In 1995, she was pleased to travel to North Carolina for the purpose of meeting with AKC officials on breed recognition and to deliver APONC's PON Registry for inclusion as one of the original breeds in AKC's newly created "Foundation Stock Registry". Several years later, PONs were accepted into AKC's "Miscellaneous Class" and shortly thereafter, received full AKC breed recognition.

In order to move the club forward after its original formation, Mary has served in various club positions. She has been General Counsel for APONC from inception until recently and has also contributed her talents by serving as Editor of the national club publication "The Herder". Mary maintained the breed registry until acceptance into AKC's Foundation Stock Registry and has chaired numerous committees. Anxious to insure the publication of a definitive text on the breed, Mary as-sisted is writing and co-editing the the first English language book available on the PONS, "The Official Book of the Polish Lowland Sheepdog".

As one of the original PON breeders, Mary has lead the effort to maintain the outstanding health qualities of American PONs by insuring that dogs used for breeding are screened for health problems common in most breeds, although rare in the PONs, such as hip dysplasia and eye disease. She has imported PONs from Poland and the Netherlands in order to increase genetic diversity in the inheritance of PONs bred here in the United States. Mary encourages and supports free exchange of accurate health information in the breed and continues to broaden the Von Marja breeding program with the objective of maintaining the health and best qualities of the PONs.