Barbara Baumgartner named community’s Distinguished Citizen

Scott Swanson

Lin Gagner, last year’s Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Service Award recipient, said she had one thought as she read the list of accomplishments and involvement by this year’s winner, Barbara Baumgartner: “When I grow up, I want to be just like this person.”

Baumgartner led the list of honorees representing a wide scope of the Sweet Home community at the chamber’s 72nd annual awards banquet held Saturday night, March 11, at the Community Center.

Others were First Citizen Laurie Carlson, Junior First Citizens Josh and Brandi Darwood, and Patti Woods Woman of the Year Wendi Melcher.

Sweet Home RV was named Business of the Year and Organization of the Year was the Friends of the Library.

Emcee Rachel Kittson MaQatish, a local attorney and chair of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, told the crowd of some 180 people that volunteerism takes its toll and urged them to encourage those they knew who engage in volunteer activities.

“Volunteerism is demanding,” she said. “When you are a volunteer, there are times when you think, ‘How can I even do this?’”

She told attendees that recognizing volunteer efforts provides “a breath of fresh air for these people. You encourage them.”

Mayor Greg Mahler said he got a chance to see some of the resumes of nominees for the various awards.

“I was very impressed with how many people come together and get involved in the community,” he said. “I thought, ‘Wow, these people really contributed to the community.’”

Mahler introduced a number of distinguished guests who were present for the event, including state Rep. Sherrie Sprenger, his fellow City Council members Diane Gerson and Lisa Gourley, and former Mayor Jim Gourley.

Chamber assistant Jenna Schwab stood in for Chamber Director Katrina Crabtree, whose father had passed away earlier in the week, in introducing Sportsman’s Holiday Court members Bethany Gingerich, Elizabeth Chelstad, Jessi Thomas Kendyl Stutzman, Kylie Armstrong and Jessica Coats as they announced the winners of the silent auction items.

Many attendees dressed and decorated their tables in accordance with the “Around the World” theme and little town catering served an international menu of Portuguese/African peri-peri chicken and German bechamel potatoes, along with other goodies.

The winning table decorations were “Most Elegant” to Samaritan Health and “Best Overall/Most Creative” to Cascade Timber Consulting.

In introducing Distinguished Service Award recipient Barbara Baumgartner, Gagner noted her extensive involvement in the Sweet Home community after moving from Michigan, by way of Oakridge, with her husband, Bud, in 1964.

In addition to teaching ele-mentary school for 22 years in Sweet Home, at Holley and Oak Heights, Baumgartner has served on the local Habitat for Humanity family selection committee, in the Calapooia Watershed Council, the Linn County Small Woodlands Association and the Manna program, and in a variety of posts as a member of P.E.O. Chapter FA.

She has also served on the Education Committee at Sunshine Industries, assisted with the Boys & Girls Club annual auction, has taught classes for Oregon State University Extension during the annual Tree Day at Happy Valley Tree Farm, has served as a Brownie leader, on the AFS Committee at Sweet Home High School, and as a classroom volunteer and with the SMART program at Holley School.

She’s also been an active member at St. Helen’s Catholic Church – as eucharistic minister and a lector at Mass, chairperson of the Fall Festival and auction, on the Pastoral Council, as Director of Religious Education, and on the St. Vincent de Paul Committee, which helps homeless students at the high school, and more.

“She is always willing to help anyone in need, whether asked to help or not,” Gagner said, citing examples of how Baumgartner has done exactly that. “If she sees something that needs to be done, she is there to make it happen, be it to plan an event, organize an activity, take food to the sick or a ride to the doctor.

“She has significant compassion for older people in need.”

Baumgartner wiped away tears as she responded to the award.

“So many people in our county could be standing right beside me,” she said. “One thing I learned long ago: Volunteering’s tough and no one does it alone.”

First Citizen Laurie Carlson was introduced by last year’s honoree, Kristen Adams, as the “epitome” of a definition of volunteerism Adams quoted: “Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the type of community you want to live in.”

She said Carlson “has given almost a lifetime of daily votes for the betterment of her peers, our children and our community.”

A 50-plus-year resident of Sweet Home, Carlson graduated from Sweet Home High School and attended what is now Western Ore-gon University before teaching for more than 30 years at Foster and Oak Heights schools, hosting Japanese exchange students for 20 years with her husband Harvey (also a local teacher), founding the Safeway eScrip program, and founding the Earth Shuttle Trip program in 1992.

In the latter, she and other volunteers took local fifth- and sixth-graders to Florida on a “fabulous science exploration” in which students and parents toured the Kennedy Space Center, went on jet boat rides in the Everglades and “swam with the dolphins,” Adams said.

“These expeditions lasted for nearly 20 years and were only possible due to the thousands of hours (Carlson) spent planning and fund-raising year-round for her students and their families. So many students relied on her assistance for every last penny of their trip expense and she always kept on raising funds right to the very end.

“How many of us miss those fantastic Earth Shuttle garage sales?”

Carlson currently serves as vice president on the Sweet Home Alumni Foundation board and has headed the silent auction for the organization’s Trees For Scholarships event each Christmas, which has raised more than $300,000 for local youths’ college aspirations, Adams said. Carlson is also an active member of PEO Chapter FA and has volunteered more than 20 years for the Oregon Jamboree in the scrip booth.

Carlson told the crowd, as she held the award, that she thought she was coming to the banquet for someone else.

“I have no words,” she said.

Junior First Citizens Josh and Brandy Darwood were introduced by Amy Wingo, last year’s recipient.

She noted that the couple has headed up some 15 home groups in their church, totaling about 150 people.

“They are tasked with organizing conferences through their church, (they) help run couple’s seminars, children’s programs, etc.”

Josh Darwood, who now heads the school district’s maintenance department, was involved in making “a lot of upgrades” to a local home to make it handicap-accessible for its owner.

Brandy Darwood has been involved in MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and is a longtime participant in cooperative home school groups.

A mutual friend testified concerning the Darwoods, “(he) is always willing to lend a hand or a tool to a friend in need and (she) has been a shoulder for many a mom to cry on,” Wingo said.

Brandy Darwood noted that Josh, who was on crutches, had had surgery two days prior and didn’t want to talk.

“I’m on pain meds,” Josh said, drawing a laugh as he leaned into the mic.

“We absolutely love living in this town,” Brandy said.

Woman of the Year Wendi Melcher was presented by Kittson-MaQatish in the absence of last year’s recipient, Gay Byers, who had a death in the family.

Kittson-MaQatish said she was borrowing heavily from Scott Melcher, Wendi’s husband, in listing her achievements.

“Once you read this bio, you know right away who it is,” she said.

Melcher moved to Sweet Home when she was 3 and was a member of Sweet Home’s 1988 state champion softball team.

After marrying Scott, “her perfect man,” as Kittson-MaQatish read from his notes, they had two sons and she “developed a strong commitment to volunteering and community service.”

Wendi Melcher has been involved with Little Promises children’s programs, the women’s program at St. Helen’s, where she served as president for a number of years, Booster Club president for six years and twice heading the Senior Alcohol Free Entertainment post-graduation all-night party.

In 2000, she began a career in real estate that continued to the present, then became involved in the Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Santiam, for which she has served as a board member and chairs the fall auction, which has raised $430,000 for the club over the past three years. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the Sweet Home Economic Development Group.

Kittson-MaQatish said Mel-cher, who was Junior First Citizen in 2003, knows how to bridge differences and work with people she doesn’t necessarily agree with, while not being reluctant to ask questions. Melcher has a “vivacious” spirit and is fiercely loyal and a defender of the community, which she loves.

“She’s an optimist at heart, who knows how to have fun,” Kittson-MaQatish said. “She can throw a party and take you along for the ride.

Wendi Melcher, responding to the award, said it is “important to give back.”

“It says a lot when (young people) come back for a community like this. They are our future.”

Candice Snyder, representing last year’s Organization of the Year, PEO Chapters DD and FA, presented this year’s award to Jackie Dougherty and Joyce Farris, representing the Friends of the Library, citing the group’s history and involvement in promoting literacy in the community.

It was formed in 1984 after city budget cuts and like similar groups, “they grew out of a desire to do something ‘tangible’ for the entity that means so much to them,” Snyder said.

When the volume of magazines and used books donated to keep the library’s doors open grew “overwhelming,” FOL opened a used bookstore on Main Street in 2003, she noted. It is now located at the corner of 12th Avenue and Long Street, where the 19 volunteer members keep it open six days a week.

More recently FOL has provided money to purchase books, books on CDs and DVDs, computers, equipment and furniture. It helped raise money for the library’s automation system and its stained glass windows, along with children’s programs.

“Since 1985 it estimated that they have given the library over $114,000,” she said.

Thomas and Ericka Baham of the Rio Theater, winners of last year’s Business of the Year award, presented this year’s to Sweet Home RV owners Mary and Clarence Mansfield.

The Mansfields have been heavily involved in the community over the years, including the Ore-gon Jamboree and the Kiwanis Club.

Mary Mansfield recounted how the business, which they’ve operated in Sweet Home for 26 years, suffered a devastating fire in August of 2015.

“As any of you know, having a small business that’s seasonal can be challenging,” she said, adding that the fire complicated things.

“It’s been quite a challenge, but through tears and community support, we pulled through. Thank you very much.”

VIP Awards

Robert and Candice Snyder presented Very Important Person Awards to six people who, they said, “come from all walks of life and have their fingers in a broad range of events that make our community a better place to live.”

Honorees were:

Pat Gray, who manages the City of Sweet Home’s finances during the day, but has contributed to the community’s health – literally – through organizing fun runs and assisting with the Community Health Fair last summer.

Specifically, Gray founded and organized the annual Sweet Heart Run, which generates money used to aid the Boys & Girls Club and the community’s summer programs for children; the Super Hero Run for SAFE; and the Zombie Run, which benefits Sunshine Industries.

Candice Snyder quoted one of Gray’s co-workers: “She is a great ambassador for our community. She’s fun to work with and she is always promoting Sweet Home.”

Jack Schmidt, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who moved to Sweet Home more than three decades ago and has volunteered extensively with the East Linn Museum, the VFW Honor Guard and as an usher at St. Helen’s Catholic Church.

Debbie Walvatne, who has lived in Sweet Home nearly all her life and has been very active in both organization of the Christmas and Sportsman’s Holiday parades over the years, the Singing Christmas Tree, the Hero Half-Marathon, the Oregon Jamboree and the Polar Plunge, many of these with her mother Sue Olson, who was the 2010 Distinguished Citizen.

“The fruit definitely did not fall far from the tree in this case,” Snyder noted.

Will and Ryan Garrett, owners of the Radiator Supply House in Sweet Home, who have sponsored numerous local events including the Boys & Girls Club, athletic programs, a logging scholarship, 4-H auctions, SAFE, and Sportsman’s Holiday and Working Loggers Relay, and many others, Robert Snyder said.

“When our honorees learned there was a need for pianos at Hawthorne Elementary School and the Junior High, these brothers stepped forward and donated upright and a baby grand pianos.

“They also put a couple of old pianos downtown so passersby could play a tune or two during the Oregon Jamboree.”

Eleanor Hewitt, a local high school student who helped the Sweet Home girls swim team to two straight state titles and maintains a 4.00 grade point average.

“She devotes herself to numerous activities including the STEWARDS Outdoor School, Youth Watershed Council, Key Club, the Ford Family Foundations Rural Development Initiative and was a member of the Sportman’s Holiday Court,” Candice Snyder said.

“It’s a good thing our next honoree is young, because it takes a lot of energy to keep up with her many volunteer efforts, not counting the fact that she has a straight-A average in school.”

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