PORT ANGELES — Winners of the 2018 Port Angeles Community Awards emphasized the value of community in their acceptance speeches.
“I work to bring the connection of community to others,” said Amy Miller, Citizen of the Year, at the gala at the Vern Burton Community Center on Saturday night.
“The spirit of volunteerism in Port Angeles is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said Victoria Jones, Young Leader of the Year.
“It’s really a pleasure to be here with all the other businesses that are the backbone of this community,” said Bill Hermann of Hermann Brothers Logging & Construction Inc., which won the Business of the Year Award.
The community awards — created by the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce — honored three finalists in each of six categories and announced the judges’ winners in each category at the gala.
Winners in other categories were:
• Emerging Business of the Year — Poser Yoga.
• Organization of the Year — Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts Foundation.
• Educator of the Year — Claire Rausch.
Awards were presented by Terry Ward, publisher of the Peninsula Daily News and vice-president of Sound Publishing Inc.
Some 70 nominations were received for the awards. Judges for this year’s community awards program were Joe DeScala of Mended; Emily Dexter of Port Angeles Food Bank; Christine Loewe, Port Angeles resident; Ryan Malane of Black Ball Ferry; Leslie Kidwell Robertson, Port Angeles Revitalize; and Ward.
Citizen of the Year
Miller, who was given a standing ovation as she walked to the stage to receive her award, made her comment about community in the context of having spent a night with people forced to live on the streets.
“When I did the shelter challenge with Sheena Younger [a finalist in the Young Leader of the Year category], I was struck by the isolation that that [homeless] lifestyle can bring,” Miller said.
Masters of ceremonies Tim Tucker and Josh Jones said that “nobody dives in as deeply and as effectively as Amy. People sometimes need to know someone cares and Amy does.”
Miller and Younger, her colleague at Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics (VIMO), spent a night on the streets and in the Serenity House of Clallam County shelter in December, and challenged Port Angeles city officials to do the same.
Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West and Council member Mike French took them up on the challenge, followed by Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias and Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols and, in Sequim, City Manager Charlie Bush and three public works employees.
Miller also works with the city’s homeless population through the REdisCOVERY program she heads at VIMO and rides along with Port Angeles police officers to make contact with people who need services.
Saturday night, Miller congratulated her fellow finalists for the award — Susan Hillgren of The Answer for Youth, and tireless volunteer Iris Winslow.
Young Leader of the Year
Jones, the treasurer for the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation, has helped to organize Winterfest as well as Olympic Medical Center Foundation events. She is part of the group that took over the Lincoln Park BMX Track in 2017.
She 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.
Jones thanked fellow finalists Younger and Bonnie Schmidt for their volunteer work and expanded her thanks to all volunteers.
“I thank all of you who give your time. Without each and every one of you … many events wouldn’t be possible.”
Business of the Year
Bill Hermann said that he and his brother Fred — who opened the business 50 years ago — as well as his son Mike — who has worked with the business for 20 years — are “proud to be part of this community.
“This is a great place to live.”
Hermann Brothers, which began as a small logging company, has adapted to changing markets and grown to support more than 100 jobs, nominators said.
Lakeside Industries, which won this award for 2017 in the inaugural program, was a finalist this year as well.
Also a finalist was Lumber Traders, made up of Angeles Millwork and Hartnagle Building Supply.
“The forest industry is the backbone of the community,” Bill Hermann said.
Emerging Business of the Year
“You can’t help but change other people’s lives when you feel better yourself,” said Jenny Stewart Houston, owner of Poser Yoga, the winner of the Emerging Business of the Year award.
Houston has not only operated a successful business but also offers free events for the community, nominators said.
The other finalists were Anna’s Umma — which translates to Mother’s Kiss — and Avail Fit.
Organization of the Year
The winner of the Organization of the Year award this year was the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts Foundation, now in its 26th year.
“I feel like it really is a nice start for me,” said Kayla Oakes, the new director of the foundation.
She described the nonprofit as an “organization that enriches lives through the cultural arts.”
The other finalists were the Lincoln Park BMX and VIMO.
Educator of the Year
Educator of the Year award winner, Claire Rausch, a math teacher at Franklin Elementary, thanked the “amazing families at Franklin,” saying “that’s why I’ve been there for 28 years,” and a large part of why she doesn’t plan to leave soon.
Rausch, described as a teacher who “makes it difficult to not learn,” said that teaching is “a collaborative effort. I’ve been really blessed to work with amazing educators, students and administrators.”
Other finalists were special education teacher Christine Bohman, and musician and teacher Phil Morgan-Ellis.
As she spoke to the audience, Rausch raised her award and said: “This is really for the team I work with and the community.”
The gala was sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News, the city of Port Angeles, Kokopelli Grill, Bella Italia, Red Lion Hotel, Necessities & Temptations gift shop, Habitat for Humanity store, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
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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 — but did not serve on it when he was a judge for the 2018 awards.
