[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 38 (Monday, March 10, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING MARY LOU HOLT FOR HER OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF 
   YOUNTVILLE, CALIFORNIA AT THE TIME OF HER RETIREMENT AS TOWN MAYOR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 10, 2003

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the mayor of Yountville, California, Mary Lou Holt, whose outstanding 
leadership and commitment to community service has significantly 
benefited the people of Yountville.
  Prior to being elected as the mayor of Yountville in 1994, Mary Lou 
served as an elected member of the Yountville town council. As a member 
of the town council and as mayor, Mary Lou has been dedicated to 
improving the Yountville community. She founded the Christmas in April 
program, is a board member of the Hands Across the Valley program and 
chairs the Napa County Committee on Child Youth & Families.
  Impressively, Mary Lou's community outreach has extended past 
Yountville and beyond our nation's boarders. By actively supporting 
programs like ``Roots of Peace,'' a program that aids Afghan farmers by 
providing them with free grape seeds in exchange for the destruction of 
land mines on their farmland, she has impacted people both at home and 
abroad.
  Mr. Speaker, in Yountville, Mayor Holt is well known for her many 
accomplishments. While the community may know that she was honored as 
the Kiwanian of the year and that the Napa County Hispanic Network and 
many other service organizations have also honored her, it is most 
significant that the citizens of Yountville see and recognize that all 
accolades aside, their mayor is a person of character.
  Mr. Speaker, far too often, people doubt their politicians. Cynicism 
and division have often replaced idealism and unity as building blocks 
for building societies. Fortunately, in her community, Mayor Holt has 
shattered that stereotype through her leadership and commitment to 
those she represents.
  For nearly 10 years, Mary Lou Holt has been the matriarch of 
Yountville. And in that time, she has led and loved her fellow 
citizens. It was Mary Lou who helped create the ``If Given A Chance'' 
program that has awarded hundreds of scholarships to Yountville's 
underprivileged youth. It was Mary Lou who mourned with Yountville 
after the horrific events of September 11, 2001 and recounted her own 
experience of being in Washington D.C. and hearing the plane that 
crashed into the Pentagon fly over her head. And it has been Mary Lou, 
who has never been too busy being mayor to forget to be someone's 
friend.
  Mr. Speaker, because of the many contributions she has made to the 
town of Yountville and for the special way that as mayor and friend 
Mary Lou Holt has impacted the lives of her fellow citizens, it is 
proper for us to honor her today as she retires from the office of 
mayor.

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