McCarty has served in diverse roles
Former police chief now fills roles
in school district,
City Council
Staff writer
Byron McCarty, or "Barney," as he's known around this area, has served the Hillsboro community well. From police chief and maitre d' to USD 410 para-educator and Hillsboro city councilman, McCarty has appeared to have done it all.
Born in Marion, he attended the Marion schools and graduated from Marion High School in 1965.
He joined the Navy and served in the "Sea Bees" for three years, including a two-year term in Vietnam.
After returning home from his tour of duty, McCarty joined the National Guard. He served in the guard for approximately 10 years. During that time he worked various odd jobs.
In October 1974, he became a Hillsboro police patrolman.
"At that time we had two patrolmen and one chief," McCarty said. "Art Miles was the police chief. I had known him for many years, and he was a good guy."
McCarty said he enjoyed being a patrolman. But in 1982, he became the police chief of Hillsboro and served in that position until 2000.
"Because I was retiring, city officials hired Dan Kinning as police chief and had me train him," McCarty said. "For a couple of months, they allowed me to go back to doing what I love — being a patrolman — before I officially retired."
After retiring from the police department, McCarty said he wanted to do something.
"I started working at Olde Towne because they needed help, and I needed something to do," he said."Besides, I enjoy people."
As maitre 'd, or host, McCarty's duties include greeting and seating customers, helping the waiters and waitresses when needed, and taking the payment for meals from the customers.
"I am impressed with the high school kids who work there," McCarty said. "They are some very good workers."
In September of 2000, McCarty began working as a para-educator in the USD 410 school system through the Marion County Special Education Cooperative. McCarty assists in the Practical Arts Evaluation Systems or PAES class taught by Norman Winter.
According to Winter and McCarty, the class is comprised of students in all five districts that the cooperative serves. This year Winter and McCarty have students from Centre, Peabody, Marion and Hillsboro.
McCarty said there are about 16 students in the class. His student to teacher ratio ranges from six to one and one-on-one.
He helps the students with various skills in home economics, business, manipulatives, and industrial arts. The students learn to hammer nails, paint, make wood and metal projects, cook, wash, file, prepare for job interviews, and more.
"I've learned stuff that I didn't know working with Mr. Winter," McCarty said. "I really enjoy it here."
The group builds sheds for the community to purchase every year. There is usually a waiting list of people wanting to purchase them.
One of the most rewarding experiences at the high school for McCarty came when one of his students had problems with measurements. McCarty helped him, and the student came back excited because he had bought himself a ruler so he could measure things.
"The student wanted to learn, and he wanted to measure," McCarty said. "I felt like I had accomplished something — that's a good feeling."
Another job McCarty does for the school system is work as a school bus monitor.
"I ride the bus to Lehigh and back," he said. "I love that. The little ones always want me to sit by them. I like kids, and this school district has a great bunch of kids," he said.
In April of 2002, McCarty ran for and won a seat on the Hillsboro City Council.
"I ran mainly because I had worked for the city, and I wanted to see some things done," he said. "I felt that I could give the council a way of looking at things a little differently."
McCarty hopes to see some of the items on his agenda come to fruition before he goes off city council. Some of those items include a walking path, a new swimming pool, and clearing the drainage ditch of weeds on Ash Street, just to name a few.
"I've changed my mind on some issues than I had in the past," McCarty said. "You're not always right — it's a learning process."
When asked what job he liked or likes the most, McCarty said, "They all have their benefits; it's hard to choose one."
With his busy schedule, McCarty still manages to have a few hobbies. He enjoys computer software work, paintball, and collecting old records. He especially likes to collect the 1960s rock and roll records and is now collecting old country records.
"I like to eat, so I'm the pie tester at the restaurant," he said, laughing.
McCarty has been a member of the American Legion since 1967. He has been a member of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church since 1988.
His wife Wendy works as the human resource manager at Hillsboro Community Medical Center and as an EMT.
The couple has two children. Megan, 13, is an eighth grader at the middle school and Mason, 10, is a fifth-grader at the elementary school.
