Longtime Lampasas resident Wanda Meyers, left, helps Gene Tyson serve lunch to a group of Protestant Women of the Chapel at Tyson’s Corners Retreat Center. Mrs. Meyers, the 2010 Spring Ho Grand Parade marshal, spends much of her time volunteering in her community. PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Is 80 the new 50?

It might be if you are Wanda Meyers.

With a packed schedule of volunteer events most days of the week -- and on some days, more than one -- as she nears her eighth decade of life, Mrs. Meyers has the energy and enthusiasm of someone nearly half her age.

And she has chosen to spend her retirement years serving others, which leaves her about as far away from retiring as one can get.

Mrs. Meyers was chosen the 2010 Spring Ho Grand Parade marshal, and as such, she will take part in numerous events and be in the spotlight during the upcoming festival week.

“When Marci Tomme (festival committee chairman) called me to tell me they chose me as marshal this year, I was shocked,” Mrs. Meyers said. “I almost dropped the phone.

“When she identified herself as a member of the Spring Ho Committee, I first thought she was calling to ask me to volunteer. I couldn’t believe they wanted me to be the parade marshal,” she said.

“I don’t feel like I deserve it. I do feel honored, but there are so many more people out there who deserve this more than me. What I do, I do from the heart and for no other reason.”

Volunteerism takes the lion’s share of her time, and Mrs. Meyers rarely has a week with a clear schedule -- and she likes it that way.

But she stresses that she is not alone in her community efforts. “I couldn’t do any of what I do without the wonderful people who work with me,” she said. “This is not a one-person effort. There are so many people who help so much in our community, and they also work to make it a better place to live. I am just one of them.”

Mrs. Meyers volunteers several days a week at Tyson’s Corners Retreat Center, where she and others serve lunch to Fort Hood soldiers and their wives. Many of those soldiers have either recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan or are headed overseas.

Tyson, a retired pastor, offers counseling and a listening ear to military members.

Mrs. Meyers arrives ahead of the guests, assists in setting up for the visit, serves lunch and helps with cleanup.

She also organizes bingo programs at local nursing homes three Mondays each month -- a project that has been near to her heart for several decades.

AMVETS sponsors the event, but Mrs. Meyers is clearly in charge. She rounds up prize money donated by veterans’ organizations for game winners, and she and other volunteers help check bingo cards for players who may have difficulty on their own.

It’s not out of the ordinary for Mrs. Meyers to assist residents who are much younger than she.

At times, there is a shortage of volunteers, but Mrs. Meyers makes sure none of the residents’ needs are overlooked.

She also -- for about 30 years -- has worked with local Life Skills programs to provide parties for the students. Mrs. Meyers sets up for the events, buys gifts for the kids and cleans up afterward, along with a regular group of volunteers.

Then there are the blood drives. Held regularly at AMVETS Post 80, Mrs. Meyers has worked with the American Red Cross for almost 30 years.

Not only does she greet donors at the door, but she telephones regular donors on the morning of the drives, assists them with required paperwork at their arrival, and handles pre- and post-event publicity.

In addition, Mrs. Meyers spends a good portion of the weekend prior to the blood drives baking cookies and other sweets for donors to enjoy after they give blood. “Everyone likes homemade goodies, and that’s the least we can do for them when they are giving so much,” she said.

“They are the real heroes,” Mrs. Meyers continued. “There are some who have given many gallons of blood, and I know we can count on them to be here each drive.”

In addition to serving soldiers, planning bingo at nursing homes, arranging Life Skills parties and organizing Red Cross blood drives, in her spare time Mrs. Meyers enjoys dancing. And her many ribbons, trophies and medals prove she is fleet of foot.

She and her son, Wylie, have made many a date to attend AMVETS dances together where they operate like a well-oiled machine.

“We have danced together for so many years, and we just have so much fun,” she said, noting they are getting ready for the annual Spring Ho Dance Contest set at AMVETS during the festival.

The pair have taken numerous awards for their hoofing, but they do it just for the pure fun of it, Mrs. Meyers said. She and her son participate in two-step, fast dance and jitterbug. “When Wylie was little, we always danced together, and we’ve been dancing together all of his life.”

Mrs. Meyers also enjoys cooking for numerous family members -- blood relatives and “chosen kin” -- and friends who drop by. She usually keeps a ham or roast in the freezer, and can have a full menu planned and executed in time for lunch or supper. A loaf or two of Hawaiian pineapple nut bread or a layer cake often is on hand, too. “My kids say there is no cooking like Mama’s cooking, but I bet all kids say that.”

Being a single woman in the 1960s was difficult for many women, as men traditionally were the breadwinners, but rearing three boys alone made it three times as tough, she said.

Mrs. Meyers, a Huntington (East Texas) native, was living in Oakalla, and her boys -- Donald, Carl Wesley and Wylie Guthrie -- attended the two-room schoolhouse there. Wanting more for her kids, she moved to Lampasas in 1956, so they could enroll in Lampasas schools. Each graduated from Lampasas High School.

Mrs. Meyers attended Jackson Business College in the early 1960s so she could provide better for her children, she said.

She studied college math and English, typing, shorthand and filing. After graduation, Mrs. Meyers was offered a secretarial job with the Robert Guyler Co., where she worked for Lance Walker, William Crawford, Rex Johnson and Alton Berry.

She married Claud Meyers in 1965, and they were together until his death in 2006. Both played important roles in the early days of the AMVETS Post, along with a dedicated group of organizational backers.

Mrs. Meyers’ oldest son, Donald, and his job superintendent, Leroy Sampson, were electrocuted in 1968 in a construction accident while building Sheppard Hospital in Burnet. Donald was 22 years old.

“If I hadn’t had the love of my husband, my two sons and my jobs, I would not have made it through that,” she said. “I probably would have ended up in Austin [at a state mental hospital].”

When the Guyler company dissolved, Mrs. Meyers went to work for Walker and Walker Enterprises [Lance Walker and John Walker] in the 1980s.

At the same time, she also worked for Bend Landscaping and the Wilkinson Brothers [Red and James].

When Walker and Walker closed its doors, Mrs. Meyers then went to work for the Lansford Co. and Bend Landscaping, retiring in 1992 after 30 years as a secretary.

“In all my years of work, I had the most wonderful bosses any employee could ever have,” she said. “They were loving, family men, and they cared about their employees.”

Though she did some volunteer work at local nursing homes during her lunch hour while holding down her secretarial jobs, Mrs. Meyers didn’t begin volunteering in earnest until her retirement. And there has been no stopping her since.

She enjoys participating in Spring Ho events, but over the years Mrs. Meyers has been unable to attend the parade because she and other volunteers serve lunch after the parade to soldiers and dignitaries who participate in the festival events.

But following this year’s Spring Ho parade, Mrs. Meyers will be served instead of being the server. That may prove difficult for her, she said.

“I may be old, and sometimes I get tired, but it makes me feel good to know I have helped just a little bit. That’s my reward.

“I like doing for others,” Mrs. Meyers said. “That’s how I was raised. That’s what my momma and daddy taught me to do. And I will continue to do so until I’m not able. And I hope I will be for many years to come.”

And those who are lucky enough to reap the rewards from Mrs. Meyers’ devotion to her community are counting on that.