PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce has announced its finalists for its 2018 Citizen of the Year and five other awards.
Finalists for the awards will be honored and the winner in each category announced at the Port Angeles Community Awards Gala black tie banquet at 6 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
Tickets are $70 per person and can be purchased online at www.ChamberSignUps.com.
Here are the finalists for each award.
Citizen of the Year
• Susan Hilgren “has operated TAFY (The Answer for Youth) for more than nine years with courage and love … and “works with a hard population of young people that many in our community consider throwaways,” said nominator Christina Hurst.
• Amy Miller is one of two people from Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics (VIMO) who experienced a night on the streets first-hand and challenged Port Angeles city officials to do the same. Miller works with the city’s homeless population through the REdisCOVERY program she heads at VIMO. She also rides along with Port Angeles police officers to make contact with people who need services.
“As an employee in the social service network in Port Angeles, I see Amy more than I see any other in the social service area by a landslide,” said nominator Jessica Guthrie, one of several who nominated Miller.
“Amy Miller is a light this town has been waiting for,” said nominator Emily Dexter.
• Iris Winslow uses social media skills to promote community events and to manage numerous community Facebook pages, said nominator Christine Loewe.
She serves on such boards as the city parks and recreation commission, city and county bicycle advisory committees and the Lincoln Park BMX Track Board, volunteers at local racing and biking events, helped develop the city’s inaugural Cranksgiving event and the upcoming Frosty Moss and is a founding member of Elevate Clallam, which encourages more women to take leadership roles in the county.
Young Leader of the Year
• Victoria Jones, as treasurer for the Hurricane Winter Sports Education Foundation, has helped to organize Winterfest and Olympic Medical Center Foundation events. She is part of the group that took over the Lincoln Park BMX Track in 2017, served as chair of the Winter Ice Village, was involved in the capital campaign that raised money for the Port Angeles unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and was race director of the 17th annual North Olympic Discovery Marathon, said nominator Luke Baiungo.
• Bonnie Schmidt works as an early childhood educator at her Little Rhythms Learning Canter and through Music Together, said nominator Carrie Sanford, and has worked to educate others about ACES (adverse childhood experiences).
“Her passion for children and families is contagious and her commitment to being active and involved is inspiring, as she also navigates running a small business and raising a family in Port Angeles,” said nominator Mike French, a City Council member.
• Shenna Younger, who spent a night on the streets with Miller, is “very involved in working on protecting the youth of Clallam County from childhood sexual abuse by partnering with Healthy Families, the police and the prosecutor’s office to protect children countywide,” said nominator Jessica Hernandez, past president of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce board.
Formerly a First Federal branch manager, Younger now development and operators manager at VIMO has served on many nonprofit boards.
Educator of the Year
• Christine Bohman, a special education teacher, “often serves as an advocate for not only them but also their families at large,” said nominator Joyce Mininger.
• Phil Morgan-Ellis provides musical outreach to Sequim and Port Angeles, “providing musical performance opportunities which other communities could only dream of,” said nominator Robert Knapp.
• Claire Rausch, an enthusiastic longtime teacher at Franklin Elementary School, “makes it difficult not to succeed in her classroom,” said nominator Amity Butler, Franklin principal.
Business of the Year
• Hermann Bros has had “a culture of innovation and adapting to changing markets” that has helped the company “grow and support over 100 jobs,” said nominator Jim Haguewood, senior partner in ONE Group.
• Lakeside Industries won this award for 2017 in the inaugural chamber award program for its constant contributions to the community. In 2018 those contributions include the Lincoln Park BMX Track and the Winter Ice Village.
• Angeles Millwork and Hartnagle Building Supply (Lumber Traders) “are continuously giving back to the community,” said nominator Victoria Jones.
Nominator Sean Coleman noted the firm’s community programs. For instance, through Community First Saturday, they pick a nonprofit each month to be given 10 percent of their sales profits.
Emerging Business of the Year
• Amma’s Umma’s owner has not only successfully built her business but also donated 50 percent of her projects to domestic adoption projects in India, said nominator Lindsay Fox, who won the Young Leader of the Year award for 2017.
• Avail Fit has provided a safe place for women to work out downtown, said French, who nominated the business.
• Poser Yoga’s Jenny Stewart Houston has not only operated a successful business but also offers free events for the community, said nominator Heidi Petersen.
Organization of the Year
• Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts provides entertainment, community bonding and economic enhancement, said nominator Mac Alexander Macdonald.
• Lincoln Park BMX volunteers have made the track flourish since it took it over in 2017, said nominators.
• Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics “continues to quietly fill the gaps in our community, providing crucial medical, dental and behavioral services to those who need it most,” said French, who nominated the group.
More than 70 nominations were received this year. Judges for this year’s community awards program were Joe DeScala, Mended; Emily Dexter, Port Angeles Food Bank; Loewe, Port Angeles resident; Ryan Malane, Black Ball Ferry; Leslie Kidwell Robertson, Port Angeles Revitalize; and Terry Ward, Sound Publishing.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
Terry Ward, vice-president of Sound Publishing and publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum, serves on the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce board.
