Stormy Taylor wears many hats; elected official, director, board member, committee member, dance mom, jokester, and all-around great person, friend, and community member.
Stormy is currently the Johnson County Recorder of Deeds and for many years before taking office, she was the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County. Stormy and her family settled in Warrensburg after graduating from the University of Central Missouri in the early 90s and truly has made Warrensburg their home. Stormy can be found planning a fundraiser, grabbing a treat from Old Barney’s, or supporting her daughter at a dance competition. She has grown into a Warrensburg townie and her heart for the community shines through.
Stormy was first introduced to Warrensburg Main Street in her days as the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters and quickly became an advocate for the organization. Stormy and Big Brothers Big Sisters became our key community partners when working alongside Main Street to bring back our local fall festival, Burg Fest in 2013. Stormy and her staff worked with Main Street staff and board from 2013 to 2018 to plan, manage, promote, and grow this community-wide festival.
In 2018 Stormy was elected as the Johnson County Recorder of Deeds. Since then Stormy has kicked her support into high gears for Main Street and all things downtown. Stormy has been instrumental in driving support from the various elected officials within the downtown courthouse. Since getting into office she has encouraged the courthouse employees and elected officials to participate in a variety of Main Street activities. She was recognized in 2021 as our community partner of the year for her initiatives in various window decorations competitions over the course of the year at the courthouse including a Christmas Office competition where each office was decorated from floor to ceiling. She was the key contact and participant in our Wedding Walk where she volunteered her time to educate newlyweds on marriage licenses and registering to vote. She helped elevate Main Street’s refreshed Halloween event, the Downtown Spooktacular, by building a haunted house inside the bottom of the courthouse and volunteering with other staff to run it. Stormy has helped create a stronger connection between the county officials and our organization, which only continues to strengthen and show through communication and financial support.
When Stormy isn’t volunteering at events and improving morale in the courthouse, she also finds time to sit on some of our subcommittees. She has been a part of our art committee since its inception in 2019. Stormy is an advocate to bring positive change through art to Downtown. When visiting other communities, she often shares her ideas, visions, and long-term wishlist of what she would love to see Downtown Warrensburg evolve into. She is consistently looking for ways to add art to our community and brings fresh ideas and opinions to each meeting. Stormy also plays a major role on our Burg Fest committee. After a short hiatus, she rejoined the committee in 2019 and has been instrumental in the planning process each year. Stormy volunteers her time during the festival to ensure that the logistics are running smoothly and in 2022 organized the Chalk Walk Competition. Stormy proudly supports our organization and encourages the community to support us as well. Stormy is always willing to help, give advice or promote our organization and downtown. If you happen to be at the Farmers’ Market, Art Walk or any other Main Street event, you will likely see Stormy there cheering on the success of Warrensburg Main Street.
We are lucky to have Stormy as a strong advocate and supporter of our organization, but her support for the community does not stop there. Stormy is also heavily involved in a variety of organizations within our community. She serves on the RISE board which is a nonprofit organization that provides community, employment, residential and vocational services for disabled adults within Johnson County. She is the driving force and board member for CLIMB.CLIMB stands for Community Leadership Involvement Means a Better Community. CLIMB is a 16-week adult leadership program that Stormy organizes and implements each year along with a similar program geared towards high school juniors each spring. Stormy also donates her time organizing for the Children’s Memorial Garden’s annual Purse Palozza fundraiser each year which helps raise funds for families who have lost children. When she is not helping another non-profit organization, she is helping fundraise for Center Stage Academy of performing art or attending a community fundraiser to show her support.
Stormy is a dedicated Warrensburg community member who gives back in a variety of ways. Warrensburg Main Street is so fortunate to have someone like her on our side cheering us on, volunteering, giving feedback, supporting, and making our organization and community a better place. For all of these reasons, Stormy Taylor is our nominee for the Outstanding Public Official.