Citizen of the Year’s Unique Journey: SHPOA’s 2025 Honoree a Year-Round Renter Who Has Made Her Mark
Marilyn Hahle
Marilyn Hahle savors a mutual 7 Mile love affair.
The Riverton native, who made Stone Harbor her home 54 years ago, has gained a high-profile recognition of gratitude.
Hahle is the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association 2025 Citizen of the Year. The SHPOA, which often honors local pioneers and captains of industry, occasionally awards a decorated nonmember.
The recognition fits Hahle, whose Stone Harbor tenure runs the service gamut. From teacher to entrepreneur, beautification advocate to, most recently, president of the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce, she’s become a revered figure throughout the borough.
Hahle’s imprint graces significant events each year. In 2025, that included a farmers’ market, a triathlon, special business getaways, and the upcoming Island Holiday Weekend in late November.
The Thanksgiving Weekend program will feature a Paw Prints Pet Parade, tree lighting, songs, hospitality night, and the annual Christmas parade.
These events don’t just happen. They demand hours of planning, organization, and implementation.
It’s hard to become more immersed in any community than Hahle has.
Here’s an overview of her credentials:
Taught in the Middle Township School District.
Contributed to the launch of Stone Harbor’s ambulance squad in the mid-1970s.
Owned a popular store named Rattles To Ribbons for about 20 years.
Serves as first vice president of the Garden Club of Stone Harbor, which has helped keep the town beautiful since 1978, with projects supported by fundraising efforts and hands-on help. They include the urns and baskets in the business district. The urns are filled with wreaths and lights during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Served on the local Shade Tree Committee.
Last spring, she became president of the Chamber of Commerce. This group plans several yearly events and is the networking lifeline for the Stone Harbor business world.
Hahle’s journey is unique. Renting year-round for more than five decades – rather than buying in a nearby town and commuting here or buying in Stone Harbor as a seasonal resident – gave Hahle the chance to wake up every day at the shore.
“This is such a wonderful place to be,” she says, “and the longer you are here, you meet people and they become your community. I have made a lot of friends in Stone Harbor over the years and have been able to live by the ocean, which I always wanted to do.”
The earlier phase of Hahle’s journey involved teaching children about school topics and herself about business. Financial success came gradually, one decision at a time.
“You look at the businesses in the area and looked at what they did to make it run,” she indicates. “There was a lot to learn about what worked and what did not. You take the good points and expand on them.
“I was a good buyer, too. I knew what to buy, knew what the customers wanted. They were loyal, they came back every year.”
The next era kicked in during the new millennium, after she’d sold the store and stopped teaching.
Hahle became a pillar of the community. And then a leader. She helped Stone Harbor expand its economic footprint.
“There have been some major changes here over that time,” she recalls. “When I first came here, businesses closed the day after Labor Day, even those that were thriving, and they did not open until the next summer. Now we have an extended shoulder season, it is lovely.
“The business district is growing well. The shoulder season is really expanding. Every weekend, it seems that there is something to do.”
Hahle believes Stone Harbor needs to encourage new visitors to appreciate its past and launch its future. Everyone needs to commit, wherever they are, she maintains.
“We do what we can to support the business community,” she says of the Chamber of Commerce. “We are busy with that almost every day.”
So busy, in fact, that Hahle hardly considered winning an award of this magnitude. It’s been captured by industry kingpins like Clinton Bunting, who energized 96th Street by rolling out Harbor Square Theatre. It’s been garnered by John Sprandio and Ed Breen, who founded The Reeds at Shelter Haven.
Now it belongs to someone who has reached out to serve one local resident or one visitor at a time. For a long time. While her financial success has been notable, Hahle is being honored for her heart and soul.
She was nominated by SHPOA member Judy Hammerschmidt, who has known Hahle for about 40 years and appreciates the scope of Hahle’s generosity. That includes Hahle watching Hammerschmidt’s house when she returns to North Carolina in the winter.
“When she found out about this award, Marilyn asked me, ‘What did you DO?’,” Hammerschmidt laughs. “But this is very easy for me. You ask yourself about the unsung heroes of this town. Who are the people year in and year out who make things better in their own quiet way for all of us, while not looking for credit? Who does all these great things in our town?
“We are so busy being annoyed with each other and saying what people are doing wrong, but we should be looking at the people who keep this town going,” Hammerschmidt adds. “We should honor people who do so many things right.
“Think about everything she has done. She has taught and run a business. She’s made many contributions by way of the Chamber of Commerce. With the Garden Club, she makes sure that all these plants are planted and that the island is beautifully maintained. Marilyn is everywhere.”
Bill Cathcart, who has lived next door to Hahle for nearly 20 years, observes a similar image.
“She is a very nice woman,” he says. “Marilyn has been in town a long time and you can’t help seeing her in Stone Harbor. She has been so active in helping the town and she is a great neighbor. Marilyn comes over for a glass of wine now and then. She is close with my wife, Kate.”
With the SHPOA distinction, Hahle’s journey comes full circle.
In 54 years, Hahle has never sought any awards.
That made it sweeter when one came looking for her.
