POY nominee: Tierny Parrish

The quiet disciple

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Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
“Sometimes a community like Newcastle has a person who just embodies the concept of volunteering. Tierny Parrish is that person for us,” said Shawnda Sandrini and Phyllis Sundstrom in a letter to the News Letter Journal, nominating Tierny Parrish as Person of the Year for 2018. 
“Every week is filled with days when she is busy helping others. Tuesdays find her delivering Meals on Wheels. Many other days it’s driving the senior bus for medical appointments, or it might be driving someone’s car for an appointment. Whatever the need, Tierny is ready to help, with a smile,” the letter stated. 
A lifelong Newcastle resident, Parrish spent her days growing up in the heart of Main Street at the News Letter Journal office, then owned by her family, interacting with the people who were active in the community and volunteered. Parrish acknowledged that her upbringing is part of what made her the person she is today, someone dedicated to volunteering with several organizations. 
“I saw how much my dad (James Parrish) enjoyed it, he was involved with the Masons and the Lions Club,” Parrish recalled. “Mary Capps is someone I looked up to growing up. She started several organizations, served on others and was a real leader in our community.” 
Capps and Tierny’s father led by example and their influence had an impact on her, according to Parrish. 
Her mother, Ardy Parrish, also believes her daughter’s drive for volunteering and helping others came from watching her dad be involved while growing up. She noted that Tierny has carried on in his footsteps, continuing the family tradition of serving in the community. 
“It started gradually. My dad was a city-minded person and just loved Newcastle, and it made me realize what a special place this is,” Parrish said. “I had a nice good life here, and it is almost like I am paying it forward.” 
Parrish said that her volunteerism began when she started helping the Meals on Wheels program as a substitute driver. Although, Ardys recalls that her daughter’s volunteer work began in her mid 20s when she worked with the Peace Corps in Africa doing work with elephants. 
From there she continued to help more and more organizations, and now is a actively involved in several organizations while also giving to others all on her own. 
According to the nomination letter, Parrish is active in her church, Christ Episcopal; a member of Chapter AG, PEO, on the Weston County Humane Society board, and an active member of the Weston County Historical Society. 
 “A long-time member of the Christ Episcopal church, Tierny is one of a very small group that has kept the church going in recent years,” Sandrini and Sundstrom said. 
Parrish noted that she is currently the church’s secretary-treasurer. She also serves as secretary-treasurer for the Lion’s Club part of the year as a fill in. 
“The Lion’s Club is such a nice organization. We would like to have more people interested in joining the club. We are able to do a lot of good things, especially for eyesight,” Parrish said. 
As a pet lover, Parrish has also found time to serve on the Weston County Humane Society board. She has also been involved in local history preservation.
“For many years, Tierny was on staff at the Anna Miller Museum and is still an active member of the Weston County Historical Society, serving three terms on the board and holding several offices,” Sandrini and Sundstrom said. 
Parrish said that she would love to see young people in the community become as interested in local history as some of the older generations. 
“Our members are dwindling, and we are really hoping we can develop an interest in history in our younger generations,” Parrish said. 
On top of being passionate about pets, church and history, Parrish is an advocate for women’s education. 
“In Chapter AG, P.E.O., an organization that supports education for women, Tierny has held all the offices, with several years as president. When others are too busy to go to an officer training, she goes and takes notes to share at the next meeting. And, she’s never too busy to attend the state convention,” Sandrini and Sundstrom said. 
Being actively involved in several organizations is not the only way Parrish goes out of her way to give back to the community she loves. According to friends, Parrish is a frequent supplier of items for the Weston County Senior Center’s lending supply. 
“A favorite pastime for Tierny is shopping at the secondhand stores, but not for herself,” Sandrini and Sundstrom said. “She is more likely picking up walkers and other medical equipment to donate to the Senior Center’s lending supply.” 
According to Parrish, being an active volunteer is something she does to keep herself from “twiddling her thumbs” all day. She gets to be out and about, meeting people and feeling like she is making the community a better place. 
Sandrini stated that Parrish quietly goes about, doing her volunteer work, and she doesn’t believe people realize how much Parrish accomplishes for the community. She noted that she is just so very generous, kind, helping and willing to give and do for others. 
“One person described Tierny as a ‘quiet disciple.’ Another commented on her humility,” Sandrini and Sundstrom said. “Regardless of the need, the cost, or the time and effort involved, she is always ready to step in and help the citizens of Newcastle. Lucky us. And, what a great choice for the 2018 Person of the Year.”