In December 2009, five women were awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership into Historic Fincastle, Inc. (HFI): Angela Coon, Peggy Davis, Pat Simmons, Paige Ware, and Mary Westerman.
HFI was incorporated in 1968 as a non-profit organization devoted to protecting and preserving the historic town of Fincastle. Peggy, Pat, and Mary helped to organize HFI in 1967 when the idea of a Council for the Beautification & Preservation of Fincastle was born.
At the Annual Membership meeting on Thursday, November 14, six more members were honored with Honorary Lifetime Memberships. They are Marcia Neighbors, Lynne Bolton, Kip and Lyn Burton and Carol and Alan Brenner. These people will be honored with an ink pen made by Willie Simmons out of wood from the tree at the Wysong Building.
Marcia Neighbors, one of the First 2nd Generation Honorary Lifetime Membership recipients, has been a member of the Board of Directors since the early 1980s and has served as secretary for many of those years. She also volunteers at most every HFI event – serving as Mrs. Early at the Early Cabin, organizing the music and/or quilt shows at the Fincastle Festival, providing food and decorations at the annual holiday party, etc.
Lynne Bolton has been the president of HFI for eight of the last nine years and has served as other officers since 2009. Her passion has been the continuation of the Fincastle Festival – creating new events, managing the craft and artist and food vendors and seeing to every detail so visitors can enjoy the day.
Kip and Lyn Burton are the “king and queen” of volunteering. Anything that needs to be done, they are always there – cleaning the gardens, serving as host or hostess, information booth organizers, souvenirs, and most importantly serving as treasurer for the last 20 years.
Photos courtesy of HFI
Carol and Alan Brenner were also honored. Carol served as president of HFI for several years until her health forced her to step down. She sadly passed away in 2019. During her tenure, she did much of the preparation of mailings, the newsletter, organizing events and planning for the future. Some of her major accomplishments were to help put HFI on a secure financial footing, re-roofing the Early Cabin, designing and coordinating funding and construction of the stone sign at Main Street and Rt. 220. She was also the First 2nd Generation President and now is one of the First 2nd Generation Honorary Lifetime Membership recipients. Alan was her constant helper. Alan’s claim to fame was that he always “got the wine” for any event needed and lined up the porta-potties for the festival. Both were very willing volunteers and Alan still volunteers.
Congratulations to these very deserving members of HFI. There are many more people who deserve this recognition. The board will be looking into honoring more in years to come. HFI is planning to create a garden at Wysong Park to acknowledge the accomplishments of these people.
~ Historic Fincastle, Inc.
