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FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS MAY 14, 2014 | 9

Evergreen Selects First Mayor

SAFETY

Chamber of commerce

appoints Lillian Hinkley
Find and
to honorary post

By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon

YOUR
EVERGREEN – Lillian Hinkley
SECURITY
doesn’t want to brag, but she believes
Evergreen has some of the best people in

the Flathead Valley.
“We have the cream of the crop here,”
she said, sitting in her kitchen last week.
Lillian, who likes to say she was born
on July 4, 1776, but is actually 85, takes
pride in her community. She has lived in
in banking with
Evergreen since moving here with her
husband, Don, in 1968, and raised her
a local bank
kids in the same house she lives in now.
With such a history here, it is itting
that knos you.
SAFETY
that Lillian has become Evergreen’s irst
mayor, an honor bestowed upon her May
1 at a Evergreen Chamber of Commerce
celebration.
Since Evergreen isn’t an incorpo-

rated city, the mayor title is purely sym-
bolic, without duties assigned or a city
council to run, Bev Ferris, executive di-
rector at the Evergreen chamber, said.
To choose the mayor, anyone could
pay $1 and write down somebody’s name
on a ticket, which was then drawn from a
bowl on May 1. Many people wrote down

Lillian’s name, Ferris said.
“Lillian is such a great person,” Fer-
ris said. “It was just such a great honor to
have her chosen.”
The May 1 celebration was a way to
bridge the gap between the holidays and
the summer tourism season, Ferris said,
with a big party in the Kmart parking lot

in Evergreen featuring games, business
booths, and plenty of activities for kids.
More than 1,000 people attended, Lillian Hinkley was recently named the honorary mayor of Evergreen after her name was drawn in a
she said, which was a great start to what rale.
she wants to be an annual community GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
event.
Terri, Kim, Bryan and Jill. Don, who “I’m gone and helping people all the
The mayor rale drew over 1,000 passed away in 1981, was the superinten- time,” Lillian said. “To me, isn’t that

tickets, meaning more than $1,000 dent for Evergreen schools, and worked what life it all about?”
raised for the chamber, which will cel- hard to better their community, she said.
During her nightly Bible study, she’s
ebrate its second anniversary on Aug. It was their family’s goal to give back multitasking by listening to the radio
23. In the nearly two years it has been up and help others, Lillian said, and that’s and writing down her thoughts.
and running, the chamber has garnered still a big aspect of her life today. She’s On a yellow page of legal paper, Lil-
170 members, Ferris said.
been singing with the Valley Voices choir lian listed her children, her ive grand-
The chamber’s information kiosk in since its inception 14 years ago, and she’s children and her great-grandchild, and
the Kmart parking lot recently received very involved with her church. She’s also wrote an inspirational thought in her el-

a permanent permit from the county an active volunteer with Flathead Valley egant cursive.
Board of Adjustment, and the chamber Live on Stage, and loves music.
“Life is like a kite,” she wrote. “We
was instrumental in getting an industri- When she’s not singing or playing need to be lifted up to successfully do
al zoning overlay approved for the Ever- solitaire, Lillian is arranging lowers, God’s work. Peace and blessings to you
green businesses on U.S. Highway 2.
painting, doing yard work, or otherwise on your journey.”
It’s been an eventful start for the working her way through her house. It’s [email protected]
chamber, Ferris said, and having a may- hard for her to sit still, which she thinks

or seemed itting.
is a blessing.
Lillian said she’s excited to be the
mayor, and she wants to use the title to “I’M GONE AND HELPING PEOPLE ALL THE TIME.
get some projects accomplished. For in-
stance, the intersection on Highway 2
and Evergreen Drive needs a left turn TO ME, ISN’T THAT WHAT LIFE IT ALL ABOUT?”
signal, she said.
Upon moving to Evergreen, Lillian
Lillian Hinkley
www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
and her husband Don built a house in
which they would raise their children,