People of Conshohocken – Ray and Maryann McArdle

People of Conshohocken – Ray and Maryann McArdle

3-1-2016

by Brian Coll

This is our fifth installment of our People of Conshohocken series…

We have close to 10,000 people in our borough, add in the residents of West Conshohocken, Plymouth and Whitemarsh and we have a large community. Some of the people that will be featured will be well known in the area, some will have just moved into the area, some will have been here their entire lives. Some of them may be business owners, or people who walk around the area, or maybe work in the area. Maybe you know them, maybe you don’t. Everyone has a story. While we are only going to take their picture and maybe ask a question or two, we want to share these stories with you.

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I was visiting the Colonial Neighborhood Council yesterday and saw one of the best couples in Conshohocken, Ray and Maryann McArdle. Ray and Maryann volunteer at the Colonial Neighborhood Council or CNC for short. One of the first times I met them, a truck pulled up out back at the CNC and it was loaded with food. I jumped in and helped them unload. Over the next few years I would see them here and there, sometimes dropping off food at the CNC, or the more I looked around town the more I saw them. It seemed whenever help is needed there they are. Ray and Maryann raised their family here and still have two daughters that live in Conshohocken with their other two daughters not too far away.

Yesterday when I saw them I asked if I could take a photo and post it here for the People of Conshohocken. They both said NO….. they didn’t need to be recognized for anything. But, after I insisted they posed for a picture and then got back to work sorting food and such. Maryann got involved in another conversation with Sandi the director of the CNC and I got to talk to Ray for a minute. I asked Ray why they did what they did, and before he spoke, I saw it in his eyes exactly why they did it.  When he spoke, what he told me, and I didn’t know before, was that when he needed help a few years ago, the CNC was there for him, the work they do for the CNC is the least they can do.

I’m glad I got to meet Ray and Maryann a few years ago and am proud to call them my friends. Thank you for all of your hard work for the CNC and the people of Conshohocken.