The future of Bradenton is being shaped through the work of community activists, elected officials and government employees working to improve the quality of life of residents and visitors to our area.
Susie Walters
Susie Walters is a community activist who has a passion for helping people and organizations.
“I feel I’ve been blessed in many ways,” Walters said, “and it’s something I’ve been called to do to give back to the community.”
She was the founding president of Manatee County Habitat for Humanity, a founding member of the Junior League of Manatee, and served as the chair of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advisory board for six years.
The former school teacher is on the board chair of the Diocese of Venice Catholic Charities and the Community Coalition for the Homeless.
Walters also had a career working as the first training director for Bealls Department Stores Inc. and later as a retail consultant.
Walters attends Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles Catholic Church, where she serves as a hospital eucharistic minister and a catechism teacher, and says it is her religious calling to serve the individual that motivates her.
The Bible instructs followers to feed the poor, give shelter to the homeless, and clothe the naked, said Walters, who has been married to local attorney Cliff Walters for 37 years.
For Walters the work she has done with the Community Coalition for the Homeless in building and opening the One-Stop Center was very rewarding.
“I have seen many success stories during my volunteering,” she said. “Especially the One-Stop Center because it addresses the whole person.”
One of the more recent projects for which Walters has volunteered her time was the Realize Bradenton project as the steering committee co-chair.
Realize Bradenton was a process of engaging the residents and community leaders in developing a plan to revitalize and encourage the art, cultural and heritage resources of downtown.
Since the final plan was presented to the City Council in March, several of the recommendations have been implemented.
Wayne Poston
After spending nearly 30 years at the Bradenton Herald, most of it as vice-president and executive editor, Ohio-born and raised Wayne Poston became an integral part of the community.
Poston retired from the newspaper business in 1999 and a year later he was sitting in the mayor’s office at Bradenton City Hall.
“When I retired I knew I’d have a new life,” he said, “but I never thought it would be as mayor.”
As an executive editor with the Herald, Poston served on several community and civic organization boards.
He has worked with the Gulf Coast Marine Institute, the Manatee County YMCA, the DeSoto Boys Club, and the Manatee Chapter of American Cancer Society, to name a few.
Since 1974, Poston has been an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton, one of the leading local institutions responsible for much of the community’s progress.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@