Former mayor of Bourbon, Mary Heywood, announces that she intends to be “Back For The Future” of Bourbon. Even though a lot was accomplished during her tenure as mayor, from 1997 to 2006, she feels there are still many things she would like to see completed.
If you’ve lived in or around Bourbon for very long, you’ve probably seen Heywood selling cookies, peddling raffle tickets for this or that, putting fish sandwiches together at the Fall Festival, weeding the gardens at the welcome sign or trimming bushes at Sites Park; assembling dinners at the Senior Citizen Christmas Dinner, hanging lights on the city’s Christmas tree or picking up trash at City Park. Heywood has been a visible, active member of the Bourbon community and she wants to continue to make Bourbon a wholesome and welcoming hometown for families and a clean, safe and enjoyable destination for visitors and tourists.
Heywood, who moved to Bourbon in 1976, has been active in Bourbon life since the beginning. She has always been involved with classroom activities and still works part-time as a substitute teacher in the Bourbon schools. She has been chairman of the PTO scholarship fund since 1995; and president of the Bourbon Boosters since 1989, with a couple of breaks for other presidents along the way.
She works on every civic event that the Boosters sponsor, and is particularly responsible for the annual Fall Festival in Bourbon.   She has been a member of the Crawford Electric Charitable Trust Board Round-Up Program since 1995, voting to help citizens who are experiencing a crisis.
Since 1997, Heywood has been an active member of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission. She is a Governor’s appointee to the Delta Regional Authority and is currently the executive director of CASA, Court Appointed Advocates for Children in foster care for Mid-Ozark CASA.
As mayor, she was instrumental in the construction of the new water tower located near the high school. The water system repairs completed during her tenure resulted in a reduction of water loss from 70 percent down to only 10 percent.  She acquired the land that is now available for use as an Industrial Park at no cost to the citizens of Bourbon and started an Economic Development Committee to market the park to possible businesses.
The committee had the sign erected at the park and was completing marketing information on the property when Heywood left office in 2006. Heywood would like to resume an active search for tenants at the park and search for grant funds to complete the infrastructure.
While mayor, Heywood expanded the city limits for Bourbon toward Leasburg, resulting in increased tax base for the city; obtained grant funds to partially landscape the overpasses at I-44; obtained a “COPS” grant to hire additional police officers and place a resource officer at the school; completed the sewer project and re-built the section of Pine Street needing it the most. Leaving office in 2006, Heywood left $41,000 in reserve funds.
Heywood hopes to see the completion of the Safe Routes to School sidewalk project; complete the infrastructure to the Industrial Park and actively recruit businesses to the park.  Heywood feels strongly that Bourbon needs a formal Economic Development Strategy in order to achieve the goals of increased tax base for the city and the creation of more local jobs.
Attracting businesses to Bourbon is a high priority and she would like to complete the paving of Pine Street and continue to improve the visual appearance of Bourbon to visitors and potential business owners. She will continue to seek grant funds for development projects and interface with state and local officials on behalf of the city of Bourbon.
Heywood would also like to develop a Tourist/Welcome Center/History Museum for Bourbon as a way to collect, preserve and show off our history to the hundreds of tourists who pass through Bourbon every season. She is also interested in hearing from the citizens of Bourbon and those who live in the surrounding areas and who shop and volunteer for the city.  She plans to institute an “Advisory Board” of area residents who can keep her informed of what they feel is needed to bring Bourbon forward into the future.
Heywood encourages everyone who lives in the city of Bourbon and the county of Crawford to exercise their right to vote on Apr. 6.