A West Liberty woman known for her work at MidWest One Bank and her volunteer work with several community organizations received the honor of being named Grand Marshall of the 2023 Fair Parade.
Cindy Mays was chosen a couple of weeks ago for the honor. The West Liberty Chamber of Commerce is in charge of the Fair Parade. The board decided unanimously to have Mays serve as Grand Marshall.
“We were looking for something big,” West Liberty Chamber of Commerce Director Charles Brooke said. “I think we found it with Cindy because I know that with the Muscatine County Fair, the Chamber of Commerce and overall with the City of West Liberty and Muscatine County Cindy has touched, volunteered, helped, supported everyone of us.”
Mays retired earlier this year from MidWest One Bank in West Liberty after working there for more than 20 years.
“She had been on our radar for multiple years and we just knew at some point we were going to ask her,” Brooke said. “We just felt like it was the right time to celebrate her.”
Mays was told about being selected to be Grand Marshall for the parade a few weeks ago, Brooke added.
“She cried,” Brooke said. “We kept the phone call short because she was trying to thank us and we just said ‘we’ll just see you at the fair parade,” he added.
Mays will ride in a vehicle provided by Wiele Chevrolet, Brooke said.
Krista Lanier, worked with Mays at MidWest One Bank in West Liberty and has known her for her whole life.
“She has been good to me,” Lanier said. “Cindy is the one who got me interested in banking 16 years ago.”
When her parents moved to West Liberty 16 years ago, Mays mentioned to Lanier she could help her with employment when she moved to Iowa, she added.
“I was like ‘I don’t know anything about banking and she was like ‘You can start from the beginning,” Lanier said. “When I went home (North Carolina) I decided I was going to move to Iowa and get started in banking. I’ve been in it every since.’”
She said Mays being selected, as Grand Marshall was an honor.
“I don’t think you could have chosen a better person,” Lanier said. “She is well-known by the community, not just MidWest One.”
Bank customers still come in to tell staff that they miss Mays, she added.
William Koellner has known Mays for a while.
“Cindy is an enabler,” Koellner said. “She helps other people to succeed and get ahead.”
He said she has been involved with several community organizations in West Liberty including Dreamcatchers, Rotary Club of West Liberty, West Liberty Chamber of Commerce, sponsored Run for The Schools and worked at two different banks in town for most of her life.
“She’s on the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine (board) ” Koellner said. “She’s a representative of West Liberty. She filled my position there.”
Mays also helped a lot of people with banking, he added. She took on clients other people wouldn’t take on necessarily, Koellner added.