buffs calendars (2005 and 2006), pushing the envelope in order to raise money to finish off the building for the first time. I remember how much Kathy, Roger Wm. Anderson and I laughed as we put that together.

A fan of the Amazing Race, Kathy was sure we could find a way to make that happen. And so we did as part of the county’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2007. She led the way and I was part of the team that helped bring it to fruition. Participants peeled potatoes blindfolded, pumped water using the hand-pump, did a three-legged race, handled a two-person saw, and more. We did most of that at the West Riverside School site, and then headed over to the Heritage Center where the Roots-N-Shoots festival and car show was going on for the finale: the lutefish eating competition! It was such a wonderful event to be a part of. We also had the honor of meeting with Governor Pawlenty and our other legislators in office at that time for a special proclamation honoring Isanti County’s 150 years. It was exciting to be down at the Capitol.

5) A good leader is strong through the happy times and the hard times.
When she received the call that the Heritage Center was on fire on July 8, 2011, Kathy’s heart broke, and we all saw how much she cared. It has always been more than a job for her. And then she worked to pick up the pieces, using it as a way to strengthen the organization. She spent hours planning how to make the building function better when it was rebuilt. She also spent time pulling in thoughts and ideas on what ICHS should look like moving into the future — and she did that before anything else was done. She wanted to be sure to provide a building that would work well even after she had left a leadership role within the society. A good leader works to strengthen her organization.

Kathy has been such a good leader for us! I am so grateful for all she’s done and what she’s taught me. Thank you, Kathy!