By Carol P. Bartold

Feb. 24, 2016:  People doing business at Bronxville Village Hall this year are being greeted by Margaret Parr, the village's new office assistant (financial). Parr, who comes to Bronxville from Cold Spring, began her job with the village on January 19.

"Mayor Mary Marvin and Jim Palmer keep saying I will be 'the face of Bronxville,'" Parr said, "the first person people will see when they come in the village hall door."

A graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor of science degree in speech, Parr brings a wide range of experience to village hall from the private sector, including owning and operating her own business, and several years of work in the public sector.

Armed with a speech degree that actually focused on radio, television, and film studies, Parr moved to New York from her hometown near St. Louis and went to work as an associate director of special marketing at Sony Music International. "I always knew, much to my parents' chagrin, that I wanted to work at a record company in New York," Parr said. "I was 22 years old and it was perfect for me. I stayed in the music industry for about ten years and it was fabulous."

Parr left the music industry to form her own local errand business in Cold Spring. "It was a great business for me when my kids were babies and I could bring them along," she said, "but when they were old enough not to want to be coming with me, I set it aside and went to work for the local recreation department."

As a member of the four-person management team at the Philipstown Recreation Department in Garrison, Parr coordinated children's sports teams, served as co-director of the local after-school program, and directed senior citizen programming. With a budget upwards of $900,000 and a part-time seasonal staff of 90 employees, the department registered over 4,500 program participants each year.

Parr moved to the business office of Hawthorne Cedar Knolls School District in Hawthorne, where she worked with accounts payable.

"I believe I'm a better match for the public rather than the private sector," Parr said. "I think it's more in my nature to be helpful to people on the public sector level."

In her first month on the job at village hall, Parr has recorded vital statistics, become familiar with property cards when residents or realtors request property information, and processed receipts from the department of public works, and she has begun to help Deputy Treasurer Peggy Conway issue and process parking permits. "Peggy is the parking expert," Parr was quick to point out.

"The work in the village office is constant," Parr noted, "but the amazing thing is there is never a line of people. When that second person comes in, someone in the office always jumps up to help." Parr added that she has never struggled on the job because there is always someone ready to support her.

Parr's service to the public sector also extends to volunteer pursuits. She was recently elected as trustee to the Haldane Central School District Board of Education.

"Margaret so fits into the village hall team," said Mayor Mary Marvin. "She is smart, capable, calm, and customer-friendly. Most important, she has a great sense of humor!"

Pictured here:  Margaret Parr, the village's new office assistant (financial).

Photo by N. Bower