Fayrene Martin Hume, referred to as the "gracious keeper of the flame of Ash Fork heritage," is the 2006 recipient of the Sharlot Hall Award. Established in 1984, the award is given annually to a living Arizona woman who has made a valuable contribution to the understanding and awareness of Arizona.
In nominating Mrs. Hume, Marshall Trimble, the official Arizona State Historian, wrote the following nomination:
"Fayrene Martin Hume moved to Ash Fork from Arkansas, arriving in 1950. She attended elementary and high school in Ash Fork. In 1953, she married Lewis Hume, grandson of Thomas Cooper Lewis, one of the first residents of the town when it was founded in 1882. She was surrounded by Ash Fork history and when the railroad and highway bypassed the town, coupled with a tragic fire in the 1970's that destroyed most of the old business district, she saw the need to record and preserve the history. She also determined to revive the community spirit.
"She learned the ethics of hard work from her parents. She came from a large family and learned to take responsibility at an early age. After her marriage, Fayrene and Lewis started a family. Her children were spread so much that in her words, 'it took 29 years to graduate three boys.' That was certainly favorable for the school. For 30 years, she volunteered for all school activities and was an active member of PTA and PTO.
"Some of her other activities included 4-H Leader and Cub Scout Leader. For twenty years she was active in the local Little League Program and, today, with grandchildren playing, she's back working in the program, running the concession stand and booster club.
"She has long been a supporter of the Ash Fork High School athletic programs and still attends all the games.
"Always interested in youth projects, she's worked with Kids Voting since it began. For six years, she supervised a summer youth program. She had the kids cleaning and sprucing up the town cemetery. Under Fayrene's supervision, Ash Fork celebrates Arbor Day planting ash trees and other plants and shrubs. She spends the rest of the year watering and caring for them.
"She's coordinated all the school reunions that have been held, including 1976, 1982, 1996, and 2000.
During the 1982 reunion, she wrote a history of Ash Fork, as the town prepared to celebrate its Centennial. She was head of the committee, collecting oral histories and photographs from former residents scattered throughout the country.
"Under the auspices of the Ash Fork Development Association, she got a lease for the property for Centennial Park from Santa Fe. She was then elected to the AFDA board and has served since with eight years as secretary-treasure, and the last five as president."
The first priority of AFDA is a safe and effective water system for the betterment of the community. Other accomplishments of the AFDA during Fayrene's tenure include expansion of the water system, a community center, library, park, health center, and a program for the beautification of the community. You can always find her picking up trash, mowing weeds, planting trees or shrubs. She can also be found cleaning up the grounds at the old cemetery and restoring the site.
Raising funds and writing grants has also been a labor of love for this tireless citizen. Several years ago, she took a class in grant writing at Yavapai Community College and has put it to good use. Her latest project was the Ash Fork Commemorative Monument near the site of the old Harvey House. She sought, and got donations, from all over the state. The monument was dedicated on September 8, 2001.
"Whenever a project comes along, I strike out to seek donations," she says modestly. These things always seem to fall my way and I'm never told 'no' so that makes it a lot easier."
In 1998, she sought to designate a portion of Old Route 66 through Ash Fork as a historic highway. It was approved, and today, signs in the town commemorate that historic highway's passage through the town.
That same year, she requested the Arizona Department of Transportation Building be placed on the Historical Register. It came on March 4, 1999, and is the only building on the register in Ash Fork to date. The Ash Fork Historical Society has ordered a plaque for the building noting history and register date. The Society uses the building as a museum depicting the history of the town.
The Ash Fork Historical Society was formed in 1997. Fayrene has served as president since its beginning. She was instrumental in the annual Pioneer Day Celebration, the Ash Fork Post Card and Historical Cookbook. A pictorial booklet on the town is in the process of being printed and will be dedicated to Fayrene Martin Hume.
She served six years on the Yavapai County Parks Recreation Board and three years on the Yavapai Community Foundation Committee.
In 2000, she received a plaque from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix in recognition of 30 years service as a Catechetical Leader.
In 2003, she received the Governor's Volunteer Service Award. When presenting the award, Governor Napalitano read her long list of activities and said, "What do you in your spare time"?
The following year, Fayrene was honored with the prestigious Arizona Culturekeeper's Award from the Arizona Historical Foundation for nearly a half-century of working to preserve the history and culture of Arizona.
She is a determined woman who always gets things done for her community. A few years ago, when Ash Fork's days as a major railroad junction waned, the old Harvey House and depot were torn down and a small depot opened without an identification sign. A railroad station without a name on it?! Fayrene got busy and wrote a letter to the superintendent in Winslow and a few days later, a marker arrived bearing the name, "Ash Fork."
She continues to hold fundraising events to help the Ash Fork Fire Department and helps with landscaping at the new firehouse.
She retired from the post office in 1997. The job was taking too much time away from her community service.
Hume's love for Ash Fork is unconditional love. In her own words: " I really get upset when someone talks in a bad way about Ash Fork. As I see it, this community is what we make it and together we can make a difference. I spearheaded a lot of projects but I always have my family backing me as well as others who are always there to pitch in. And that is how we got things accomplished"
Fayrene Martin Hume is a modest, kind, warm and caring person. She seeks and gets donations and assistance for her many causes with, in the words of Mary Poppins, a "spoonful of sugar." Not a self-promoter, for more than 30 years this kind lady has gone about making her community a better place to live. Every town and city in America should have somebody like her.
In 2002, Richard Sims (past Director of Sharlot Hall Museum) succinctly described her in a column in the Prescott Courier as the "gracious keeper of the flame of Ash Fork heritage."
Join Sharlot Hall Museum's board of trustees in recognizing the contributions of Mrs. Hume. Come to the Sharlot Hall Award Dinner on October 21st at the Hassayampa Inn. Please call the Museum, 928.445.3122, extension. 13, for more information about the dinner.
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Hume 10-15-06) Reuse only by permission.
Fayrene Martin Hume is the 2006 recipient of the Sharlot Hall Award.