WHEN YOU’RE THE youngest of six children, you never outgrow your childhood nickname.
But when Conrad Oien, 55, of Port Townsend was named Elk of the Year by the Port Townsend Elks Lodge last Saturday, he still didn’t expect his brother Ron and sister Lois to stand up and lead family members in chanting, “Go, Bitty Buddy!”
“That was something they called me from a long time ago,” Conrad said.
Ron Oien and wife Sonya Oien, who live in Brinnon, and Lois Horn of Seattle were among family and friends who came to see Conrad honored for his contributions to the Elks and the community.
The award night included dinner, wine, speeches, gifts and, of course, a few “Bitty Buddy” stories, including this one from Ron about an incident at Badger Lake.
Breaking the ice
Second-oldest of the Oien sons, Ron is 15 years older than Conrad and used to carry his little brother around on his shoulders.
The family lived in Spokane and owned recreational property on Badger Lake.
One winter when Conrad was 3, the family packed up and went out to the lake to go sledding and ice-skating.
Deciding to walk down to the lake to see if the ice was thick enough for skating, Ron lifted Conrad, who was zipped into a red snowsuit and wearing little white ice skates, onto his shoulders.
When they got to the lake, Ron stepped out onto the ice.
“I took two steps and broke through,” he said. “We both went underwater.”
They weren’t in deep, however, so Ron managed to get them both to dry land. With Conrad on his shoulders, he trudged up the slope to the family’s trailer, a distance of about a quarter-mile.
Every few steps, Conrad would say, “Ron, I’m tode,” and Ron would reply, “I’m cold, too.”
When they got to the trailer, Ron lowered Conrad to the ground, where he stood frozen, his arms sticking out in front of him.
“We took him inside and thawed him out,” Ron said.
Conrad survived childhood, attended Spokane’s Rogers High School, where he played in the marching band, and graduated in 1975. After attending technical school, he drove a truck for a wine and beer distributor in the Seattle area and after eight years was promoted to sales.
Wine event took off
The Port Townsend Elks Lodge started holding a wine-tasting and auction to raise money for scholarships 15 years ago, lodge ruler Ken Brink said. But it wasn’t until Conrad Oien, with his contacts in the industry, got involved two years later that the event really took off.
“In those 13 years, we’ve given out $71,700 in local scholarships,” Brink said. “Another $50,400 has come back to our students from the state [Elks].
“To show how important the wine-tasting is, before it started, we gave $250 a year in scholarships.
“This year, we’re giving $11,000.”
Brink said Oien brought in 25 wineries, all of which donated wine and gifts for the auction, which has grown into one of the most popular events the lodge holds.
Gifts to Oien on Saturday included a case of “two-buck chuck” wine and a check from the lodge, which he intends to use for one of his hobbies, photography, fishing or golf.
“Eating and drinking are my hobby,” Oien said.
Oien credited Brink’s constant badgering as the reason he joined the Elks Lodge nine years ago.
Brink also recruited him for Kiwanis International, Oien said, which he joined in July 2005 — and by 2006 was president.
Through Kiwanis, Oien helped raise more than $15,000 for a surgical implant program in Africa, Brink said, and helped build a wing of a hospital in Tanzania, which Oien visited last summer.
He also expanded the Christmas gift program for foster children, which serves 200 people, to cover students’ fees when school starts.
To raise money, Oien organized bar stool bingo, Brink said, and a winemakers’ dinner that raised thousands of dollars for the foster kids and also benefited the Edensaw Cancer Fund.
Oien said that being in the Elks and Kiwanis provides a way for him to give back to the community and be part of working for the greater good, something that living in a big city might not have given him the opportunity to do.
He is the 50th member of BPOE Lodge 317 to be named Elk of the Year, said program emcee Mel Mefford.
Mefford, who was Elk of the Year in 1977, listed the previous award recipients starting in 1962.
Mefford said the Port Townsend lodge is one of a few in the country to have a dinner for the honoree instead of simply handing out a plaque during a meeting.
Mefford also noted that only 16 recipients of the lodge’s Elk of the Year are still living.
“When you look at the odds, the odds aren’t too good,” he joked.
Flowers to recipients
Linda Hinds presented flowers to the former recipients and spouses who were present, including John Buehler, Rich Stapf, Sylvia Adams, Loren Krieger, Ken and Helen Brink, Al and Kathie Ryan, and Leonard and Billie Fullerton.
Mefford also gave a plaque honoring the lodge’s volunteers to Ken Brink, who accepted it on their behalf, and honored Greg Jacobsen, a 28-year member, for his years of service.
Also recognized was Oien’s wife, Karen, aka the “Vanna White of the Elks’ wine-tasting” because she’s so good at holding up the bottles to be auctioned.
Other family members at Saturday’s dinner were: daughter Bonnie L’Heureux and her husband, Michael L’Heureux, of Port Hadlock; Karen’s mother, Jan Gronseth of Port Townsend; and Karen’s brother, Tim Gronseth.
Jim Franklin, who has been an Elk for more than 60 years, said he has known Conrad Oien for six years and had never met anyone as motivated and dedicated to the causes he took on.
Franklin also noted Oien is a people person: Invited to the Oiens’ house for a barbecue, he arrived to find it wasn’t just a few couples but the annual block party that the Oiens and their neighbors on Thomas Street throw.
Franklin quoted Oien, who once wrote that he believed the purpose of life is to be a growing and contributing human being.
As the youngest member of the family, his brother was spoiled rotten, Ron said, but grew up to be a fine person everyone is proud of.
Although to him, the guest of honor will always be the little brother he carried around on his shoulders.
“He was everybody’s Bitty Buddy,” Ron said. “Everyone loved him.”
This year’s wine-tasting and auction for scholarships is Saturday, May 5, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St. in the Glen Cove area off state Highway 20 on the outskirts of Port Townsend. The cost is $15. The public is welcome to attend.
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Jennifer Jackson writes about Port Townsend and Jefferson County every Wednesday. To contact her with items for this column, phone 360-379-5688 or email jjackson@olypen.com.
