Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital (GSCNC) will recognize four local community leaders during the annual Women of Distinction Luncheon in October. Honorees include Carol Asam, Lyn Goodwin, Helen Harris, and Bonnie Stubblefield.
The Women of Distinction Luncheon honors extraordinary women who have made significant contributions to their communities and the region. The Council has awarded the Women of Distinction award since 2005. Proceeds raised from the October luncheon provide crucial leadership, science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), entrepreneurship, life skills, and outdoor programs to Girl Scouts locally.
2022 Woman of Distinction recipient Lyn Goodwin has led the Morgan County Development Authority since 2021. Goodwin started her career in Morgan County as a reporter for The Journal after graduating from WVU. She continued to serve Morgan County as the Community Relations Manager for War Memorial Hospital for almost 22 years. Goodwin continued her education and received a Master of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from WVU.
Her career path took her from Morgan County to Jefferson County where she served as Program Manager for the Jefferson County Development Authority and Interim Director while they sought new leadership. Goodwin’s valuable experience ultimately brought her back to Morgan County.
Goodwin is an active participant in the community where she works and lives. She served the Jaycees in Berkeley Springs for many years and demonstrated her love of children through numerous volunteer and fundraising projects and activities.
Lyn Goodwin.
The annual Apple Butter Festival parade is one of the many projects that Goodwin has chaired in the Morgan County community. She has volunteered with the Apple Butter Festival planning committee and is in the Festival Hall of Fame. She has also served on the Starting Points board of directors and volunteered with the Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Goodwin’s leadership is not dedicated to one county. She served as the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle’s campaign chairperson and board chair. Her thoughtful service was recognized by the United Way as she received the 2019 General Van Ryzin award for exemplary leadership, one of the highest awards given by the organization. She has been a longtime member of the Berkeley Springs Lions Club serving as treasurer for many years. Goodwinn recently joined the Berkeley Springs Rotary where she is one of the first to volunteer for community service projects within the small club.
Goodwin has made an impact across the Eastern Panhandle, but most of her professional and volunteer service has impacted the Morgan County community. While Lyn was not a Girl Scout, she embodies the core values of Girl Scouts and is a role model for girls and women in our community.
2022 Woman of Distinction recipient Carol Asam is a woman of strong convictions and much faith. Since 1977, the Asam family have been the owners/proprietors of The Bavarian Inn. Volunteering has played a huge role in Asam’s life in Shepherdstown and Jefferson County. She has sat on the Board of the Millbrook Symphony Orchestra, the Shepherdstown Visitors Center, CASA of the Eastern Panhandle (where she is a strong children’s advocate), Cotillion, and Hospice of the Panhandle.
She has been awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship for exemplary community service from the Shepherdstown Rotary Club. She is an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Shepherdstown and has an outstanding career dedicated to serving her community.
2022 Woman of Distinction recipient Helen Harris is a lifelong resident of Berkeley County.
Throughout her career, Harris has demonstrated great leadership and commitment to others. She was the former president/director/owner of an in-home health care business, Harris Community Care, along with her husband, Leonard. The mission of her business was to provide custodial health care to help individuals remain in their homes.
Harris was honored by the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce as the Berkeley County Citizen of the Year in 2012. She was appointed to serve on the Berkeley County Development Authority by the Berkeley County Commission in 2009. She has continually served and is the current President of the Board of Directors, as well as serving in multiple other capacities. In 2005, Governor Joe Manchin appointed Harris to the Promise Scholarship Board. She is a member of the Sumner Ramer Heritage, Inc., the NAACP, and a past member of the Art Center in Martinsburg, Martinsburg High School Band Boosters, and the Berkeley County Schools Diversity Committee. Harris is a charter member and past president of the Sunrise Rotary Club in Martinsburg.
Harris has been a role model for women and girls in our community for many years.
2022 Woman of Distinction recipient Bonnie Stubblefield resides in Berkeley County with her husband, William (Bill) Stubblefield. Dr. Bonnie McGregor Stubblefield was the first woman Director of Marine Programs for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In addition, she was the first woman to serve as the Associate Director of USGS, an agency of some 12,000 employees, and the first woman to serve as the Acting Director of USGS. She is widely recognized as a pioneer woman oceanographer, having conducted extensive pioneering research of the magnetic signature of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, confirming plate tectonics, and has published numerous peer-reviewed professional papers. Extensive research missions took her all over the world’s seas.
Upon retirement, Stubblefield made Berkeley County her home. She was appointed by the Berkeley County Council to a term on the Planning Commission, has served on the Board of Directors for Berkeley County Senior Services, and been a faithful 10+ year volunteer with the CCAP/Loaves and Fishes.
She is a member of the Eastern Panhandle Land Trust and serves on the Community Investment Committee of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, on the Board of Directors and Community Investment Committee of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) and serves on the Shepherd University Innovative Farm Project, which helps to ensure organic produce is grown and provided to families in need in the Shepherdstown area.
