Local woman shows her support with Mustang

By Chuck Koons
For The Daily Item

January 14, 2008 01:50 pm

— One look at Becky Hagenbaugh’s 2004 Ford Mustang, and there is little question to even the most oblivious as to where she went to college. But the casual observer probably doesn’t understand that her passions are not limited to Syracuse University.
In 2005, as she nearly caused a wreck when she spied the car sitting in the showroom of Selinsgrove Motors, she mostly gave up any price dickering leverage she could have had when salesman Mike Sears literally caught her in the act of kissing the car.
Stereotypes aside, Mrs. Hagenbaugh, of Mifflinburg, unabashedly admits to buying the car solely for its color. Since obtaining her dual degree in journalism and fine arts from the university, she has been an avid Syracuse “Orangemen” fanatic.
However, her enthusiasm for the Central Susquehanna Valley and specifically Mifflinburg, are just as deeply rooted. A West Pittston native, she first became familiar with the area as a child. Her grandfather, who was the first teacher at the Laurelton High School more than 100 years ago, built a log cabin along Laurel Run. She often made visits, enjoyed vacations with her grandparents and fell in love with the area.
Apparently her husband, Chuck, also fell immediately in love upon his first visit as well. Less than 15 minutes after seeing the cabin which had since been passed down to Becky’s possession, he proposed to Becky.
“I am not sure if it was the setting or the fact that is was part of my dowry,” laughs Becky.
For awhile, the couple remained ensconced in the big city lifestyle of New York City. Chuck was an executive for AT&T, Becky was co-owner of her own advertising agency. In time, Mr. Hagenbaugh became a bit tired of the corporate “rat race.”
The couple, who had been through several relocations, decided that Chuck would retire at the age of 49, and they would move to Mifflinburg.
Mrs. Hagenbaugh divested herself of her agency and they headed for Union County in 1992. Since then Becky has developed another outlet for her creative interests and promotional talents. For the past nine years, she has poured her heart and soul into her part-time job as Main Street Manager for Mifflinburg.
For a position that is supposedly limited to 20 hours per week, she lives, breathes and sleeps the role of Mifflinburg’s most ardent promoter.
With her efforts have come the tools that she hopes will make Mifflinburg a significant tourist destination in Pennsylvania.
Under her guidance as well as the professional relationships she has garnered with state legislatures, she has secured grants for the renovation of the Old Elias Church and the Gutelius house. Both are icons of the glory days of the town that have fallen to diverse purposes and/or disrepair. More recently, she was able to land the funding that enabled the purchase of the Weirick house which is adjacent to the old Elias Church and will be used for a visitor’s center. With these projects along with the Elm Street program, her five-yearplan for the revitalization of Mifflinburg seems to be well on track. With her enthusiasm and her tireless efforts on behalf of “Buggytown,” the borough has taken giant leaps toward becoming a tourist destination.
The next time you find yourself following a Grabber Orange Mustang with the vanity license plate that reads “Go Orange,” rest assured it’s probably Becky Hagenbaugh, advocate for both her beloved “Orangemen” and the revitalization of Mifflinburg.

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