ASHLAND — The Ashland County Women of Achievement inducted five women on Oct. 17 at The Mount Vernon Estate Venue with over 100 people in attendance.
The women inducted into the class of 2024 include: Vicky Lippert, Rebecca Parillo, Stacy Schiemann, Kim Wolbert, and Norma Wygant.
Hope Keener and McKayla Burdette received the Young Woman to Watch award. Both McKayla and Hope were awarded a $250 check from the Women of Achievement which was generously matched by The Samaritan Hospital Foundation.
Kim Wolbert
If you hear the name “Kim Wolbert,” your first thought is probably “choir director.”
But I am going to stop you right there, and tell you that Kim is much, much more than the woman who stands in front of a group of singers and tells the altos when to begin.
Kim has an innate ability to connect with and relate to every individual with whom she comes into contact, and it is those strengths, along with her musical talent and knowledge, that have led her to grow every program that has been lucky enough to house her.
As a public school music teacher for almost 20 years, Kim has had a positive impact on thousands of individuals, starting at the Hillsdale School District, where she built up the level of performance for her program, and led their Choir to its first 1 rating at the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) choir contest in several years.
Kim also introduced the first Musical Theatre program to Hillsdale.
At Ashland City Schools, she took the Middle School and High School choirs from floundering to excellent. Wolbert doubled the number of students participating in the High school choir program to over 400, and led her students to consistent awards at Solo and Ensemble contests, and her choirs to 1 ratings at OMEA contests.
She led 17 Ashland High School Musicals and several fall productions. Even though she is no longer at the schools, her expertise is still sought out for high school students, as she was recently asked to be the conductor of the OMEA District
10 Honor choir.
Recently, Kim transitioned to her current position as Music Minister at Trinity Lutheran Church, and her ability to impact more and more people throughout has not changed.
She coordinates the Praise Worship service, began a youth choir for middle and high school students, directs two children’s choirs for children from pre-K to third grade, started a men’s and women’s choir, and restarted the Trinity Kid’s Choir Camp.
Her accomplishments have not gone unnoticed; she was named Educator of the Year at Ashland High School, and Outstanding Music Director for her work at the Mansfield Playhouse Community Theatre.
Kim’s ability to bring people together in harmony extends far beyond the choir room; she is regularly consulted by her peers for her support, advice, and opinions. Personally, Kim came into the Wolbert family at a time of great pain for David and his sons, and was able to bring them comfort and love.
Kim Wolbert has taken the term “choir director” and expanded its meaning and reach to connect with thousands of people, and to make their lives better because of that.
Vicky Lippert
While Vicky Lippert began her career in nursing, she has taken her compassion for others and helped transform our Ashland community, and the medical community, to make them better places for all.
Her journey as a registered nurse began in Columbus, and it is in Columbus that she has had a profound impact on patients with lung cancer, as well as on their families.
In 2016, Vicky created the Larry L. and Vicky L. Lippert Lung Cancer Endowment Fund for Early Detection and Prevention at the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, in memory of her husband, who died of lung cancer in 2007.
In 2018, Lippert sponsored the Onco-Palliative Clinic at the James, to transform the methods in which a lung cancer patient’s symptoms are managed. In spite of her extensive medical experience, she was not prepared for the challenges of caring for a terminally ill spouse.
“I can’t change my husband’s outcome, but maybe we can change the outcome for other people,” she said.
Vicky’s concern for others led her to take a painful time in her life and try to lessen that pain for others.
Making things better for others is a theme that has been a benchmark of Vicky’s time in Ashland.
She supports numerous charities and non-profit organizations in our community, including Ashland University’s Ashbrook Center, the AU Scholarship program, the YMCA, the Ashland Theatre, Samaritan Hospital, the Cat House Feline Sanctuary, and the Ashland County Dog Shelter.
She is an avid member of the Ashland Garden Study Club, Amicae per Annos Philanthropic Sorority, Altrusa Club, the Ashland Photography Club, and Trinity Lutheran Church.
Lippert’s generosity to our community knows no bounds. She was the initial lead contributor to our downtown’s flowers, the hanging baskets and pots which bring hordes of visitors to Ashland every year.
Vicky is still the main underwriter of the flower program, and her support has been instrumental in the maintenance and expansion of this venture for the last nine years. Vickie has been an avid supporter of the 4th of July fireworks and Balloonfest, celebrations that were near and dear to her late husband Larry’s heart.
Vicky has been a long-time supporter of the Ashland County Community Foundation, and of its current 2025 building expansion. Vicky has been an avid supporter of Foundations Community Childcare. She recently established the Larry and Vicky Lippert walkway at Brookside Park.
Also, did you know that she donates space at her warehouse to store our Christmas decorations?
She does all of this for our community while still leading Lippert Enterprises as President and Owner. Vicky Lippert has shown us her heart over and over again, Where she sees a need, or an opportunity to make something better, she steps up to ensure that this happens.
She recognizes that supporting those who do good works will multiply her initial support ten times over, and she has been working non-stop to make our world a better place than when she found it.
Rebecca Parillo
If travel is meant to be life-changing, then Rebecca Parillo has changed thousands of lives at Ashland University.
For over 26 years, Rebecca has served students looking to expand their horizons, first as Director of Internships and Service Learning, then as Director of Study Abroad and Community Service.
She changed careers not once, but twice, until the leadership at AU convinced her to return to campus and lead the department of Study Abroad/Global Education.
In these roles, she has enabled students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to travel safely and comfortably abroad, letting them focus on their studies or explorations.
Coordinating students’ study abroad is much more than helping them book a flight out of town. Rebecca guides students in their program application, orientation, and travel knowledge, while facilitating communion for both the students and their parents.
She works with financial aid staff to ensure that any student who wishes to travel outside of the US can do so.
Parillo recognizes the importance of these life-changing opportunities, and works hard to make sure her students have an experience that increases their confidence, cultural awareness, cross-cultural communication skills, and a greater appreciation of their American freedoms and responsibilities.
These are skills that can serve them in the future, both professionally and personally, and which have also helped guide many students toward an international career that they may have never even considered.
Rebecca’s support of her students does not end once they leave the United States; her communication, compassion, and skills in handling a crisis continuously come into play, from navigating a delayed flight, to helping students return home once COVID became a world-wide pandemic.
The comprehensive Study Abroad Emergency Operation Plan Rebecca created is considered a best practice in her field. Her dedication to her students has not gone unnoticed at the University; Rebecca has received the Board of Trustees’ Academic Mentor Award in 2016 and 2021, both times thanks to nominations by her students.
Parillo’s knowledge and experience extend far beyond the classroom. She also coordinates regular and annual program trips and athletic travels, which involve both students and community members.
Rebecca ensures that these trips are educational, expose people to new cultures, and are safe.
Rebecca’s expertise is recognized through her field. She has served on the Strategic Planning Committee and was an Executive Board Member of her national association, the College Consortium for International Studies.
As the Coordinator for Regional Development for Northeast Ohio, she has brought Directors of Study Abroad/Global Education together for 24 years.
As a knitter, Rebeccas has donated handmade chemotherapy hats to the Ashland County Cancer Association, and Twiddle Muffs for dementia patients at local nursing homes, for over five years.
Think back to the last time you travelled. Now imagine doing that internationally, as a student, without your family, for weeks and months at a time.
If you had Rebecca Parillo at the other end of the phone, you know that your trip and adventure would go smoothly, be safe, and be educational. You would be one of the over 3,400 students she has sent off and brought back stronger and more knowledgeable than ever.
Norma Wygant
When the Don T. Hostettler Pavilion was dedicated at Brookside Golf Course, his daughter, Norma Wygant, said of our first full -time mayor, that he, “Really, really, loved Ashland.”
Well, the same can be said of Norma, who has quietly shown her love of our community through more than seven decades of philanthropy.
Her desire to help make Ashland a better place to live can been seen in the wide array of boards where she has sat; the Samaritan Hospital Board (where she was also chair for four years), the Ashland Red Cross board, the United Appeal (United Way) Board, and the Ashland College Faculty Women’s Club.
Norma has been a member of the Ashland Garden Study Club for over 50 years, serving in every office and mentoring new members.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that she has spent a lifetime nurturing this love of nature; not only has she been a member of the Ashland Tree Commission, she also holds several records with the National Audubon Society for bird sightings across the world.
Norma and her husband, Lloyd, have added three trained K-9 dogs to our Ashland Police Department and Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.
The Wygants were the lead donors for the Ashland City Schools’ new field house, The Keith, named in memory of their son, Keith
Wygant, a star athlete at Ashland.
Both graduates of the Ashland City Schools themselves, the Wygants were pleased to give back to their alma mater, commemorating their son.
They have continued their support of athletics at Ashland City Schools, financing numerous additional improvements to Community Stadium.
The impact the Wygants have made on our community can be seen when you first enter downtown Ashland, and go under the arch at Main and Union, which was financed by Norma and Lloyd.
Although modeled on arches in the Short North Arts District of Columbus, after Norma saw those, she thought “Ashland could do better,” and helped guide the plan to the (better) arch we see today.
A leader of philanthropy in civics, athletics, and community; is it any wonder that Norma Wygant won the 2022 Lucille G. Ford Freedom from Selfishness Award, given by the Women’s Fund Steering Committee of the Ashland County Community Foundation?
Norma Wygant intrinsically understands the persevering power of love; she has been married to her husband for 73 years.
She has also, for over 70 years, loved Ashland, and has demonstrated a lifetime of philanthropy and achievement, always putting others before herself, striving for the betterment of the Ashland County community.
Her gifts not only support us today, but will continue to support Ashlanders far into the future. We are indebted to strong, steady, and loyal leaders like Norma Wygant, who support us in numerous and varied ways.
Stacy Schiemann
How fortunate are we that Stacy Schiemann came back into our Ashland lives, and has transformed both how we impact the people of Ashland County, and our philanthropy.
Stacy came to Ashland in the middle of high school, and earned a bachelors’ degree from Ashland University. She went on to earn her masters at Regis University, and then apply her skills and knowledge to help struggling families in Cuyahoga County.
When she learned that the position of Executive Director of United Way of Ashland County was available, Stacy jumped at the opportunity to come back to Ashland. Stacy used what she knew, as both a social worker and a program director, to help lead the way to a better life for not only the clients who use the services of United Way partner agencies, but also for those of us who donate to and support the organization.
Under Stacy’s stewardship, United Way has successfully navigated changing leadership, funding, and sustainability challenges. She has augmented and reinvented both how United Way helps people and how it receives support.
Stacy has met the United Way campaign goal seven of the eight years she has ben at the helm, meaning that she has helped raised and share millions and millions of dollars for our community. When Stacy is confronted with a crisis, she meets it head-on and with ingenuity and imagination.
When COVID shut down our community in 2020, Stacy knew that local non-profits would be struggling to make ends meet, and that the need for their services would be greater than ever before.
She approached the Ashland County Community Foundation to ask how the United Way could do more, and quickly designed a COVID Relief program to benefit 24 local non-profits, with grants up to $10,000 each. A total of $174,000 was awarded, to provide relief during this challenging time.
Stacy’s love for and support of our community continues after she leaves the United Way world. She is a board member at the Ashland Public Library and for Ashland Main Street, and she serves on Rotary, including a four-year stint there as president.
If you have met Stacy, you know of her love for her three children, who came to be her family through adoption.
Her desire to support others and help them find the tools to be better members of our community go far beyond her work at United Way; Stacy has mentored numerous interns and serves as a Leadership Ashland mentor, as well. Her concern for those working “in the trenches” is always in the forefront of her thinking and decision-making.
One of Stacy’s board members stated, “A phrase I have heard Stacy use many times to describe the nonprofits she works with is ‘they are the heart and soul’. I believe Stacy herself is represents the ‘heart and soul’ of many things; her family, our local United Way, and our Ashland Community.”
McKayla Burdette
In spite of the extremely challenging experiences McKayla Burdette has confronted in her short life, she has emerged as a focused, resilient, and inspiring young leader in her community.
Growing up with her grandparents, after her mom died of an overdose and her father went to prison, McKayla has confronted mental and relational obstacles head on, to break the chains of addiction. Despite the adversity of her early childhood years, she has demonstrated strength and maturity.
Burdette is a graduate of Mapleton High School, where for four years she was both a leader and a scholar.
For four consecutive years, she was president of the Student Council. She was a member of the National Honor Society, led the school’s Veterans Day program, and graduated as salutatorian of her class. Currently, she attends North Central State College, where she is studying for a degree in social services, concentrating on Veterans Affairs.
She started to develop a passion for veterans when she was chosen to be a student guardian on a trip with the Ashland County Honor Bus. On her trip, the stories the veterans shared resonated with her.
Since then, she has taken on a leadership role in organizing these trips, as well as mentoring student guardians on how to treat veterans with respect, and advocating for their stories and sacrifices.
It is McKayla’s ultimate dream to be a social worker, specializing in Veterans Affairs. This dream crystalized for her after the death of her grandfather, a veteran, last year. Through his final days, McKayla sat with him at the hospital, where she met with her grandfather’s social worker, who was also a Veterans advocate.
That was when she knew it was her colling, to give back by serving and fighting for those who have served and fought for our country.
McKayla Burdette is certainly a Young Woman to Watch. She has an inner drive to serve the community and people around her. McKayla’s perseverance through adversity, coupled with her devotion to serving others, makes her an inspiring role model and the type of young woman who will most definitely do remarkable things with her life.
She exemplifies the spirit of determination, leadership, and service that this award deserves.
Hope Keener
Hope Keener is not only an excellent student, but she is also an excellent role model, whose servant heart is exhibited time and time again. At Mapleton High School, Hope graduated with honors, while taking several college courses on top of her high school academics.
She was president of the senior class, was vice president of the National Honor Society, and was a member of the track team, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and Spanish Club. As the only Spanish 4 student her senior year, she used her knowledge of that language to help students in lower-level classes, as well as assisting the Spanish Club advisor with many projects and activities.
Her positive attitude and willingness to help others is apparent all over the community, from assisting with the Mapleton High School’s technology department, to volunteering with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra and Ashland County Historical Society.
Hope presented a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, during her time volunteering for the Ashland County Honor Bus trip to Washington, D.C.
Hope received the National Honor Society Star Volunteer Award in both 2022 and 2023 for her extraordinary number of service hours each year.
In addition, she received the 5A Award at Mapleton High School, given to one graduating female and one graduating male each year, to students who excel in Athleticism, Arts, Academics, Activities, and Altruism, and have demonstrated their commitment to those traits throughout high school.
Hope has continued to be an involved and caring student at Baldwin Wallace University, where she is a Spanish major, hoping to translate for politics, mission work, or both.
She is a member of Campus Crusade and the university’s FCA. She has travelled extensively to help others, from spending the summer in Alaska working for Nadon Family Home, where she served individuals with intellectual and development disabilities, to the Middle East, on a five-week mission trip where she shared the gospel with students and young adults.
Hope Keener is dedicated to learning, has a passion for volunteering, and has a kind and generous heart. She has already proven that she is a Young Woman to Watch, and she will continue to be so as she remains on her paths in life.