Person of the Year: Andrew McKay

Jumping right in

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Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
Those who know Andy McKay know that he has made a significant impact on the community in a short time. Since moving to Newcastle in 2016, he has thrown himself into the life of the community. 
“I really feel like our responsibility as members of this community is to support each other,” McKay said. “This is an amazing place with fantastic people. There is just so much going on in this small community, and it is a really awesome privilege to be a part of that.” 
McKay coaches soccer, volunteers at his church, serves on the Weston County Republican Party board as treasurer-secretary and, this year, kicked off a local farmers market that filled Railroad Park every Thursday night over the summer. 
“For people who know me, they understand that this is just an offshoot of my everywhere kind of brain. I hear about something exciting and want to be a part of it,” McKay said. “I don’t get involved with things unless I see value in them.” 
Organizing an event such as the weekly market was a task McKay did not tackle on his own, he said. He credits his wife, Hope, his job, his boss and the local vendors for the market’s success. 
McKay said that he and Hope loved attending local farmers markets before relocating to Newcastle from Laramie after college. When he began working at Frontier Home, Ranch and Hardware, he said, he worked with his boss and through his job to give life to the Newcastle market. 
“One of the things that we didn’t have was a farmers’ market, but we had some room to grow as far as community events go,” McKay said. “I wanted something to bring the community together in a fun way that isn’t necessarily about bringing other people into the community.” 
One of the first people McKay told about his market idea was his boss at Frontier, Sandy Dirkes. He said that she was in full support of the venture. 
“I had so much support and encouragement from her and everyone else at Frontier,” McKay said. 
His job at the hardware and gardening supply store gave him ample access to gardeners and producers who would become the heart of the market, he said. 
“It just started off on a great foot, and I am thankful for that,” McKay said. 
The event, according to McKay, began with just eight vendors in the small park across from Frontier, but by the end of summer, the park was packed full of vendors and shoppers. 
“Eventually, we grew to not quite, but almost, completely filling up Railroad Park and needing to expand to a larger location,” McKay said. “The community support and enthusiasm for the farmers’ market is something I could not have dreamed of.” 
McKay credits the success of the event to the many individuals who helped him organize the events, as well as the vendors that showed up and brought life to the park. 
“People just really ate it up, literally in some cases,” McKay smiled. “It was an incredible process with passionate people.” 
Kickstarting the farmers’ market is not the only avenue McKay has selected to give back to the community that he now calls home. 
According to Republican Party Chairman Barry Peterson, McKay is not only involved with the local Republican Party and organizing the farmers’ market, he also volunteers at his church and has coached and refereed soccer. 
“I can’t believe he can keep up with everything,” Peterson said. “He has been a really big help with the party.”
Peterson said McKay has made a positive impact on the political party in Weston County. 
McKay said that he did not initially want to get involved with the party, but having seen some “bad things” in this county that he felt were because of a lack of organization within the party, he said, he decided to take the leap. 
“For such a red county, it is the Republican Party’s job to act as a liaison between the officials and the people,” McKay said. “I feel like we are starting to turn the tide on that, and that it is going to be a positive change in our community.” 
Joining the board of the organization, he said, is an “intentional pursuit of
not just complaining about what is
happening in terms of legislation but having the opportunity to have a voice
for the community.” 
McKay’s budding passion for local politics and the local community come second, though, to his passion and love for God, he said. McKay said his faith has given him additional ways to become involved. 
“Andy has really jumped in and done things in the church and the community,” said John Anderson, pastor at Gateway Fellowship Church. 
He said that McKay not only volunteers his time to operate the church’s sound system but that he and Hope volunteer with the church’s youth group. 
“He is on the upper tier of volunteers as far as time and resources invested go,” Anderson said. “He is a member of the church and does so much without being in the leadership, although I expect that in the future.” 
According to Anderson, McKay goes above and beyond by connecting with the people in the community. 
“He really relates well with the people, and the people really enjoy spending time with him,” Anderson said, noting that McKay has been known to even visit people in their homes to offer encouragement and help.
“Both Hope and I feel that we have the gift of teaching and service, helping with the youth group and Bible studies is a natural offshoot of that,” McKay said. 
Being recognized for what he gives back to the community is something he neither sought nor expected, McKay said. 
“I hate that I am going to be in the paper. I don’t want to be in the spotlight. I want this to be normal,” McKay said. “This place is amazing, and there are so many people who are already doing these amazing things. To be considered for Person of the Year is humbling in the highest degree. There are so many people who just work their hearts out.”