Each week we select a citizen (or citizens) from Excelsior Springs and highlight the positive impact they are having on our community. Click here to nominate someone for the Citizen Spotlight!
A fifth-generation Excelsorite, Marie Mawby exudes kindness and compassion. If you live in Excelsior Springs and have a child 18 or younger, you probably already know Marie. For the past five years, she’s worked at the Community Center as the Youth and Family Manager, overseeing the Child Watch Room, which she helped develop. Before that, she was a full-time substitute teacher at Treehouse Preschool. At the Community Center, she organized the Giving Tree project, which provides Christmas gifts for families in need, and more recently she set up a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for those 5 and over. Those are what Mawby calls her “heart work,” projects that really fill her heart with joy.
Marie is also the coach for the Tigerettes dance team here at Excelsior Springs High School. Last year the Tigerettes won first place at the Missouri State Dance Association in the hip-hop dance category for 2A. But winning awards is secondary for her, helping to build the confidence and strength of the young women she coaches comes first for Mawby. Her dancers have nicknamed Mawby “Coach Mommy” because of her mothering nature towards them all. “It’s one of my favorite things to be called,” she said.
The love Mawby gives “her kids” is recognized by her dancers and their parents. Marcie Roberts, whose daughter Reese is a member of the Tigerettes squad posted a message for Marie that said:
Mawby and the Tigerettes will return to state competition on February, 26th in St. Charles, MO. “Hopefully we’ll be there in person, but with COVID, we’ll see how it goes,” said Mawby.
Marie also has moves of her own, she has a passion for singing and performing that she developed as a child. For over 10 years she, and her husband Rob, have been members of, J.D. and the Chasers a bluesy rock n’ roll band fronted by Jacob Duncan, a local artist most well known for his murals throughout downtown Excelsior Springs. J.D. and the Chasers perform regionally and are a fixture at our local Waterfest event. Marie’s love for performing stemmed from singing at church and from her grandfather. She said, “I have great memories of him singing while shaving with a straight-edge razor, getting ready for church at First Baptist Church in Liberty.”
J.D. and the Chasers (a.k.a D.B. Cooper and the Lost Cash)
Marie says her passion is making everyone feel welcome and being inclusive. “I try just being kind to everyone, listening instead of talking, giving instead of taking,” she said. Her advice for the community of Excelsior Springs? “Accept one another, respect one another… LOVE one another. That’s the perfect sentence,” She concluded.
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