Marden Honored with Cole Service Award

Every year Andover residents pick one person who has shown outstanding longterm commitment to the town and selflessly donated years of their lives to make Andover a better place to live. The Viriginia Cole Service Award was created for such a person and memorializes Virginia Cole, one of Andover's great women who embodied the traits of a dedicated town volunteer.

This year the prestigious award was given to veteran Finance Committee member Joanne Marden

Marden, a 30-plus year member of the Finance Committee, was honored with the award at Annual Town Meeting monday night.

To make the occasion that much sweeter, Marden revealed that it was Virginia Cole that first motivated her to get involved with town government over three decades ago.

Selectman Brian Major introduced Marden at first and spoke first hand of the sheer dedication she has for town government and civic service.