Ryan Wolf
Ryan Wolf is an anchor and reporter for Action 4 News.
Read more: Local, Community, News, Elderly Woman, Blind, Work, Winter Texan, Village Grove Park, Mary Hyzer, Kathy Hammons, Karen Gonzalez, FNB Insurance, Pay it Forward, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, KGBT, Action 4 News, Barrington Broadcasting
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She's known as the mayor of Village Grove Park off Val Verde Road just outside Donna.
But Mary Hyzer will tell you she has a few other names.
"I'm also the sheriff, governor and the warden," she laughingly said.
This year-round Winter Texan is the go-to person for just about anything around these parts.
If someone at the park needs their mail picked up, Mary's does it.
If someone needs their your home checked up on, Mary's the one for the job.
At 79 years young, she makes it her business to know what's going on.
It only made things more difficult to pull off her Pay it 4Ward surprise.
"Are you Mary?" Action 4's Ryan Wolf asked outside her home.
"Yes," she responded.
"I'm Ryan wolf with Action 4 News."
"Ryan, I watch you all the time!" she said.
"I'm so happy to hear that," Ryan said. "I didn't want to scare you half to death seeing me out here."
"Well, I look terrible," she said.
"You look great," Ryan told her. "Do you know why we're here Mary?"
"I have no idea," she said. "Why are you here?"
"I want you to hear from the person who reached out to us," Ryan said. Your park neighbor Kathy Hammons wants to tell you how special you are."
Kathy is the one who nominated Mary for the $400 Pay it 4Ward prize.
"You do everything for all of us," Kathy said. "We just love you so much. You're always watching out for our houses and watering people's plants and reporting break-ins and meeting with the sheriff. You go and sit up all night with people who are sick. You just watch out for all of us and we love you. And on behalf of FNB Insurance and Action 4 News, I want to Pay it 4Ward. Here's $400 so you can do anything you want with."
"Oh thank you," Mary said with a tear.
Mary's been living in her parent's home for the last 14 years.
She's been alone for nearly two decades and is legally blind.
But don't think for a moment she lets any of that stand in her way with helping the people of this park.
"Where do you get that kind of giving spirit?" Ryan asked.
"My heart says do that," she answered. "I have always helped people."
That's what FNB Insurance Spokesperson Karen Gonzalez says the weekly series is all about.
"FNB Insurance and Action 4 News couldn't be happier to Pay it 4Ward to someone so incredible, so kind-hearted and so willing to go above and beyond for everyone," she said.
Mary plans to use her money to buy a fancy new purse.
"I just love them," she said.
Click here to join Ryan Wolf’s Facebook Page
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Click here to nominate somebody for the Pay it 4Ward prize
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