PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Democrats will give retiring Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty a lifetime achievement award at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner on Friday.
A reception with elected officials is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St., Port Angeles.
Dinner will be served upstairs in the Red Lion dining hall at 7 p.m.
Reservations are $60 per person.
Former state legislator Lynn Kessler of Hoquiam will serve as mistress of ceremonies.
The guest speaker will be Jaxon Ravens, chairman of the state Democratic Party.
The evening also will include recognition of Norma Turner of Port Angeles as Democratic Woman of the Year and Roger Fight of Sequim as Democratic Man of the Year for Clallam County.
The Roosevelt dinner program will also include working with the Clallam County Food Banks to collect non-perishable food donations.
A silent auction will raise funds for the party.
Doherty, 71, served 20 years on the Clallam County Board of Commissioners.
He represented District 3 from western Port Angeles to Neah Bay.
Doherty is a lifelong Port Angeles resident and graduate of Port Angeles High School, class of 1961.
He attended Gonzaga and Georgetown universities, and earned a juris doctorate.
During law school, he worked in Washington, D.C., in the summers for the former U.S. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson, who died in 1989.
In 1976, Doherty chaired the first Board of Freeholders — now known as the Charter Review Commission — that created Clallam County’s charter.
He was subsequently appointed to a vacancy on the Board of County Commissioners and served until 1980.
In 1998, he was elected to return to the Board of Commissioners and was re-elected every four years thereafter until he decided not to run this year.
Doherty is running for the Charter Review Commission this year.
Doherty has served on numerous federal, state and local boards and committees, and has testified in congressional committee hearings and before Washington state’s legislature.
He remembers campaigning door-to-door for Harry Truman with his father in the 1950s.
Doherty first won election as a Democratic Party precinct committee officer at the age of 21. He has held that position continuously for 50 years.
He lives in Port Angeles with his wife, Paula. They have three sons, Eoin, Conn and Killian.
Doherty’s brother is District Court Judge John Doherty.
Turner and her husband, Gene, who are Port Angeles residents, has served on four County Charter Review Commissions.
She has recently served as co-chair of precinct officer recruitment for the county Democratic Party.
Fight took over as chair of the Clallam County Democrats when Pat Johansen of Sequim retired.
He lives with his wife, Kristi, in Sequim.
Ravens was elected state party chair in June, succeeding Dwight Pelz, who retired.
The dinner is co-chaired by Marcia Farrell of Port Angeles and Julie Johnson of Neah Bay.
Reservations for the dinner can be made with Kris Grier, treasurer, Clallam County Democrats, by mailing a check to P.O. Box 2454, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or by paying through PayPal at www.clallamdemocrats.org.
For more information, call 360-452-8848.