Myrna Stringer is not one to sit around and talk about an issue. This lively 85-year-old is a tireless member of the Johnson County League of Women Voters and a true Johnson County community activist. A wall of awards in her home tells the story.

One of the awards is the Service and Support Award from the league.

"If you want to know something about the League of Women Voters, the go-to person is Myrna Stringer," said league president Harriett Anderson.

Stringer became involved in civic issues in 1969, when the Kansas Legislature had passed a law directing the consolidation of the 13 Johnson County elementary school districts and the establishment of advisory boards for five new districts. Stringer and her husband were parents of three school-age children—Cheryl, Randy, and Tim—and she stepped up to serve as president of the Flint Elementary PTA. Next she won a two-year term on the Shawnee Mission Northwest Advisory Council, serving three terms altogether. Stringer initiated a parent-teacher-student organization to involve teens in planning activities for the school. The organization continues today.

"I never went back to work after I started having children," said Stringer. "And there were so many volunteer opportunities I could work around my kids' schedules that it seemed to work for me. I've always called myself a 'nosey broad' because I kept getting involved in so many public activities and interests! I've never been too bashful to speak up in public, and I've learned a lot as I've moved from one area of interest to another."

Following her terms on the advisory board, Stringer was elected to the Shawnee Mission School Board.

"Serving on the school board is very time consuming," she acknowledged. "You really do not have time for other activities."

In 1980, when her school board term ended, a friend invited Stringer to attend a League of Women Voters meeting. The nonpartisan league, which operates on the national, state, and local levels, conducts extensive studies of current issues. In 2010 the league is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. For more information, visit www.lwvjoco.org.

"Getting in on a study is the easiest way to become involved in the league and be informative to the public," she said. "I can say that I've agreed with the positions taken on every issue we studied."

Study topics have included countywide land use planning and arterial road systems, a metro transit system, solid waste management, poverty in Johnson County, mental health, and, on a national level, immigration.

Stringer has served in about every league office, from co-president to her current role as bylaws committee chair, making sure local bylaws and positions do not conflict with those of the national or state leagues. On the state level she has been secretary, public relations chairwoman, and editor of a weekly newsletter reporting on the Kansas Legislature.

One change she has seen since she joined the League of Women Voters is that men have become members. Another change is at the state capitol.

"Legislators used to invite league representatives to Topeka to present information on current issues," Stringer recalled. "Republicans thought we were Democrats and Democrats thought we were Republicans. However, as a nonpartisan organization we just stuck to the issues."

Today, she says, league members serve as lobbyists.

"We go to Topeka to speak as individuals on issues," she said. "Only the president speaks for the league. The lobbyist in me thinks we need all possible information to make a good decision, and we must believe in what we're saying to be convincing."

Another plaque on her wall is the John T. Burton Award, honoring her nine years of service to the City of Olathe. When her family moved near Olathe, the Planning Commission was considering building a "complex for wayward children" on rural property adjacent to the Stringers' property.

"The neighbors were upset but doing nothing, so I went before both the County Commission and City Planning Commission and asked that only one building be allowed," she said.

Following Stringer's presentation, the mayor invited her to serve on the Planning Commission.

"He asked if I could read blueprints. I replied, 'No, but my husband does, and I can learn from him.'"

In 1997, United Community Services gave Stringer its Milton E. Erickson Citizen of the Year Award. She had been a member of the UCS board for two years and was its representative to the county transportation committee.

She also was the Johnson County League of Women Voters representative on the Johnson County Citizens Visioning Committee, planning for the year 2020.

"I think I've always been positive in my approach," she said, "even though I might want to make some changes in what's happening. I'm going to try to stick around for the 2020 celebration marking 100 years since the League of Women Voters was started in this country."

The most recent addition to Stringer's wall is the 2007 Women of Worth Award, presented by OWL, the Older Women's League.

And there is room for more awards on that wall.

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