When you write about someone who just happens to be alive and well, the standard mode of operation is to talk to that person. After all, it does give a little bit of insight into the person in question.

 

If the person you are tying to talk to is Lisa Lang and the conversation is going to be on how much good she does for the community, you have a better chance of getting to talk to someone in the oval office. For as long as I have had the pleasure of knowing her and trying to compliment her on all of the good deeds that she does, she bristles and wants nothing to do with the conversation.

 

So, I did what anyone wanting to write about a certain individual would do. I talked to others about them. After all, when you are named by the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce as its 2022 Citizen of the Year, you need to be talked about.

 

Let me assure you, it needs talked about. Lisa Lang could win the award every single year.

 

For those believing this community leader in Bridgeport and beyond is new to the giving and volunteering game since her husband Andy was elected as the Mayor of Bridgeport, you would be mistaken. Lisa Lang has been doing good in the community for as long as I have known her.

 

My first time I saw her actively involved, and it was behind the scenes, was in the mid-2000s. Lisa and Andy Lang were quietly in the backgrounds at the opening day events for Challenger League.

 

I did not think too much about it until years later when talking to Challenger League Founder Mike Martin. Martin, initially swore me to secrecy, but he told me the Lang family had been helping make sure the league was funded each year and would like to find a way to get them some publicity that they wanted no part of. Eventually, word got out – and Martin was the culprit.

 

“They do not want any publicity,” said Martin. “They told us not to tell anyone, but I’ve crossed that line many times. I can assure you Lisa Lang is more than worthy, just in what she does for us, to have received the honor. The thing is, I know she does a whole lot of additional good above the good she does for these children in Challenger.”

 

Andy said Lisa was the one who broached getting heavily involved with Challenger League. The mayor said he remembers his wife approaching him with an obituary of a young child that passed away nearly two decades ago.

 

“The obituary was about this long,” said Lang holding up about a foot between his fingers. “Half of it was on this young child’s love for that league and what it meant to him. After that, she was all in.”

 

Martin said that is no stretch. In fact, he said the old Lang business – Blue DOT Energy Services – was the first sponsored team in the league – the Blue Dot Blue Jays. Then, the real involvement came after reading the obituary a few years after the league began that Andy mentioned above.

 

“They asked us what we needed, and we haven’t needed anything since,” said Martin about the Lang’s approaching him in what he believes may have been the third year of the league. “We couldn’t do what we do for those children without them. What makes it more special to me is knowing she is doing even more elsewhere.”

 

Indeed, she is doing other things. She is actively involved with the League for Service, she has served on the boards of Alderson Broaddus and Pierpont Community & Technical College, is involved heavily with the Associated Businesses of Bridgeport, and is active to a high level with Medbrook Children’s Charity. In her spare time, she’s a devoted mother, wife, and a business owner along with being – in a term she rolls her eyes every time I call her it – the First Lady of Bridgeport.

 

Andy Lang, who had the real task of not only keeping the entire award under wraps but also getting her to attend the Chamber event Monday, had two other tasks. One was to bring their daughters Miranda Lang and Adison Ammons in from different out-of-state locations and keep them hidden until such time as the announcement.

 

The other task was to get her to go to the event.

 

“She joked and said she was going to go eat Mexican, which she usually does on Mondays when we have Council meetings,” said Andy. “For a second I thought she was serious.”

 

Of course, Andy has known his wife long enough to know that he could potentially get an earful later. He said, so far, all has gone well with the exception of his wife taking advantage of putting him down in the dunk tank at a United Way fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday.

 

“It was all worth it, especially the look on her face when she got the award,” said Andy. “I was proud of her because she is always giving and doing things I don’t even know about it.

 

“The really nice thing is she does what she does because she enjoys helping others,” he continued. “The other thing is we’re blessed, and she knows she can help people, and she does.”

 

Indeed, she does. She has done it for decades. Perhaps the award could be named after her, or perhaps after both Andy and Lisa.

 

Congratulations to my friend and the First Lady of Bridgeport on a well-deserved honor. No need to get on me about this blog, I already know there has been an eye roll.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is a portrait shot of Lisa Lang, while she is shown having fun with daughters Miranda, left, and Adison, while she's shown with Joe Shuttleworth accepting a check from Medbrook Children's Charity for the city's future all-inclusive playground. In the fourth photo, Lang is shows with Harrison County Commissioner Patsy Trecost, left, and Clarksburg Council member Wayn Worth at a United Way fundraising event. Bottom photo shows Lisa Lang's reaction as she hears her name called as Citizen of the Year. Top photos provided by family, while fourth photo courtesy of Wayne Worth and bottom photo courtesy of Jan Hinkle.