Bush to honor local woman for volunteer work — a second time

Holly Theis and her son, Taylor,  were not at a Habitat for Humanity building site last Saturday.

"We were at a family get-together in Scottsbluff," Holly explained.

They won't be at a Habitat for Humanity building site today, either. Instead, mother and son will be winging their way to Washington, D.C., to meet President George Bush, who will recognize volunteers during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

Most people don't meet a U.S. president even once in their lifetime.

For Holly and Taylor, this will be the second time they have met Bush. The first time they met the president was on the tarmac of the Central Nebraska Regional Airport, when Bush came to Grand Island in November 2006 to campaign for Republican congressional candidate Adrian Smith and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ricketts.

Bush presented Holly with the President's Volunteer Service Award for all the volunteer work she does for the Grand Island Area Habitat for Humanity.

She brought along her son, Taylor, and the pair met the president at the bottom of the stairs to Air Force One. There, Holly received the President's Volunteer Service Award.

Bush has made it a habit to recognize volunteers wherever he travels in the United States.

On Aug. 21, Holly received an invitation to the Sept. 8 White House ceremony. She assumes that all winners of the President's Volunteer Service Award were invited.

Asked if she immediately accepted the invitation or whether she hesitated, Holly was honest and said, "I did hesitate."

For one thing, she said, she and Taylor are not really travelers. She has family who live in Colorado. As result, their vacations typically consist of a weeklong visit to Colorado in July and another visit to relatives in Colorado in December.

There also is the expense of airline tickets.

But Holly said Taylor was the one who made the decision that they should visit Washington, D.C., which neither of them has seen before.

She said when she asked Taylor if they should make the trip, his answer was short and to the point: "D'oh."

That clinched it for Holly, who said she had always wanted to visit Washington with Taylor, a Centura junior, before he graduated from high school.

Holly has already checked on Monday's forecast for Washington and said it looks good.

She said she would be sorely disappointed if it rained because the ceremony would then be moved inside the White House. Because of limited space, only Holly would be taken into the White House and Taylor could not see the ceremony.

"He's the reason I got the (Volunteer Service) award," she said.

As a single mom, she values time with Taylor, Holly said. If her son wasn't willing to spend his Saturdays at Habitat home-building sites, she would feel torn about leaving him behind in Cairo. She knows she wouldn't spend nearly as much time working on Habitat homes as she does.

Fortunately, Holly said, "he loves it as much as I do."

In fact, The Independent has done a separate story on Taylor because of his dedication to the Habitat for Humanity program.

If Holly was hesitant about making the trip, she was even more hesitant about letting other people know that she was going to see President Bush a second time.

Holly said she sees people at Habitat for Humanity sites who work just as many Saturdays as she does. A lot of people could have received the award she got in 2006.

Despite her best efforts, word about the trip leaked out. Holly said if there is any good in having another newspaper story about her and Taylor, it would be to inspire others to volunteer.

She said no one should volunteer hoping for glory or special recognition. But once people start volunteering, they might be surprised by how much they receive from the act of helping others.

In 2006, Holly said she was neither a diehard Democrat nor a diehard Republican.

"I'm not much for politics," she said at the time, giving the impression she may be the classic swing voter.

But Holly is a big fan of the President's Volunteer Service Award and she hopes whoever is elected in November retains the program.

She does not just like the recognition portion of the program, but the fact that the President's Volunteer Service Award has a Web site where people can put in their zip code and discover a list of volunteer opportunities near them.

Holly said she also hesitated to make the trip to Washington because of family obligations centering around Taylor's football schedule.

Centura's first game is Friday night, so she and Taylor have decided to drive to Omaha directly after the game. Then, they must arrive at the airport at 4 a.m. for the 6 a.m. flight.

"God is good to us," said Holly, who said they managed to get a direct flight to Washington that will have them landing at 10 a.m.

They will be staying near the National Mall, which provides easy access to the Washington Monument, Smithsonian Institution, the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as well as access to numerous museums and galleries.

Although there are admission prices, they seem to fit into their budget. Holly said she and Taylor will find out exactly how much they can see Saturday and Sunday.

The ceremony is Monday, with Holly and her son determined to make a quick return home so Taylor can participate in Tuesday night's JV football game for Centura.