Cambria’s 2019 Citizen of the Year is an enthusiastic ‘problem solver’
Cambria’s Susan McDonald is a woman of many talents, vocations and avocations, and for the past four decades, the community she loves has been the beneficiary of her enthusiasms.
Honoring her active involvements in a wide range of undertakings, McDonald was selected Dec. 17 as the town’s 2019 Citizen of the Year by the Cambria Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
She’ll be honored at a Jan. 14 dinner at which the chamber board’s recently reelected members will be installed.
Whether McDonald’s cause du jour was history preservation, elephant seal protection or reporting the news, her fervor has been so energizing and contagious that she attracted legions of people to be involved, too.
Mel McColloch, president of the chamber board, nominated McDonald for the citizen honor, calling her a leader.
McDonald, 69, “is a problem solver,” McColloch said. “She knows who to go to and how to bring people together to get things done.”
McDonald’s verve and commitment to Cambrians first surfaced in spandex, when she brought fitness program Jazzercise to town in 1979 — substantially before most women were working out regularly.
Soon, her diverse troupe of fitness-clad exercisers were a common sight in Cambria, which wound up encouraging others to participate.
During the 1980s, McDonald trained 14 Jazzercise instructors who went on to lead classes across San Luis Obispo County and helped her to sponsor several fundraisers.
“She’s the only person in the world who ever made me enjoy exercise,” her longtime friend, mentor and neighbor, former county Supervisor Shirley Bianchi, said with a laugh. “Suzy richly deserves this honor. I don’t think I could, off the cuff, list all the things she’s done to benefit Cambria and this county.”
Thus began McDonald’s determined march through a wide range of interests, including launching the first state-licensed, PTA-sponsored after-school recreation program of its kind in the county, and serving two terms as PTA president.
In 1993, she organized Coast Union High School’s first Sober Grad Night.
McDonald worked for nearly a decade as an award-winning journalist at The Telegram-Tribune (now The Tribune) and The Cambrian. She was also The Cambrian’s interim editor for a year, directing a then-substantial staff.
McDonald served as administrative assistant for county Supervisor Bud Laurent.
She also helped establish the North Coast Advisory Council, an entity to which she would return as a board member in 2016, and on which she is currently serving her second term as chairwoman. In the process, she’s organized and led NCAC forums and discussions on vacation rentals, homelessness and other timely topics.
McDonald spearheaded the call for a viewing area from which visitors and residents could watch a growing rookery of massive elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, ameliorating burgeoning and dangerous traffic and parking problems there. She helped establish the Friends of the Elephant Seal docent program in 1998, becoming its first executive director.
As a member of the Cambria Historical Society Board of Directors, McDonald helped to spearhead the purchase and restoration of the Guthrie-Bianchini House, which is now the Cambria Historical Museum. She was director of the museum for a time, starting in 2008.
Working in advertising and public relations for a time, McDonald also was a consultant on the Hearst Ranch Conservation Project. She has said one of her proudest accomplishments is “being part of the local team to make permanent conservation of the 82,000-acre Hearst Ranch a reality.”
Under Bianchi’s guidance and leadership, McDonald helped to organize and became an active member of the Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group, which reestablished the fire-safety organization that had been dormant for several years. During her tenure, McDonald organized a community safety fair and created emergency information cards for residents and visitors.
She has also served as a commissioner on the community’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission.
She’s a member of the Santa Rosa Catholic Church Parish Council and was active in promoting Cambria’s Friday farmers market.
McDonald also judged the Pinedorado parade and served as a Cub Scout den mother and Cambria Youth Athletic Association basketball coach despite her tiny stature. She is a past member of the Cambria Farm Center, Native Daughters of the Golden West and Old Santa Rosa Chapel Committee.
“I feel lucky and grateful to be chosen Cambria Citizen of the Year,” McDonald said. “Lucky because Cambria is my home. And grateful for all the friends and opportunities I enjoy here.
“As Cambrians, we share a very special place. To receive this honor from the Chamber is surprising and humbling — an unexpected bonus to the genuine privilege of living here. And, after 41 years, the leap of faith continues to hold true that this small town is where I belong.”
What’s next for the always active-and-involved McDonald? Hang on and watch; there’s rarely a dull moment for Cambria’s 2019 Citizen of the Year.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 12:22 PM.
