Sally (Trotter) Maack

Sally (Trotter) Maack was a member and board member of the Independence, Kansas Jr. Kayettes (7th & 8th) and a Sr. Kayettes (9th &10th). Juniors and Seniors in high school were in the same building as Freshman and Sophomores in Independence Community College, so they did not have Kayettes there. She remembers that service projects for the Ronald McDonald House were some of her favorites. Even though she once felt she was just a board member, she recalls Wanda May Vinson reminded her to never say, “You’re ‘just’ a board member.

That is a leadership position and you have a responsibility and must be committed.” Sally served with Wanda May as a member of the Kayette Camp Staff from 1963 up through Miss Vinson’s retirement in 1982, except for the summer of ‘75 (she was pregnant and that worried Wanda May). She says the aims and purposes of the KAY organization are her “life rules.”

Sally also recalls certain things Wanda May would say like, “Always leave a place cleaner/better than you found it,” “Everybody is important,” “If you are a member, you must actively participate,” and “To get something out of it you must put something into it,” to name just a few.

A retired educator, Sally has taught in a variety of settings including stints in Madison, Pratt, Kinsley, and Ness City. She taught Art K – 12 for 8 ½ years, classroom elementary for 8 ½ years, and was a K – 12 school counselor for 10 ½ years. Four years ago, she retired from Ness City and moved to Tonganoxie with her husband, John. They enjoy the small town atmosphere and it brings them close to their three grown and married children and six active and growing grandchildren. She and her husband are busy with activities in the Tonganoxie United Methodist Church and just returned from a mission trip to Guatemala.

She also participates in the Chancel Choir and Bell Choir as she really enjoys music. Other enjoyable hobbies include reading, arts and crafts, and knitting. Anyone who has attended camp in the past 30+ years should know that Sally’s craftiness created the color team banners that are set out in Spencer Auditorium at Evening General Sessions. She was so pleased to see them still being used when she made a recent visit to camp a couple of years ago.

Thank you Sally for your commitment to the KAY program, and for agreeing to be our first “Once a KAY, Always a KAY” – a spotlight on Alumni.