Republic’s Mark named Greene County Republican Party Volunteer of Year

Ron Mark, the head of H & R Block in Republic, was named the Greene County Republic Party Volunteer    of    the    Year    during the Lincoln Day celebration at the Oasis in Springfield, where he was presented with a plaque in honor of his efforts. Mark said he was not expecting the honor.
“I was surprised to win the award,” he said.
He also thanked U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, Missouri Governor Mike Parson and U.S. Representative Billy Long for their roles in him being named Volunteer of the Year.
“They were very supportive in my nomination,” he said.
Mark has been ac- tively volunteering for the Greene County Republican Party for nearly 30 years. As such, he is a member of a number of organizations.
“I’m the president of the Republican Pachyderm Club for the state of Missouri, and I’m also the treasurer of the local pachyderm club,” he said. “I was also one of the (founders) of Pumpkin Daze.”
As a volunteer, Mark also stumps for candidates he feels are most qualified to serve in office.
“I do a lot of grassroots campaigning for different (candidates),” he said. “I do a lot of traveling, passing out literature during campaigns and things, knocking on doors.”
Mark is particularly proud of his efforts to help Josh Hawley become the Missouri State Attorney General (Hawley is now a United States senator).
“I started in with Josh Hawley about five years ago when I first met Josh, and I thought his back- ground with the Supreme Court ... would make a good attorney general for the state of Missouri,” Mark said. “I had him come and speak to the Republic Pregnancy Care Center Board, where I’m a member. He spoke to the group and suggested
he speak at all the pregnancy centers around the state of Missouri and the Pachyderm clubs.”
Mark said his activism is due to his service in the military.
“I spent a little time in Korea, and when I came home, I became more of a flag waver, and (I have) worked to build our state and our country so that everyone will have the same enjoyment and op- portunities that I have had,” he said. “I’m a little concerned (with) some of the turn of the events that are going on right now.”
Mark himself has run for state representative twice. He didn’t win, but he feels that was for the best.
“I ... feel like that, as an individual, I can go to Jef- ferson City, talk with my different elected officials, and maybe accomplish more than I could if I had been elected,” he said.