Lisa Mulvey, Central Illinois GCSA executive secretary

Tell us a little about yourself. Where you were born, raised, etc.

I was born in Urbana, IL and raised in a huge town of 600 people called Thomasboro, IL. It was great growing up in a small town where everyone knew each other. We had a grade school, but we were bused to Rantoul Township High School, where I met my high school sweetheart and now husband of 28 years, Steve.

I started working at the University of Illinois State Universities Retirement System as an Accounting Clerk right out of high school. With wedding plans in our near future, one of us had to go to work instead of college! I worked there for seven years before "retiring" to raise our son Joshua, now 27, and daughter Jamie, now 22. We also have a two- year-old grandson named Dalton (in the photo with Steve and me) and a granddaughter (if the sonogram is right!), to be named Maja, due to arrive in early January 2007.

Our family moved to Auburn, IL (near Springfield) so that my husband could oversee construction and be the superintendent of Panther Creek Country Club.

We chose Auburn as our home, over Springfield, due to the fact that we both grew up in small towns, and that was what we wanted for our kids. Five years later, Steve moved down the road to oversee construction and be the superintendent of Piper Glen Golf Club, which I also helped build by driving an articulating dump truck during construction. It was a blast!

Five years ago, Steve left that job to become a salesman for Helena Chemical Company. It was not necessary to relocate, which we were very happy about, since all of our family is around here.

I always worked a part-time job while my children were young, but only during the hours that they were in school. Being the executive secretary of the Central Illinois GCSA from home now allows me to baby-sit and spend time with our grandson!

How did you get started at the Central Illinois GCSA?

Steve was working on a golf course when we started going out our junior year (a lot of our dates were spent night watering!). After Steve graduated from college, he became an assistant superintendent, which meant that we got to go to the national conventions. We usually made this our family vacation, and as a result, I got to know and "grow up" with the members of the Central Illinois GCSA - what a great group of people! By knowing so many of them, when they needed an executive secretary, they thought of me. I've been doing it since 1997 and I enjoy being the "den mother" to this great group of guys!

What is the Central Illinois GCSA proud of?

We recently signed an alliance with OSHA. We will be working with them to keep our golf course maintenance facilities safe for all that work there. You can read more about this alliance in a related article also in this publication.

We also hold a scholarship fundraiser every May to fund the two scholarships that we award every year. They are named for James W. Brandt, CGCS. Jim was a charter member of our association and was also a past president of GCSAA. We are very proud to acknowledge him in this way.

I think that everyone in our association should also be proud of the fact that they all get along so great and are happy to help each other out. Whether it's loaning equipment, giving advice, or just being supportive, it's always done with a giving heart. Everyone looks forward to our monthly meetings, because we know how to have fun while still being professionals.

What do you consider to be your strengths as a chapter executive?

I am so happy to be able to help out all of my friends in the association by keeping them up and running. The chapter was going through a rough time when I took over, and by working together, we have managed to make this a very strong and financially stable group.

When I first started, I was only going to keep the books, but now I run registration at meetings, fulfill all GCSAA affiliation requirements, do membership renewals each year, issue membership cards and certificates, put together the member directory, take care of daily chapter business, and I've even become the newsletter editor! Doing the newsletter was very new to me, but I try to make it worth the members’ time to read it. I know for a fact that there is one article that all members read (or so they tell me they do), and that is my article which I put on the back page and call "Lisa's Backside". I hear each month how anxious the members are for my next issue to come out so they can "check out my backside"!

I would hope that members would consider my strength to be making sure the business gets done, while making it as fun and painless as possible!

Share your stories by emailing them to Leann Cooper.