Mary-Anne Moore
It’s hard to find people willing to volunteer at a farmers’ market – even once a month. But, fortunately for us, Mary-Anne Moore has given her time to work at the Delcambre Seafood & Farmers Market, serving mimosas – and a smile – in the refreshment booth since 2015.
A long-time resident of New Iberia, Mary-Anne is a bit of a household name among many Delcambre families, as school bus driver for students of Delcambre Elementary and Delcambre High School for 17 years. (Before then, the Jeanerette native drove students in St. Mary Parish for some 16 years.)
Mary-Anne has had a couple of interesting jobs; early on, she was a dispatcher for the Baldwin Police Department. And for the past 10 years she’s also provided chauffeur services.
“I love people – especially children,” she says of her jobs. Affectionately known by many of the kids on her bus as Miss Frizzle, (from the TV series, The Magic School Bus) Mary-Anne is well liked by students and appreciated by parents. “All the kids on my bus are treated like they are my own children and grandchildren,” she shares.
To unwind from the hustle and bustle on the school bus, Mary-Anne often retreats to woodworking, which she learned from her father when she was 10. Over the years, she’s become accomplished at it, building shelves, repairing pieces; she particularly proud of a corner cabinet made from a piece of an antique mantle. Watching her dad also build grandfather clocks, she learned how to repair most any clock. She points out a small clock in her bus that she made from refurbished parts.
No surprise – coming from someone who drives for a living – that Mary-Anne enjoys the outdoors. “I just love to cut grass and grow flowers and vegetables, and swim in my pool.”
But on the first Saturday of every month, you’ll find her at the Market where she serves hundreds of mimosas, along with other refreshments.
“It’s amazing, the number of new people I’ve met at the market,” she says. “It has grown over the years, bringing in lots of people from outside of Delcambre. There’s always new faces, and I love it when my bus riders come by and say hello.”
Amazingly, in seven years of volunteering, Mary-Anne has missed only two markets, bringing us to think: the world needs more Mary-Anne Moores.
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