Scott Swanson
Brenda Simmonds was honored with Sweet Home’s Distinguished Service Award Saturday night, April 2, at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Community Awards Banquet, held at the Elks Lodge.
Shari Melcher Smith was named First Citizen, Kayla Rosa was Junior First Citizen and Debbie Paul was named Patti Woods Woman of the Year.
Business of the Year was Buck’s Sanitary Service, while the Curb Appeal Award went to Cascade Timber Consulting.
Organization of the Year was Holley Church.
Mona Waibel Hero Award honorees were Donalyn Hotrum, Ginny Johnson Cotter, Bethany and Jeff Young and Jenna Wolthuis.
The Mayor’s Award winner was Henry Wolthuis.
The event, themed “Roaring 2020s” drew some 200 people, many decked out in period garb for the theme, who crowded into the upgraded main hall of the Elks Lodge.
Emcee Don Knight led the event, which included a dinner provided by Angila Tack Food Services and service by students from the Sweet Home High School Interact Club and National Honor Society members.
Melody Jordan Reese, executive director of the chamber, said the event punched a lot of buttons for attendees.
“”With the work and creativity of the Banquet Committee, the seemingly effortless comedic ability of Don Knight to emcee the event, plus the joy of coming together again in celebration, I believe the event was a success,” she said.
Brenda Simmonds, Distinguished Service Award
The award is given to a recipient over 55 years old, who has served the community for a period of five years.
Knight introduced Simmonds as having “lived, worked and served in the community of Sweet Home for many decades, volunteering with the Oregon Jamboree accounting team for 18 years, the Sweet Home Elks Lodge for six years and volunteering with the Elks’ Kids Shop School Shopping Spree for underprivileged children for 15 years.
Simmonds, whom Knight also described as a dedicated parent and grandparent, has also worked 20 years at Linn-Co Federal Credit Union.
Shari Melcher Smith,
First Citizen
The award is given to a Sweet Home resident over 40 years of age, who has served in the community for a period of at least five years.
Knight said Smith has served “consistently for at least 25 years in Sweet Home in a number of civic and youth activities,” including volunteering as a manager at the Oregon Jamboree, as a member of the Sweet Home Alumni Foundation Trees for Scholarships Committee, the Sweet Home Harvest Festival, the Sweet Home All-School Alumni Reunion and the Sweet Home Beautification Committee.
She has also supported the Roy Johnston ballpark, coached Sweet Home High School softball, served with the high school Booster Club, served as a Junior Baseball Organization and Boys & Girls Club coach, served on the high school SAFE Committee and the Boys & Girls Club Auction committee, and and established the Sweet Home High School Football Friday Night Bites program.
Kayla Rosa,
Junior First Citizen
The award is given to a “Sweet Home resident that has shown consistent dedication to various areas of the community,” is under age 40, and has served in the community for five years in such fields as clubs and organizations, community service, youth involvement and or church activities.
In introducing Rosa, Knight noted that she has been in business (Sunshine Espresso) since 2014, during which period the customer base has grown “substantially.” He said Rosa, through her business, has donated “hundreds of dollars and products each year” to local schools, churches, the volunteer firefighters association’s fireworks fundraisers, and more. She has supported Sweet Home wrestling, softball and cheerleading, the Boys & Girls Club, Sportsman’s Holiday Court, and the Sweetheart Run – all while also being a parent, spouse, friend and business owner, Knight said.
Debbie Paul,
Patti Woods Woman of the Year
The Woman of the Year award is presented based on community service involvement youth activity and or church service.
Knight noted that Paul has been “a tireless advocate for Sweet Home and Linn County for decades,” serving on the Lebanon Community Hospital Board and Foundation Board, an advocate for the Wiley Creek Assisted Living facility as well as numerous other hospital committees. Among her many community activities, Paul has served as a lector and teacher at St. Helen Catholic Church and when her children were at home she helped with numerous school and sporting events, including chaperoning “numerous field trips, was a reader with Start Making a Reader Today. She was a wrestling and softball team mom and “could keep a score book like a pro” and “also made a lot of sandwiches for three senior all-night parties,” Knight said.
Paul was vice president of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group and volunteered in the early years of the Oregon Jamboree – all while serving as co-publisher of The New Era for 20 years. She was recruited by Jim Riggs to help select VIP award winners for many years, and served on many chamber banquet committees.
In addition to all her volunteer work, Paul is administrator for the Linn Soil and Water Conservation District.
Buck’s Sanitary Service,
Business of the Year
Business of the Year is presented to a local business based on its business success, long-term impact and community involvement.
Knight said Buck’s, operated by Scott Weld, has been in the community from 1995 to 1999, then again beginning in 2012.
The business “is always serving the community” by providing services to functions such as the Icebox barbecue competition and the Oregon Jamboree, he said.
“They also generously donate their services to Sweet Home High School activities,” Knight said. “This service business also serves during wildfire season at various fire camps.”
He added that the Welds have had “an open home for ministers to stay and for others to come and visit. They open their property many times for church potlucks and baptisms. Their family is always ready to lend a helping hand or a piece of equipment.
“You may not see them in the limelight and the newspaper. Oftentimes, behind the scenes, their business is making people’s lives better.”
Cascade Timber Consulting,
Curb Appeal Award Winner
The award goes to a business recognized for its pleasant and outstanding physical appearance.
CTC, Knight noted, “knows a little bit about horticulture, which is apparent driving by their beautifully manicured and landscaped property.”
“This business contributes to the beauty and character of Sweet Home with much more than well-kept property. They also provide scholarships for those looking to pursue careers in their industry and one of the largest employers in Sweet Home.
“They are known for their sustainable forestry practices, management of 145,000 acres of timberland and land and for their major role in the selection and harvesting of the Kansas City Hallmark (Christmas) tree each year.”
Holley Church,
Organization of the Year
The award is based on a local organization’s ability to have significant community impact, together with organizational success, based on services and community involvement.
In introducing the winner, Knight noted that it has been in the community for over 150 years.
“This organization has devoted itself to service in the community,” he said, listing the church’s involvement in clean-up and other community events, sponsorship of youth sports, providing treats and encouragement to teachers and staff in the school district, and its annual Trick or Treat Street event held on Halloween at the Boys & Girls Club.
The church, he said, has donated “$18,000 to local missions, supported other churches and provided 297 gifts to school district staff. Through the Boys and Girls Club, it delivered 108 Christmas gifts to families in need.
“During the pandemic this organization wanted to brighten everyone’s holiday season by placing over 1,000 beautiful lights on its building as a beam of hope in the Christmas sky.”
Mona Waibel Hero Awards
Donalyn Hotrum: Bob Dalton noted, in presenting the award, that since moving to Sweet Home in 2011 when husband Brian Hotrum became pastor of Sweet Home Evangelical Church, Donalyn Hotrum has been active in the community in a wide variety of functions: Sweet Home High School Choir Boosters, dance chaperone and SAFE Committee volunteer while her two daughters were in school.
He noted that Hotrum also works with grieving families when the church hosts funeral services, and also assists with rummage sales, Christmas tree sales and Christmas bazaars.
She is currently serving as president of women’s ministries for the Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Church denomination, planning for women’s rallies and doing everything from designing programs and promotional materials to organizing conferences.
Hotrum is also a universal blood donor, who donates as often as possible, reaching “star” status as a donor.
Hotrum also shops, prepares and helps distribute 25 Christmas boxes every year for shelters and recently joined the Sweet Home Police Department volunteer program, which includes participating in such events as the Harvest Festival, Safety Fair and Neighborhood Watch programs.
Hotrum admitted that “I did not see that coming,” as she accepted the award. She said she’d rushed back from Portland, where she was participating in a “women’s rally,” to make it to the banquet.
“I’m glad to be here,” she said, thanking Dalton for the award.
Ginny Johnson Cotter: Cotter, a 1974 graduate of Sweet Home High School, has spent a large portion of her adult life elsewhere, but got involved in the Foster PTA and Scouts after returning to Sweet Home.
In recent years she has helped with Manna Meals, along with her husband Cliff, and has gotten involved in helping homeless individuals with medical appointments, “checking on them to ensure their safety and that they’re fed,” as Dawn Dalton put it. “She has even opened the doors of her own home and invited people inside who are struggling to get their life back together.
“Like the postman, she helps them through rain, sleet and snow.”
Bethany and Jeff Young – The Youngs, Bob Dalton said, “volunteered from the moment they arrived in Sweet Home.”
Cotter, accepting the award, said Mona Waibel “was a woman I admired very much,” who was actually her boss when she was attending LBCC and working in the Sweet Home Center, which Waibel managed in those days.
“So I’m really just honored that I’m being honored for doing something like she would do.”
Bethany Young, who pastors the Sweet Home Nazarene Church, “was instrumental in providing a safe place for our homeless community during COVID,” he said. She also volunteers at SHEM and is a board member at the Hope Center.
Jeff Young, Dalton said, serves “right alongside of her,” and has made a particular impact at SHEM with his handyman skills, contributing to the conversion of a former gun shop into usable space for the organization.
The two, who can be seen regularly, walking their huskies through downtown Sweet Home, have also been foster parents to 15 kids over a span of 15 years, Dalton noted.
Bethany Young, accepting the award, told the crowd it was “an accidental blessing to have a homeless camp in your backyard for way too long. But it was so much joy to discover that some of them just needed a lift and to be able to get housing and get back on their feet and to get clean.”
She said she is “excited” to get involved in the Hope Center, “working with some of the women and children that are coming in off our streets and having a place that safe.
“It’s just a joy to see the changes in lives as they’re becoming viable in our community and having a place that they feel safe and can be better Sweet Home residents, or whatever their future holds.”
Jenna Wolthuis – Wolthuis, a senior at Sweet Home High School, has been active in the Key and Interact clubs, and has volunteered in a wide range of events and efforts, including the Harvest Festival, the Christmas Tree Auction, in the VIP Room at the Sweet Home Christmas Gala Concert, and has helped with painting projects at the Hope Center.
Recently, Dawn Dalton said, Wolthuis volunteered alongside her parents in a humanitarian trip to Guatemala to provide “quality dental care in rural villages.”
“She has taken on many youth group leadership roles at her church and other congregations. This amazing person is in the top 10% of her class and has plans to study dental hygiene at the Idaho campus of Brigham Young University.”