Margueritte Mills Volunteer of the Month: Connie Raynor

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Connie Raynor Captures The Action

By Maya Pottiger

Stepping onto the field at Chesapeake High School, Connie Raynor was finally able to combine her two passions: sports and photography.

Raynor, who owns Raynor Shine Events, volunteers as the athletics photographer for CHS. Though Raynor still considers herself a photography hobbyist, she gives high priority to capturing the school’s sports teams.

“They know that if I’m truly available, I’ll come and cover it. I will absolutely come and cover it,” Raynor said. “They know I do this on a volunteer basis, so they’re always like, ‘Are you sure?’ I’m like, ‘No, trust me, I love doing this.’”

One time, Raynor juggled two games at once, running between a lacrosse game and baseball game during timeouts and halftime to make sure she got shots of both matches.

Raynor attends an average of three games a week, giving her son’s three teams — soccer, indoor track and lacrosse — the highest priority. Raynor started photographing her son’s teams before he was in high school, but she has now expanded to taking shots of any team that fits into her schedule.

“Not only will it keep me bonded and connected to him and what he loves to do, but it will let me bond with the kids and the parents that I’ll be connecting myself to because of him,” Raynor said.

In fact, Raynor has now built connections with parents and students across a variety of teams. When she is down on the field during games, Raynor is known as the field mom.

“I don’t distract them. I don’t go into conversations with them,” Raynor said. “If they get hurt, I’m the first one to walk over and make sure that they’re OK. I’m sending a message up to the stands because I know if I were sitting up in the stands, I would want to know what’s going on with my son and why he’s with the trainer off to the side being looked at.”

The situation was reversed earlier this year when Raynor was involved in a car accident. While she was at home recovering, she received a barrage of text messages, Facebook messages and emails from the parents and players.

“I got the most profound, heartfelt messages,” Raynor said. “The coolest thing is when the kids come up to me and they hug me and they either say hi to me or they thank me for being there and either doing what I’m doing or they give me flowers.”

Growing up, Raynor was the only woman in her family. Even now, she is the only women in her house. Because she was a runway model and pageant participant, Raynor’s passion for sports always shocked people.

“I would start rolling football stats or baseball stats off to them, and they would be like, ‘OK, she knows her stuff,’” Raynor said. “That’s why, when I photograph sports, I can follow the play because I know what’s coming next. I know what’s going to happen next.”

Raynor’s photographs are used widely around the school: for the website, special events, banners, on a board outside the school and in the yearbook.

“I love having the connection with the kids. I’ve watched them grow up. They’re like my own,” Raynor said. “When I’m on the field and I’m photographing, I stay very focused on what I’m doing because I know I’m there to do a job and to get the best shots for not only myself, but for these kids and their parents for the school.”

READ MORE ABOUT VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH:

Chuck Yocum
Brian Conrad
Chris Mullady

Margueritte Mills Volunteer of the Month

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