If there’s one person who Brian Noble wants to notice his involvement, leadership and contributions to his community, it’s his daughter.
Noble, who just finished his term as the 2021 president of the Upper Arlington Civic Association, is motivated to serve for the sake of bettering his community and for the influence he hopes to have on his daughter, Claira, 7, and the generation that follows.
“If I can find a way to use my talents, my knowledge, thoughts, etc., to help the community, I want to do that and try to make it better for everybody, try to be a good influence,” Noble says. “It’s personally what drives me to help others, but it’s also I want my daughter to grow up in a world and see that example where my wife and I are helping others in several different ways – there’s so many ways to get involved.”
Noble, who is a vice president and enterprise program manager at Huntington National Bank, took on his role as president of the UACA in the challenging and uncertain year of 2021 following a year as vice president in the similarly tumultuous year prior.
“Coming out of a COVID year, last year was so different for everyone and no one really knew how to navigate that year,” he says. “We were really proud that we as an organization didn’t just give up because an event was canceled due to COVID. We found a new way each time to try to help the community.”
Kate McLean, a member of the UACA board of directors, says despite the challenging year, Noble has been a great leader.
“He has had to pivot so much the past two years with COVID and the pandemic and how can we tweak our events but still keep them touching as many of those in the community that we can touch?” McLean says. “He has just been so supportive at every event, always willing and reaching out, like, ‘How can I help? How can we make this better?’ (He) just has really been there through every step of the process for all the events that we’ve done this year.”
Before becoming president, Noble served as a UACA director. After volunteering to serve, UACA directors are assigned to two-year terms focusing on a specific event.
In Noble’s term as a UACA director, he was assigned the association’s Golden Apple event, which honors exceptional UA school personnel through nominations from community members.
“He’s a true born leader,” says Chrys Beebe, another UACA director who worked with Noble in his first year with the organization. “He is just a very kind human being.”
Beebe, who was leading the Golden Apple event at the time, says Noble was easy to work with and she predicted early on that he would become president of the organization.
“If you don’t know him, you need to know him,” she says. “He has done so much for this organization and this community. He tries nothing but to bring people together, and not everyone agrees with everyone in these times, but he has a way of bringing everyone together.”
After serving as a director, volunteers can choose to enter into a pool to be selected for an officer role, another year-long term. The president serves a two-year term, the first of which they serve as vice president.
“He’s definitely passionate about the community; he’s passionate about the influence he can make and the organization can make on the community,” says Erin Derryberry, the 2021 UACA secretary. “It’s motivating to see that in a leader, to see how passionate they are and that they’re excited about it.”
But Noble’s volunteer work doesn’t begin or end with the UACA. He also contributes his time, knowledge and experience to the ASC Match Mentor program at The Ohio State University among other organizations.
An OSU alumnus, he enjoys the one-on-one mentorship program because it allows him to form closer relationships with mentees and gives him the opportunity to deepen his connection to the OSU community.
“Living so close to Ohio State, all of these things I learned post-graduation and in my professional life, I felt, ‘Hey how can I help share this experience and knowledge that I’ve learned post-graduation?’” Noble says.
For the past decade, he and his wife, Jessica, have also participated in Pelotonia, the bike ride and fundraiser to end cancer.
Alongside all that, Noble finds time to volunteer at the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, participate in the Autism Speaks Walk and tutor at Northtowne Elementary School.
After his term as president, Noble will join a board of trustees for five years that acts as an advisory group for UACA. And though his term as president will soon come to an end, UACA patrons and volunteers shouldn’t expect to see any less of Noble.
“I’ll be just like a lot of those folks and I’ll be back at events helping,” he says.
In fact, Noble’s commitment to serving the community isn’t just continuing but expanding. He’s already taken on a new role as an advisory board member for Upper Arlington Parks and Recreation.
“I think I’m the epitome of a village,” Noble says. “In addition to being curious and really wanting to learn, I’ve been also the type of person who, if given enough time and given the information, I’ve thought I can do most things or I can do a lot of things if I had a chance to learn it, to really apply myself to it. … I’m still curious to this day.”
Last year, UA Stage, a UACA event offering a performance of Upper Arlington High School’s musical specifically for older adults, was severely modified due to pandemic protocols. The show still went on with a virtual performance and goody bag deliveries.
This year, UA Stage is back in person on Feb. 22 and will take place at the new high school.
The vocal department will present its dress rehearsal of 42nd Street to the older adults of Upper Arlington after they are treated to a lasagna and salad dinner served by UACA directors.
“This year, not only are we so excited to be able to put this event on in person, it’ll also be the first time that many of the seniors and myself, from a planning perspective, we’re using the new Upper Arlington high school,” says Kate McLean, second-year director for UA Stage. “That’ll be a new, fun and different aspect of the event this year.”
Registration for UA Stage is expected to begin at the end of January. To register visit parks.uaoh.net or call 614-583-5320. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. followed by 42nd Street at 6 p.m.
The musical will run Feb. 24-27 for the general public.
Claire Miller is the assistant editor. Feedback welcome at cmiller@cityscenemediagroup.com.
