Glowacki, McLaughlin named Senior Citizens of the Year

At a special June luncheon, Nantucketers Mary Glowacki and John McLaughlin will be honored as the 2007 male and female Senior Citizens of the Year by the Nantucket Council on Aging.

John McLaughlin The Independent file Mrs. Glowacki, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, was born in Foxboro, Mass., and moved to the island with her family when she was in second grade. She attended elementary school and later high school at Academy Hill. She is an ecumenical minister and lector at St. Mary's Church and an active volunteer at Our Island Home. Her volunteer work with Our Island Home began when it was in the current Landmark House building and it was not unusual for Mrs. Glowacki to take residents to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. She was also a Brownie leader, a Pink Lady at the hospital and a long-time volunteer for Meals on Wheels.

She is known for her delicious fudge that she sells at island events at the St. Mary's Church food table. She was a Pocahontas, Grand Trustee of Pocahontas and Master of the Grange. She has been a Grange member for more than 50 years. She is also a past president of St. Mary's Guild, a current member of the International Rotarians, and was the first woman on Nantucket to be accepted into its local membership.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Mary Glowacki Mrs. Glowacki is the mother of Walter J. Glowacki, Mary Ann Egan and Joan Bunting. She has 15 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

"I just don't believe it," she said of receiving the nomination. "It is a great honor. It's something that you never realize could happen to you."

Mr. McLaughlin, 72, is an island native. After returning to the island following the Korean War he worked at Ryder's Market, with the highway department, as the Sunbeam bread distributor and for many years with the Steamship Authority before retiring. Adedicated public servant for more than 40 years, Mr. McLaughlin is in his 38th year on the Historic District Commission, and is on the Planning Board and Council on Aging. He has also been a selectman, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and was a sheriff's deputy for 15 years.

He has been married to Beverly McLaughlin for 48 years. They have a daughter, Colleen, and granddaughter, Gussie Clarkson. He is a member of the VFW, American Legion, Amvets of America and the Disabled American Veterans.

"I think it's a great honor to accept the nomination," Mr. McLaughlin said. "They tried for three or four years and I kept refusing it, but they put a little more pressure on me so I said fine."

Criteria for the award includes being 60 or older, exemplifying the spirit of positive aging, being enthusiastically involved in the community, cheerfully helping others, being a peer role model who is representative of the community's outstanding senior citizens, and not being a paid Senior Center employee member of the Council on Aging or of

Elder Services of the Cape and Islands. I