Mary Alway announces candidacy for County Clerk.

Mary Alway

AMBER TOWNSHIP — Mary B Alway has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for Mason County Clerk. Alway and her husband, Thomas, have lived in Mason County all their lives. They have three adult daughters. She was raised on her family’s farm, Berndt Hillside Farm, on the corner of Fountain Road and US 31 in Sherman Township.

Alway graduated from Mason County Central High School and Muskegon Business College with a degree as an administrative and executive secretary. She has also taken business classes at West Shore Community College. Her business experience includes working for an insurance agency, an executive assistant for the president of a local manufacturing company, office manager for a school, a waitress for a local restaurant and currently as assistant food service director at a local school.

“Many people do not know what the Mason County Clerk’s office does, so my intention is to educate the constituents of our county on the different duties that the Mason County Clerk performs and how my education and work experience makes me an excellent candidate for the position of Mason County Clerk,” Alway said in a press release.

“The Mason County Clerk maintains birth and death records, marriage licenses, assumed business names and partnership certificates. The Mason County Clerk also maintains the veterans discharge records and voter registration records. My experience working as an office manager in a school is similar in their recordkeeping procedures,” she said.

“The clerk also records the minutes of various county board meetings including the County Board of Commissioners, Board of Canvassers, County Election Commission, County Plat Board, Election Scheduling Committee, County Apportionment Board and the County Coordinator. The clerk’s position is also responsible for duties involving the Circuit Court and the Circuit Court judge. I have served as a board of education president and secretary. I am knowledgeable in recordkeeping and am detail oriented. My education emphasized skills in office and meeting management.

“The Mason County Clerk is also responsible for providing the concealed pistol application kits to those who wish to apply for licenses to carry concealed pistols, storing and maintaining these records. I will also coordinate the filings for the Farmland Preservation PA116. My background in farming will help me work closely with the farmers in our county applying for the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program.”

Alway said some of her interests and area of volunteering include The Western Michigan Old Engine Club, United Way of Mason County, local theater productions, traveling and visiting historical places, camping, walking/exercising and gardening.

“I am dedicated to helping the residents of Mason County with a positive and helpful attitude.”