Dynamic Duo Marilyn and Bill Brainard

by Connie McMullen

Community Activist and Volunteers

The Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006 ranked Nevada 51st, dead last in volunteers, placing Nevada at 18.8 percent compared to the number one state “Utah,” which ranked 48 percent. Nevada also came in 51st in the number of seniors volunteering, people who are 65+. These are chilling statistics, but if any two people can debunk the report it is Marilyn and Bill Brainard of Sparks.

Marilyn Brainard works with 18-year-old Deserae Cummings (center) and Jordin Munoz, 17. Group member Lauren Gildert, 17, is not in the photo.

The Brainard's are California transplants, retiring to Northern Nevada 10-years-ago, specifically to Wingfield Springs because of the quality of life in the Silver State.

Married 52-years, Marilyn, 72, is a longstanding community activist in the San Fernando Valley and the Agoura Hills California area, and now Nevada. Husband Bill, 73, a California lawyer, joined Marilyn in community endeavors after his retirement.

Catching up with the two today, you will find them participating in a number of activities, too many to mention. More recently, both can be found in the We the People program in Sparks teacher Mark Towell's Government AP class at Reed High School. Both are actively preparing the students for the national competition to be held in Washington, DC, this May. “We have been going over the basics of the founding of our country; position papers, opening statements, presentation briefs, and how to respond to the judges,” explains Marilyn. Twenty-one students will be going to the We the People competition. Both Bill and Marilyn have worked to prepare the students about the history of the country.

For the Brainard's, volunteerism and community involvement dates back to raising their kids. Marilyn found herself serving on the Agoura Hills Community Services Advisory Committee, an equivalent to the Reno/Sparks/Washoe County Parks & Recreation Commissions. She also served on the After School Enrichment Program, and was a founding board member of the Community Center Alliance, a charitable foundation formed to create a joint venture community center. Politically, she worked on the Los Angeles County Proposition A, the Safe Neighborhood Parks Act of 1996, and many other projects. The latter measure passed by 65 percent of the vote which she says was a significant event post Proposition 13.

Marilyn also served on other boards and commissions while Bill worked as a civil defense lawyer. Activities included the Los Angeles United Way board, and president of the Volunteer League of San Fernando Valley.

The two didn't become involved locally until 1998 when they chose Sparks as home. Marilyn became the second homeowner to join the Wingfield Springs Community Association Board in Spanish Springs. She later joined the Truckee Meadows League of Women's Voters, worked on candidate forums and voter registration in Washoe County.

It was about that time she nudged Bill into action. He soon found himself serving on the Republican Central Committee and its executive board, as well as the State Central Committee. He also was past president of the Reno Sparks Republican Men's Club.