SHELBURNE FALLS — Susan Samoriski says she has always been a “doer,” sleeping little at night, so she could get things done and enjoy every minute of her work.
This year, Samoriski, who founded and has served as executive director of the Mary Lyon Foundation in Shelburne Falls for the past 30 years, has been chosen as the Greenfield Recorder’s 38th Citizen of the Year. But because of the pandemic, there won’t be the fanfare there has been in years past — the recipient is honored each year at the annual Franklin County Chamber of Commerce breakfast where a couple hundred people attend, but that has been canceled because of COVID-19.
“I’m so surprised and so grateful,” Samoriski said last week when she learned of the honor. “I didn’t expect this. There are so many deserving people throughout our county, our community.”
The Mary Lyon Foundation provides services and programs to the schools and communities of Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Hawley, Heath, Plainfield, Rowe and Shelburne. Mohawk Trail Regional School is where the office is currently located, though it has moved a couple of times over the years.
Samoriski said on Dec. 31, she will “officially retire” as executive director, but plans to “reappear” in January in a different role. She will mentor the new executive director, who has not been announced publicly yet, and help with the foundation’s “major campaign” to raise money for the endowment that will sustain the foundation.
“This work has been so exhilarating for me,” she said. “It’s going to be difficult to walk away from it, but it’s time. I’m excited to see someone new step up.”
Samoriski remembers back to when it all started three decades ago, when she was Mohawk Trail Regional School District’s director of instructional media for kindergarten through 12th grade.
“The school district was in desperate shape financially,” she said. “The administrators made an appointment to see me and I was sure my job was going to be cut.
“They came into my office and shut the door,” Samoriski continued. “I said, ‘OK, I understand,’ and they said they were looking for me to help the beleaguered school district. They said they knew I could think outside of the box and help matters.”
Samoriski had read an article in a teachers’ magazine about how to start a local education fund, so she reached out to everyone she knew, everyone she could think of, and began the work.
“I invited groups, individuals, everyone to come to a meeting,” she said. “I wanted everyone to think ‘support,’ not ‘supplant.’”
The Mary Lyon Foundation was born soon after. Mary Mason Lyon, who was born in 1797 in Buckland, was an American pioneer in the field of higher education for women, and founder and first principal of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the forerunner of Mount Holyoke College.
“I wanted to start something that would continue in perpetuity,” Samoriski said. “I wanted something that would support our students, something that would support excellence in and out of the classroom and community. Everyone was so supportive, so we started the nonprofit. Everyone said they were on board and that launched us.”
Samoriski worked in the school district full-time until 2004, at which time she turned her full attention to the Mary Lyon Foundation.
The 75-year-old said the foundation has raised just under $3.2 million over the past 30 years and has provided mini-grants, food vouchers and scholarships. The foundation has had seven capital campaigns, one for each of the schools in its coverage area, and has raised $2.5 million with matches from the state.
“We’ve held 23 special education conferences for thousands of educators across the state,” she said. “The last one welcomed 700 administrators, teachers and paraprofessionals from 36 school districts across Massachusetts. The conferences have been a great source of information, especially for paraprofessionals.
“We’ve also held 14 adult spelling bees over the years,” Samoriski continued. “Everyone has enjoyed them so much. We’ve also done many student spelling bees.”
The Mary Lyon Foundation started out in an office on Bridge Street and later moved to Water Street. It currently resides in an office on the second floor of the high school.
“We’ve had a lot of community support,” she said. “When we were on Water Street, we didn’t have to pay rent for 10 years because of local businessman Howard Tocman. The Bridge Street location was donated rent free by Millie March of Massamont Real Estate.”
Samoriski said while she has worked tirelessly to ensure the schools had what they needed, she’s never looked back, and never regretted the time she put in. She said her wish for the Mary Lyon Foundation is that it keeps going and continues its strong partnerships with many organizations, businesses and individuals.
“It has been a great thing,” she said. “It has never been difficult to get people on board. It has been a phenomenal bandwagon that everyone has wanted to jump on.”
Samoriski has often spoken at other schools about how to form a local school foundation. She said nonprofits like the Mary Lyon Foundation help schools with everything from athletics to music and art and much more.
Samoriski, who is married with six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, said she’ll spend a little time traveling to see them when the pandemic ends, but because of her “deep sense of empathy and wanting everyone to have what they need,” she’s sure she won’t be able to stop at least some of the work she’s been doing for so long.
She studied German in Germany, Maine and New Hampshire, and holds two master’s degrees in German and education. She taught English in Germany, held the position with the Mohawk Trail Regional School District for years, and was an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She has a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Samoriski has served on boards of directors, is a local historian, the founder and was a four-term president of the Franklin County Library/Media Association, is a former editor and columnist for the Heath Herald newspaper and is a former vice president of Kiwanis International, among other things. As she loves to travel, Samoriski was also Mohawk Trail Regional School District’s Foreign Travel Club advisor for 20 years.
She was born and raised in Shelburne Falls, and said she never left because it’s such a beautiful and wonderful place, “so why would I?”
Samoriski said she will also put some time into her oil painting and publishing company when she retires, and hopes to spend more time with her friend, Tony Serio.
“I hope to get back into painting still lifes and landscapes,” she said. “I also own a small publishing company, Paideia Publishers, that publishes historical fiction and out-of-print material on local and American history.
“But I always come back to wanting every classroom to have what it needs, and I don’t want anyone, especially children, to be hungry or cold or abused,” she said. “I want them to have all the support they need.”
The Greenfield Recorder selects its Citizen of the Year through nominations submitted by its readers. With input from the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Board, the newspaper’s editorial board makes the final decision on who will be honored. This year, the Recorder received nominations for 25 people who are heavily involved in the area’s communities.
Rita Jaros nominated Samoriski this year and previously for the honor.
“Longtime residents of West County know Sue from her time as the director of instructional media,” Jaros wrote. “She was responsible for bringing the library at Mohawk Trail Regional School into the 20th century, no less the 21st, from 1978 till 2004. When, in 1990, the school budget was in a crisis state, the superintendent and business manager of the district asked Sue to do something about the situation. Sue immediately went to work and the Mary Lyon Foundation was born.”
Jaros describes Samoriski’s “quiet way” of doing things for others, and said she is the perfect candidate for Citizen of the Year.
Karen Sheaffer, who also nominated Samoriski, agrees.
“When she saw a need, she would find a way to help,” Sheaffer wrote. “A child in need of medical care or basic necessities such as eyeglasses, food, prescriptions or clothing could receive financial aid. She established awards and scholarships to recognize outstanding graduates, individuals who contributed to the community and businesses that supported local education.
Sheaffer also relayed a story about how Samoriski came to help when Mohawk Trail Regional School had finished its tennis court and needed tennis rackets.
“Sue called a major sports franchise and requested the tennis rackets,” Sheaffer wrote. “They asked how many and sent them along with tennis balls.”
She added that Samoriski always worked more than a full-time job as the foundation’s executive director and never once complained.
For more information about the Mary Lyon Foundation, visit marylyonfoundation.org.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.