Missy Hollenback named Spirit of Shrewsbury grand marshal

SHREWSBURY – Sitting in the garden near the Floral Street School playground, Missy Hollenback described her passion for protecting the environment.

“We don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors,” she said. “We borrow it from our children.”

The words aren’t her own, but they perfectly encapsulate what she has been passionately working toward for the last few decades.

An environmental advocate, she has often been at the forefront of eco-friendly change. Hollenback gets stuff done.

Her “can-do” attitude, green thumb, and indelible love of Shrewsbury have made Hollenback a well-known and well-respected community member. In recognition of her decades of community involvement and volunteerism, Hollenback was named the 2023 Spirit of Shrewsbury grand marshal.

Meet Missy

Originally from Pennsylvania, Hollenback has lived in Shrewsbury for 26 years. As her two children grew up, Hollenback found ways to get involved, volunteering in her children’s classrooms, for the Parent Teacher Organization and with the Girl Scouts.

When she spoke with the Community Advocate, Hollenback chose to meet at Floral Street School for one simple reason: she’s always thinking about the future. In 2008, Hollenback campaigned for the ultimately unsuccessful budget override. Although the override didn’t pass, Hollenback’s efforts laid the groundwork for a successful campaign in 2014 that brought millions of dollars into the school system.

“It was one of the turning points for how we approached overrides in the town. We actually canvassed the homes and voters. It was more of a planned attack,” Hollenback said.

Hollenback’s passion for the environment stems from her desire to make the world better for the next generation.

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“It’s really all about the children,” she said. “It’s really important that we leave something for our children, our grandchildren. I started being a parent older. It’s very likely I will never meet my grandchildren or I won’t know them well. So I want to have something for them.”

In an effort to help protect the environment, Hollenback became involved in myriad town initiatives. D’Arcy McCarthy, the chairperson of the Grand Marshal Committee for the Spirit of Shrewsbury, said that Hollenback “has her fingers in many pies.”

Which one of those pies was the sweetest?

Perhaps her involvement in instituting the town’s pay-as-you-throw trash program. Although she said she briefly became “the most hated woman in Shrewsbury” and had an elderly woman scream at her and her children in a grocery store about the policy, Hollenback says people still thank her today for championing the project.

Hollenback was also involved with the town’s 2016 plastic bag ban and Shrewsbury’s 2018 designation as a green community. Hollenback had attempted to make the town a green community nearly one decade prior.

If you’ve been to the Shrewsbury Farmers Market over the years, you’ve likely seen Hollenback, who led it for nine years since its inception. Hollenback also helped the town adopt the Community Preservation Act in 2020.

Hollenback is known for being detail oriented, thorough, and unafraid to ask tough questions. She said that at Town Meetings, people — everyone from friends to nervous strangers sitting nearby — trust her to ask their questions and amplify their voice.

“People have accused me of being on my soapbox, but many times it’s just for clarification and to highlight things I think are important for people,” she explained.

Nomination process

The Grand Marshal Committee received 10 nominations for the honor this year. All of those nominated had made impressive contributions to the town.

But Hollenback stood out.

“In the end, everybody brought something to the table,” McCarthy said. “But I will say that the list of the many different ways Missy contributed was a standout… you couldn’t take [her] nomination and say, ‘Well, maybe next year.’ It was really worthy of the honor.”

Before the committee could officially make the nomination, Hollenback had to accept. When Hollenback first picked up the phone, she expected to be asked to volunteer.

“When she said [I was nominated], I was like, ‘Wait a minute… Wait a minute!’” Hollenback recalled.

After the surprise, she excitedly accepted the nomination.

Hollenback had been participating in the festival for years, at one point handing out garlic bulbs for the attendees to plant.

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“I don’t do it to be recognized or anything like that. People thank me, and I like when people individually thank me — [like] at the farmers’ market when I’m dripping sweat and ready to fall over. I don’t do it to be recognized, but it really does mean a lot to me,” she said.

Hollenback doesn’t plan to stop her environmental work anytime soon. Her latest project, Tipping Point 01545, is Shrewsbury’s nonpartisan climate advocate group. It hopes to educate the public about climate change.

Hollenback expressed her appreciation of Shrewsbury. Once again sharing her desire to preserve the town for future generations.

“It’s definitely the people [that make Shrewsbury special],” she said. “It’s an overall really good community with really good people. It’s been well run over the years. Obviously there are things I’d like differently, but it overall has a really good foundation. It’s something I want to keep going forward for other people as well.”

Spirit of Shrewsbury

Spirit of Shrewsbury will run from Sept. 23-24.

As the grand marshal, a dinner will be held in Hollenback’s honor and she will be prominently featured in the parade, which the Spirit of Shrewsbury hopes will inspire other community members to get involved.

Tickets for the dinner are available by emailing [email protected].

“Her role is, to some extent, to be able to show that anybody can do good. You can be one person. You can be a committee of 25. Anybody can make a difference,” McCarthy said.

As grand marshal, Hollenback has already asked the committee to institute one change. Ever the environmentalist, she wants her parade vehicle to be electric.

For more information, visit https://spiritofshrewsbury.org/.