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When Sherry Heydt has time on her hands, she’s going to find something to do, and usually it involves helping a fellow community member.

Heydt has lived in the Hayfield area for most of her adult life and she has embraced giving back, while giving it her all.

Some in the community may know Heydt from her time at the Oaks Country Club golf course, where she won her 26th club championship this past summer, and others know her as a farmer who still isn’t afraid to help out in the field. But Heydt’s biggest impact on Hayfield is the time and funds she has put into making the community a better place to live.

Heydt is extremely humble about her volunteering, but those in Hayfield have seen her and her husband Phil donating at local auctions like the cancer telethon and the 203 Foundation. She has done plenty to help, but Heydt claims she is simply following suit with the rest of the town.

“The community and the school of Hayfield is all giving,” Heydt said. “We have a volunteer fire department and volunteer ambulance. They give back 100 percent and I just feel like if I can do a little bit to make somebody else’s day a little bit easier or make somebody happy, that’s all I care about it. I like to do it so nobody knows what I’m doing.”

Heydt volunteers at the Oaks Country Club, where she has taken care of watering, weeding and planting plants. She also hauls and places field rocks by hand at the creek at the golf course and she also chips in by gardening at the Field Crest Care Center. She is also active in New Beginnings in Christ church, which donates money, clothes and supplies to those in need.

Oaks Country Club is still one of Heydt’s favorite places to spend time, especially if she can lend a hand.

“I still golf and I love it. I volunteer out there and I do all of the flowers,” Heydt said. “That’s my passion. If I can work with flowers, I’m happy. I spruce up what I can, when I can. I like to do things with my hands, and I like to make people happier for the day.”

Heydt has served as an ideal role model for her son Brad, who is still lucky enough to get her help in the field.

“She is very helpful with fieldwork and looks forward to it every Spring and Fall. I think her favorite job is running the combine. She runs it all day long until the night crew arrives,” Brad said. “My mom’s best traits are that she is dedicated, loyal, hard-working, respected, giving, fun and happy.”

Heydt grew up in Lime Springs, Iow, and she moved into the Hayfield area when she married her  husband Phil. The couple raised their two sons on the farm and while she lives in town now, Heydt still loves to get out on the field on a tractor or in a garden.

“When we raised our kids out on the farm, we always knew where they were and they had stuff to do every day,” Heydt said. “It was fresh air, being outside and enjoying nature. Farming is big in the Hayfield community.”

While much of her volunteering is done in the summer under the hot sun, Heydt never complains and she never brags. She is just doing what comes naturally.

“Hayfield is a helping community,” Heydt said. “If you need something, there is always someone there to help. All you have to do is ask.”

Sherry and her husband Phil were named Hayfield citizens of the year in 2018.