NIBLEY – Trudy Knight believes in giving back to the community, and she has spent countless hours doing it herself.
She spent 12 years as the Nibley City Youth Council adviser, more than a decade helping with the Miss Nibley Pageant, volunteered for years in the PTA – both as president and in other roles – and spent many summers running the city’s booth at the county fair.
She said serving the community is in her DNA, and now that she is an “empty nester,” she wants to do more of it. Her name will be one of two on the ballot for mayor this fall.
“I have been fortunate enough to be able to stay at home, raise my children and volunteer and serve,” she said. “I just feel like now I’m at a standstill going what should I do with all my time and effort and I feel like this is where I want to put it, right here in Nibley City, because I love it.”
About two decades ago Knight received a phone call asking if she would like to take charge of the city’s annual Heritage Days celebration – that was before she even lived in Nibley. She didn’t take over the event that year, but she did help out. She moved to Nibley soon after and eventually became the chair of the annual celebration.
“I think I did a good job of expanding the small thing it was into a larger venue,” she said, “which hopefully brought more of the community together to have a united effort. That was my goal.”
Knight said she has a way of getting others to volunteer. She feels she has a good rapport with the community and wants to use it to continue to help others donate their time.
“I feel like (volunteerism in Nibley) has kind of slowed down a little bit,” she said. “I’m not sure I know why, but I just know I’ve seen that regress. I would like to put a little more effort into that.”
Knight said she wants to help all Nibley citizens enjoy their community, especially as the population rapidly expands.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s a matter of having an interest in guiding the growth in a manner that is smooth,” she said, “instead of just those people who develop.”
Knight’s husband Gerald Knight served as the mayor before Shaun Dustin was elected. Trudy said that she and her husband both believe in putting time into the community.
“This is where we raised our children,” she said. “This is where we call home and we’ll probably just die right here. We want to make sure we’re going to be in a really nice place that is a happy place to be and a good place to be.”