SHALIMAR — Mary Rush knows her legacy will be more than just her name on a plaque at Poquito Bayou Park. What she will be remembered for is her perseverance and love of community.
Rush, 82, was honored recently by the Poquito Bayou Community Association for the campaign she began 17 years ago.
“If people could realize with just a few people what you can do,” Rush said from her home in the neighborhood. “Never say never. Anything is possible.”
Rush began the effort in 1996, three years after she moved to Poquito Bayou, after she saw a ruckus on the water outside her home.
She wanted to voice her concerns and hear the concerns of her neighbors, and decided to help form the community association.
Rush spent hours knocking on doors and passing out fliers to generate interest in a neighborhood group like the one she had been involved with when she lived in Hawaii.
The first meeting attracted 38 people. A month later it was 73. Today, more than 200 households belong to the association.
Through the years, it has celebrated holidays with Easter egg hunts, Halloween contests, Christmas parades and other events. Members host fundraisers, send out a monthly newsletter, celebrate the yard of the month and help one another search for lost pets.
The association also sponsors candidate forums during election time at Bob Hope Village.
Rush says the collective voice of many has helped to make the streets safer, the park better and the neighborhood more desirable.
“This thing has escalated into just a miracle,” she said. “The purpose is to promote general welfare of the community both in the neighborhood and in your city and county. My motivator the whole time was that I knew it would work.”
Rush retired as the association’s president in April after learning she has pancreatic cancer. It took eight people to replace her.
She says this is the first time she’s not been involved in a project of some kind.
“This isn’t easy for her,” said her husband, Jerry Rush, an Air Force veteran. “Her perseverance has been a driving force all her life.”
Since stepping down, Rush has been honored by the association and Okaloosa County for her work over the years.
She says her one regret is that she hasn’t been able to spread the word about how associations can improve neighborhoods.
“That’s the thing I feel I haven’t finished. Word isn’t out there, and that’s my one regret,” Rush said. “You know, when you say yes you commit yourself, and that’s when you can solve the problems. You just have to say yes.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.
