Marcia and Randy Beason speak highly of their hometown - Hopkins, MO.
Marcia Beason loves her small-town home
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Marcia and Randy Beason speak highly of their hometown - Hopkins, MO. |
Home is where the heart is. That’s a saying Marcia Beason truly believes and lives, because she never got very far from home. In fact, she still lives in the same small town in which she grew up: Hopkins, MO, population 575.
“Your heart is here, where you grow up,” Marcia explains. “I work in Maryville. Randy works in Clarinda, but here, there’s more space.”
In fact, the couple loves Hopkins so much that Randy, Marcia’s husband of 27 years, is the town’s mayor.
“That makes me the first lady,” Marcia laughs.
Marcia’s love for her hometown permeates just about everything she does, and she does a lot. Apparently “no” is not in her vocabulary.
“I’m not a sitter,” she says. “I don’t like to sit. I have to be busy. My family gets upset with me sometimes because just to sit down and watch a movie is hard. I want to get up and do something.
“Back in the day they probably would have diagnosed me as ADHD,” she laughs, “because I never was good at sitting still.”
Marcia went to nursing school immediately after high school and has spent the last 35 or so years as an LPN at what is now the St. Francis Family Health Care Clinic in Maryville. She began when it was a private practice and has continued through the many changes in health care.
“You’d think in 35 years at one clinic that I don’t like change, but 35 years in health care and there have been tremendous changes.”
Marcia became a nurse at her mother’s prompting, but it is a career choice she has never regretted.
“My brother, sister, and I were in a bad car accident when I was 14 and that exposed me to the health care system,” she explains. “I was so impressed with the caring and the concern, that when my mom suggested nursing, it seemed right.”
When she’s not busy on the job, Marcia fills her life with a multitude of volunteer activities, almost all centered on keeping her hometown strong. As an outgrowth of her health care expertise, she teaches CPR classes and volunteers with the Hopkins Rescue Unit.
She’s a long-time member of the Hopkins Community Club and helps keep one of the traditions from her childhood alive – the Hopkins Picnic!
“We have a very active community club,” Marcia explains. “We sponsor the Hopkins Picnic. It’s like a small town fair. We have a carnival, entertainment, a parade. A lot of people come back who have moved away so it’s like a reunion, too.”
Marcia chairs the Gramps & Grannies show, which can best be described as an all-town variety show in which everyone gets a prize.
“We have judges who are very creative with prizes,” she smiles.
Marcia and Randy attend the First Christian Church where Marcia teaches Sunday School, primary grades. She replaced her own Sunday School teacher after she retired from the job.
Marcia also serves on the board for the nursing program at Northwest Central State. That gives her a closer look at how today’s nurses are being prepared.
“A lot of those students come through our clinic during their clinical,” she explains. “It’s really very interesting to see things from another side.”
Marcia’s also a member of the PEO and the Christian Women’s Organization. She loves the outdoors and in addition to their regular jobs, she and Randy keep busy in the summer months mowing lawns, including the town park.
“I love outdoor yard work,” she says. “I didn’t use to, but as I get older, I find I like it.”
Randy and Marcia have two children: Son Grant John graduated from William Jewell College and now lives in Cedar Rapids with his wife, Leslie. Daughter Brooke graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and now lives in Lee’s Summit, MO. Marcia’s mother, brother, and sister all still live in Hopkins. In October, the couple moved into one of the town’s more historic homes, built in 1914.
“My aunt and uncle owned it at one time and then they sold it to another couple. They left town and it sat empty for a few years. Randy and I took care of the yard and always wanted to buy it. Finally, we were able to.”
The home features original woodwork throughout the first floor, an original brick fireplace and many windows looking out onto the couple’s favorite town.
“We hosted Christmas for both sides of the family this year,” Marcia explains. “Even with the weather! We moved from a small, three-bedroom house and sometimes wonder where we had all this furniture!”
When she’s not volunteering for one town project or another, Marcia keeps busy by following the local youth at Nodaway Valley School.
“I love children, even teenagers,” she laughs, noting that the Beason home always was the gathering spot for neighborhood children.
What is there about Hopkins that Marcia and Randy love so much? Both try to explain.
“It’s home,” Randy begins.
“It’s like a family,” Marcia chimes in. “A community family, where everyone cares about everyone else.”
“The town has a lot of good people who work hard,” Randy adds.
“It’s like a big family. People take pride in their town. We want our kids to be able to go to school here and enjoy life here.”
Both Randy and Marcia make a morning commute to work. Any thoughts of leaving Hopkins?
Marcia shakes her head as Randy answers, “No. You can’t leave Hopkins. It’s home.”