SEQUIM ¬ ¬¬– It’s like the Academy Awards for Sequim, except only one honor is bestowed each year, and nobody wears Harry Winston diamonds or Vera Wang gowns.
At least not yet.
Sequim’s 2008 Citizen of the Year award will be presented on Feb. 24 at a noon luncheon hosted by the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The place is the Sequim Elks Club at 143 Port Williams Road.
And the nominees are:
•âÇAlice Beebe, co-owner of the Olympic Game Farm, longtime orchestrator of the Irrigation Festival Grand Parade and a tireless fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Sequim.
She is also active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary and Lloyd Strand Veterans Relief Fund, according to chamber president Bill Littlejohn, who nominated Beebe for the award.
•âÇJudy Priest, a beloved artist, teacher and mentor who has devoted many years to the Sequim Senior Activity Center and the Museum & Arts Center in Sequim.
The MAC’s executive director, Katherine Vollenweider, nominated Priest, noting that she has helped keep the museum at 175 W. Cedar St. “true to its mission as an arts center.” Priest is an accomplished artist who has shared her passion with students at Peninsula College and the Senior Activity Center, Vollenweider added.
•âÇWalt and Sherry Schubert, also known as Santa and Mrs. Claus.
In addition to their Christmas time visits to various children’s parties, the Schuberts are year-round cheerleaders for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.
The couple also supports the Sequim Food Bank and the Sequim Education Foundation, while Walt spent untold hours during 2008 volunteering as president of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Walt is well known for his service on the Sequim City Council, for which he’s paid a few hundred dollars a year.
He owns Action Property Management, while Sherry runs A Catered Affair, a catering company.
Two people nominated the Schuberts: Real estate broker Mike McAleer and Kristal Van Selus, director of teen programs at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
The Sequim Citizen of the Year honor originated in 1968, said chamber executive director Vickie Maples.
It is given in honor of community service outside the honoree’s primary occupation, and it comes with a plaque but no cash or other prizes.
Past honorees meet to elect the new Citizen of the Year and keep their choice secret until the luncheon.
Stephen Rosales, the 2007 Sequim Citizen of the Year and a daily volunteer with the Sequim Food Bank, Sequim Boys & Girls Club and other organizations, will name his successor on Feb. 24.
Last year the chamber presented the first Bill and Esther Littlejohn Humanitarian Award to the Littlejohns, stalwart supporters of the Olympic Medical Cancer Center in Sequim and many other human services organizations.
Maples said the Humanitarian Award is not necessarily an annual one.
If there is to be a recipient this year, he, she or they will be announced at the Citizen of the Year lunch.
“I’ll have to keep you all in suspense until the 24th,” Maples said.
All community members are welcome at the event. Tickets are $15; to reserve a seat, phone the chamber at 360-683-6197 or e-mail jeri@sequimchamber.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
