This Hero Has Served Her Community For 40 Years

(May 25, 2012) - This week's Billy Johnson Community Hero has made serving her community a priority for the past 40 years.  Mingo County, WV resident Mae Stallard is known throughout West Virginia as a woman who has always put the needs of others before her own.  She says she feel s like the little girl she once heard about in a story.  "There had been a big storm during the night, and there were all kinds of starfish, hundreds of them, washed up on the shore," Mae recalls.  "There was a man also walking out on the beach, and he was watching this little girl who kept throwing the starfish back into the water.  He said to the little girl, 'Honey, you shouldn't do that.  You can't help them.  There's nothing you can do.' And she picked up another one and said, 'I made a difference in that one's life.'"
     Mae is a retired teacher in Mingo County, and is still loved by her former students, who affectionately call her 'Miss Boo'.  And, even after she retired, she agreed to substitute from time to time.  "After I retired, I would substitute.  The only thing is that I wouldn't let them pay me," explained Mrs. Stallard.  "I said, 'listen...I've had so much joy in teaching!"
     Now, even her substituting days are behind her, but she still sees some students every Wednesday before school.  "I have a bible club at Williamson Middle School that I started in 1994.  But, I have to go early in the morning before school starts."
     She is also one of the organizers of Williamson's King Coal Festival, and says she truly loves everything she does.  "My doctor tells me, 'Mae, everything you do honey...half of it's got to go!'" she laughed.  "And, I say, 'Let me tell you something.  I don't do one thing that I don't feel the Lord has called me to do!'"
     Congratulations, Mae Stallard, this week's Billy Johnson Community Hero!