Mary Anne Loy is not from Adair County, but one could be forgiven for not knowing that given how involved she has been in her community over the years.
In 2020, Loy directed the effort to get flowerbeds installed on the square. This was an extension of her interest in gardening; Loy is a member of the Gardening Club and also works to maintain time period-accurate flowerbeds at the Trabue-Russell House.
In 2016, as head of the City of Columbia’s sidewalk committee, Loy discovered documentation to allow then-Mayor Curtis Hardwick to begin creating sidewalks from Greensburg Street to the school campus.
Her involvement in the community has also extended to J.O.Y. Ministries, where she was part of a committee that helped lease land for an emergency and homeless shelter in 2018.
“I’ve always had projects,” Loy said. “I like to stay busy.”
This year, she is assisting in decorating the square for Christmas—in part, using her expertise from years of owning a Hallmark store alongside her husband.
“That’s new,” Loy laughed, explaining the origins of the “traditional Christmas” she and others are planning.
“Sandy Conover and her daughter, Lucy, who own Nanwood, they’re really talented people… I’m in and out of (Nanwood) and they were talking one day about Christmas decorations. I said, ‘You know, the courthouse is the center of town and it looks so nice, and I think it ought to be the focus of Christmas,’” Loy said. “My husband and I love Colonial Williamsburg, but I never went at Christmas because… you don’t go somewhere at Christmas when you have a retail store… Williamsburg (and its Christmas decoration) is kind of always an inspiration of the aesthetic. It’s so pretty at Christmas. And it’s simple.”
But where Loy’s heart currently lies is in the Trabue-Russell House. One of its most ardent supporters, Loy was honored for her efforts there earlier this year by the Chamber of Commerce.
The pre-Civil-War home was initially erected in 1831. After generations of varying families living in it (and surprisingly few Trabues and Russells, as Loy is quick to point out), the home now serves as a general museum of sorts for not only its history, but Adair County’s as a whole.
Artifacts from the earliest days of Adair County all the way through the modern era line the Trabue-Russell House’s walls: A dress from the turn of the twentieth century; biographies on former slaves who taught themselves to read; the only surviving photos of buildings long lost to time; posters for the county fair in the 1980s; a menu from a Christmas dinner held at the house in the 1970s. Loy said, only half-jokingly, that she would like to have a dinner at the house on the same date and time with the same foods listed on the Christmas menu when its 50 anniversary arrives in a few years.
All of these are part of Adair County’s history, and a function of the Trabue-Russell House is to host events such as field trips and dinners to bring eyes in and maintain the history that so many in the community have worked hard to chronicle.
For Loy, volunteering at the Trabue-Russell House is part of giving back to a community that she moved to. Loy grew up in Harrodsburg, though her parents were from Perryville.
Though it was only a county away, the feeling of growing up as a first generation resident of Harrodsburg left a mark.
“When I was growing up, I always felt a little bit like I was an outsider. It didn’t bother me, but I grew up conscious of the fact that most of my friends’ families had been there for generations,” Loy said.
From Harrodsburg, Loy has lived in numerous places. For a time, she claimed New Orleans as her home, where she volunteered at the library several days a week.
“To me, in any community, the public library should be and can be one of the most important things you have that you can support. It’s a real leveler of opportunity. And besides reading, it gives everybody equal footing,” she said. “I grew up going to the library and enjoying it. (Adair) is really blessed with a great library.”
Of her varied career and her current resume of volunteering around Adair County, Loy views it as an extension of things that have always appealed to her throughout her life.
“Growing up,” she said, “I had lots of interests. I went to a liberal arts college (Centre in Danville) and when you go to a liberal arts college, you don’t go in with a major and specialize, you’re taking subjects all across the disciplines… You had to take all of it and achieve a certain proficiency… I think it’s a really good basis for life. I always felt like If you’re going to be a good citizen, which I think should be everybody’s objective, conscious or subconscious, you need to know all you can.”
By Kenley Godby
kenley@adairvoice.com
