Spend any time around Peggy Flynn and you KNOW she is high energy. It so happens she grew up in the energy industry, the daughter of a coal miner in the tiny company town of Isabella, PA, located at the end of a dead-end road. Or as Peggy says, a nice place to be from and get out of ASAP. As you already guessed, Peggy had her sights set on the wider world early on and determined a career in civil service was the way out!

While still in high school Peggy signed up for the federal Civil Service exam and quickly found herself the recipient of a “congratulations” letter from the Air Force Judge Advocate General's office inviting her to show up to the Pentagon for work a week after graduation. This was during the height of the race to the moon, and after rotating through a stint at the Department of Commerce, Peggy found herself on the IBM project team supporting NASA’s Goddard Space Center (the back-up to Houston) where she — and her visiting parents — witnessed Neal Armstrong step on the moon’s surface while seated in the NASA control room.

With the space program winding down, Peggy, never one to stand still for long, wanted to be where the action was and that was Congress, where laws were being made. Not having an obvious path to get there, she simply drove to Capitol Hill, found a parking space near the House of Representatives, went in and asked who to talk to about a job. She got one, as a staff assistant for the House Public Works Committee. After two years, Peggy wanted to work for one of her heroes, the highly-regarded Wisconsin Congressman Henry Reuss. The eight years she spent on Congressman Reuss’ staff as office manager and personal assistant were among the most satisfying of her career. It was during this time she entered the orbit of Washington Senator Warren Magnuson, which set her on the path to Seattle and ultimately, Anacortes.

During her trips to WA State Peggy fell in love with the Pacific Northwest Lifestyle. When the opportunity came up to become the third employee on the project team to design, construct and operate the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, she jumped on it and eventually rose to VP of Finance & Administration while simultaneously earning her MBA— more remarkable when one recalls that the girl from Isabella never went to college!

Upon opening of the Convention Center, Peggy switched gears, working as CFO for a bicycle components startup, taught classes at WSU’s Hotel and Restaurant School, provided consulting services for various startups and government-affiliated organizations, and eventually took a year off to travel the world.

Upon her return to Seattle, she found her way to Anacortes, graduated Leadership Skagit, and helped Island Hospital win support for a large expansion bond. She was a member of our Club for three years and temporarily found herself back in Seattle where she joined the 600+ member downtown Rotary Club #4. Missing the A-Town lifestyle, she returned full time to her home in Anacortes and transferred back to our Club eight years ago.

Since then, Peggy can be found adding her unique brand of energy to seemingly every event committee, in addition to official roles as Club Secretary and as part of the International and Fellowship Committees. Outside of Rotary she is passionate about exercise, her friends, her garden, and always looking for ways bring fun to the community. For several years she’s been a member the Twisted Pixies, whose sole purpose is to add excitement and energy to the 4th of July parade every year.  As we gear up for SS Love Boat you’re certain to see lots more of Peggy in action.