Eileen Lien selected as First Lady of the county

Tamara Edevold from the Clearwater County Historical Society welcomed the many ladies to the 37th Clearwater County First Lady program. She said this was the Historical Society’s 11th year hosting this event and they were so happy to be in Clearbrook this year at the Good Shepherd Church.

They celebrated the Clearwater County First Lady during National Women’s History Month. The mission of national women’s history month is to educate people about the important roles women have played in the history of our country.

Edevold went on to say, "as recently as the 1970’s, women’s history was virtually an unknown topic in the K-12 curriculum or in general public consciousness. To address this situation, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a "Women’s History Week" celebration for 1978. The week of March 8th, International Women’s Day was chosen as the focal point of the observance. In 1980 President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week.

By 1986, 14 states had declared March as Women’s History Month. This momentum and state-by-state action was used to lobby Congress to declare the entire month of March 1987 as National Women’s History Month. In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year, which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.

The Clearwater County First Lady celebration began in 1977, when the Gamma Upsilon chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority members sponsored the first event. They continued until 1991. In 1993 the Bagley Tuesday Study Club took over hosting the event. When they decided to shift their focus to other projects, the Historical Society decided it would be a good fit, since each woman who has been nominated and who has been selected, has earned a place in the history of the county."

Guest speaker for the event was Bemidji Mayor Rita Albrecht. Rita was elected to the Bemidji City Council in 2010 and as Mayor in 2012. In the 120 years of the City of Bemidji she is the first female to become mayor and only the 4th woman to serve on the council.

Her topic was "Help Wanted: Women Leaders in Public Service." Minnesota is doing well as it is in 4th place nationally. According to Rutgers 2015 ranking among state legislators for the number of women. Colorado was first with 42%, Vermont 2nd with 41.1, Arizona third with 35.6 and Minnesota fourth with 33.8.

She urged women to improve skills in public speaking. She went to Toastmasters in Bemidji and that helped her as she went into public office. She urged women, "to engage in your community, be informed, improve your skills, believe in yourself and take pride in your success."

The 2015 First Lady Ardis Thompson spoke that it was an honor to be selected last year and she had a beautiful reading.

Tamara Edevold went on to describe the 2016 honoree. "Our 2016 First lady has lived in Clearwater County all of her life. She hails from a large family, living and working with several brothers and sisters on a farm. In the letters sent in for this woman’s nominations there were several key words and phrases that turned up again and again: energy, very active, and "more zip than the energizer bunny."

She’s inspirational. If she decides to work on her own "self improvement" chances are people around her will do the same by following her example.

One nomination letter talks about how she sets a high bar- expecting the best from herself and from others- that mediocrity is not in her vocabulary.

She is described as putting others before herself, helps her family in any way she can, attending all the important family events and making sure everyone is included in holidays. She never forgets birthdays, anniversaries or special events. One relative called her the "glue for their extended family."

Our 2016 First lady was a teacher. She was described as "one of those teachers where the kids would cry because they didn’t want to leave her class at the end of the year"

She would put in an eleven hour day teaching, then go home to make supper for her family, and within minutes she would clear off the table and then stack it with the papers she needed to grade, adding smiley faces as she went through the papers. She did this for years.

One writer mentioned that it was not unusual to see her classroom light on during the weekend.

She taught more then the three R’s. She taught students that they were important, were cared for and that they were worthwhile. One letter said that while people will forget what you said and what you did, people never forget how you made them feel. Her students continue to visit her, they hug her when they see her, and they invite her to their graduations, weddings, all because of how she made them feel.

Imagine the number of lives she influenced in her many years as a teacher.

She volunteers at her Church, holding many offices, a branch chairperson, Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible schoolteacher, ladies aid. She is currently a deacon. She organized the church’s prayer chain.

She has worked with the local blood drive, served on the County Food Shelf board, Volunteered at the Library, She drives neighbors to doctor appointments, sews blankets for newborns. If something needs painting she shows up with a brush and a pair of gloves. Need a wedding dress hemmed or a pair of mittens sewn? She can do that. She sews quilts for graduating seniors, quilts for raffles and quilts for keeping people in need warm in the winter. She serves as an Election Judge; she decorates at her church and the bulletin boards and doors at the nursing home. She sets hair, listens to problems, plays bingo, reads stories, and gives a hug when needed. In fact she did so much at the nursing home that they offered her a job there as an assistant activity director.

At the Clear Waters Life Center she volunteers where needed, whether its helping with an art class, in the thrift store or with any of the other regular activities there.

She assists with most of the community clubs as well- the Lions Club, Diamond Jubilee Committee, the Gonvick business club all receive her assistance during the town’s various celebrations.

Oh, I’ve tipped you off this woman is from Gonvick.

She’s an early riser, exercise, devotions, breakfast all complete before 7 am. One letter told a story that he once called her early in the morning (he knew she’d be up) and she sounded a bit frustrated. When he asked why, she said she had got up, did the laundry, went to the school to exercise, came back home, finished the laundry, scrubbed the kitchen floor, then got ready for a meeting, and still had an hour to wait until the 8 am meeting at the church!

One letter used these adjectives to describe her: intelligent, pretty, neat, hardworking, dedicated, lively, thoughtful, fun, funny, dependable, problem solvers, uplifting and always helpful.

She’s been a widow for over twenty years, tragically losing her husband at a very young age. That was a hard time in her life, but as one writer explained "she put her trust in God and was able to rise above it". She has three children and four grandchildren.

So lets recap- she is active at Good Samaritan, at Samhold Church, and the Gonvick Library Link Site and Clearwater Life Center, she worked for 30 years as a teacher at the Gonvick Trail and Gonvick Clearbrook Schools, twice nominated to be teacher of the year.

She’s a friend to all and a very nice person, she’s the energizer bunny, … she’s Eileen Lien!"

Eileen was surprised and then she looked in the back of the room and there stood her entire family. Her only concern was that she would have to give a speech next March when they select another First Lady of the county.