Each year at HollyFest, the Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce names their Citizen of the Year to the surprise of the recipient. This year’s winner, Cynthia Ellison, was lured to the band shell at Womble Park by General Federation Women’s Club (GFWC) of Holly Springs members in a ruse that she was to talk about a fundraising project. Instead, a past COY recipient, Marianna Heim, began to speak about her dear friend. While holding back some tears, Heim revealed, “Cynthia, congratulations, you are our 2009 Citizen of the Year.”

Mayor Sears presented Ellison with her award and recognized her many silent accomplishments over the last 15 years that have improved the lives of many Holly Springs residents. Two days a week, for a full eight hours a day, Ellison volunteers at the Food Bank where she performs many tasks from packing up groceries and delivering them to families in need, to collecting donations from area stores. According to GFWC member, and friend, Barb Koblich, “Cynthia can’t bear the thought of anyone being hungry.”

That sentiment extends to animals as well. Ellison coordinated a “Pet Food and Supply Drive” with the SPCA, GFWC of Holly Springs and the Town. Truck loads of food and supplies were distributed to families who were having financial difficulties and didn’t want to have to give up their precious pets. In addition to working to feed the hungry, Ellison is a part of several other community projects. She has volunteered for over ten years with Kids Vote. She has helped out in the Holly Springs Elementary School library in the past, and currently, she can be found every Friday at the Holly Springs Branch Library helping out. She was even there before the library ever opened performing the laborious task of unboxing, labeling, and shelving the new books! In addition, she also coordinated the “Dr. Seuss Birthday” and the “Deadly Divas” events at the library.

Ellison also has been part of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Team for 15 years; she’s a charter member of the Holly Springs Historical Preservation Society; an active member and officer of the GFWC of Holly Springs; and she finds time to bring Bingo to the seniors at the Dorothy Allen Nixon Manor in Holly Springs once a week.

Koblich says, “I describe Cynthia as a person who is always looking out for the underdog. She’s the one who will listen to a senior citizen repeat the same story over and over again with a smile on her face. She’s the one that will make dinner for a sick friend and offer to drive them to the doctor for an appointment. She’s the one that can’t bear the thought of old doggies not having soft blankets in their kennels while they wait for adoption or their final fate. She’s the one who sits in her home on Christmas morning and takes glee in the fact that somewhere in Holly Springs there are children opening her carefully selected and wrapped shoe boxes packed with gifts that she made possible.”

As a stunned Ellison took the microphone on Saturday, her first words to the crowd were an emphatic, “I love this town!”

It does not take Ellison telling citizens the obvious; it’s through her actions that this Citizen of the Year shows how much her town means to her. Ellison will be featured on her own float on December 12 in the annual holiday parade.