Recognizing her 50-plus years of service to a nature preserve and local Girl Scouts, a scenic overlook has been named for a late Richmond woman.
Hayes Arboretum, at 801 Elks Road, organized a dedication of the Pat Mayer Scenic Overlook on Aug. 17. A parking area is near the overlook for motorists taking the auto tour route.
Relatives, neighbors and friends through the Stanley W. Hayes Research Foundation Inc. board and Girl Scouts from area counties gathered to watch the unveiling of the sign and reflect on Mayer’s contributions. Mayer died in July 2023 at age 97.
Foundation Chair Steve Hayes Sr. called Mayer the board’s moral compass and a steady, trustworthy, reliable pillar.
Hayes credited Mayer with helping connect the arboretum with the community and guiding the foundation to meet and exceed residents’ needs. Many activities for Girl Scouts and their families took place there as well through her leadership.
“She helped us all become better people and a better board,” Hayes said.
The Hayes and Mayer families have long been connected. Mayer’s father, Herbert, worked for Hayes Track Appliance Co. from 1920-1970. Steve Hayes’ father, Brice, spent considerable time traveling the country by train with Herbert Mayer, selling the company’s products together.
Hayes said it’s truly remarkable that a father-daughter team spent 100 years combined helping Stanley W. Hayes and his family use profits from the railway appliance business to create the foundation and purchase contiguous land that generations are enjoying.
The Richmond High School and Earlham College graduate was known for her love of nature and camping, and had hiked in all 50 states.
Mayer worked for the local Girl Scouts for 50 years, and her responsibilities included serving as director of Camp Wapi-Kamigi in Hagerstown. Known by the nickname “Beetle,” she spent every summer connecting countless Girl Scouts to the outdoors.
Arboretum staff built the overlook in 2000 with help from a Wayne County Foundation grant. Some of the Sugar Maple and American Beech trees at the overlook were standing when European settlers entered the land in the 1670s.
Hayes also expressed gratitude for one of Mayer’s nieces, Kathy Fox, and Fox’s husband, Alan Leighton, who recently donated picnic tables for the arboretum’s nature playscape area.
A version of this article appeared in the August 28 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.