Scott Swanson
Dr. Larry Horton was named this year’s recipient of Sweet Home’s Distinguished Service Award and Karla Hogan earned First Citizen honors at the annual Chamber of Commerce Awards dinner, held Saturday evening, July 24, at Sankey Park.
The “Vintage Picnic”-themed affair was planned after the chamber postponed its normal awards dinner, usually held in late February or early March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year’s awards were presented in a virtual ceremony.
“We’re finally at a time where it feels like we can start getting back to normal with planning,” Chamber Director Melody Jordan Reese told the crowd of about 150 who attended the event. “It takes a village to keep the community going. And there’s so many people who have contributed and supported.”
Additional award winners announced Saturday were Junior First Citizen Christopher Chapman and Patty Woods Woman of the Year Christy Duncan.
O&M Tire Point S was named Business of the Year, and Henry Wolthuis received the Curb Appeal Award.
Mona Waibel Hero Awards went to Jim and Lisa Gourley, Ken and Sherry Johnston, Blake Manley, Rose Peda, Susan Thompson and Maren Weld.
Mayor Greg Mahler gave a State of the City address and announced Alice Grovom as recipient of the 2021 Mayor’s Award.
Dignitaries at the event included Mahler and City Council members Susan Coleman, Diane Gerson, Lisa Gourley and Dave Trask, state Rep. Jami Cate and Sportsman’s Holiday Court Queen Haley Nunez, First Princess Kami Hart and Miss Congeniality Jess Maynard.
The program was emceed by Reese and Milt Moran, president of Cascade Timber Consulting, one of the event sponsors.
Jobe Woosley & Co. provided music through much of the program and a boxed picnic dinner was provided by Little Town Celebrations.
Distinguished Service Award
Reese introduced Dr. Larry Horton, former superintendent of schools in Sweet Home, as recipient, noting that he has been a longtime and active member of the Rotary Club, “one of the main driving forces in bringing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to the region” and founded the Interact Rotary leadership program at Sweet Home Junior High, which will soon be introduced at the high school, she said.
Horton also has been heavily involved in finding solutions to the homeless issue in Sweet Home and helped develop a mentorship program between students at Western University of Health Sciences in Lebanon and Sweet Home, “just to name a few not-so-small things.”
First Citizen
Moran introduced First Citizen Karla Hogan, observing that she “must be able to live with no sleep, because (she has her) hands in everything – ready to hold, sponsor and serve at a moment’s notice.”
Hogan, he said, grew up in a “family of Sweet Home volunteers and leaders, and carries on the tradition in (her) own family.
He noted that she has been a member of the high school S.A.F.E. Committee, a current board member of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, and is a member of the Sweet Home Christmas Committee and Sportsman’s Holiday Committee. She also is involved in Oregon High School Equestrian Team and has served on the Rodeo Committee.
Hogan founded the “more recent, yet very beloved Cut the Gut Cruise” and has been involved in “countless causes” such as Operation Happy Hearts, and is an “active” board member of the Chamber of Commerce.
Hogan, he said, “works constantly to keep the community involved in city news and projects” and is a business owner “whose team shows up at most events.”
Junior First Citizen
Reese introduced Christopher Chapman, noting that he’s lived in Sweet Home since 2005 and has dedicated “countless hours” over the years to various organizations around town with his design skills – logos, shirts, posters, stickers and multimedia projects. Chapman, she said, is a member of the Sweet Home Police Department Volunteer Group, the ArtShow Committee for SHOCASE, the East Linn Treasure Seekers, “and can often be found helping someone move or mow their lawn.” Married for seven years, he met his wife Paige while working for Figaro’s Pizzeria.
Patti Woods
Woman of the Year Award
Woman of the Year Christy Duncan has been active in a wide variety of committees and causes in Sweet Home, Moran said, including serving as president and active as a member in the Rotary Club, volunteering at the Oregon Jamboree for more than 10 years, serving as an officer and active member of PEO Chapter FA, supporting the Boys & Girls Club, and serving on the governing council and as a Sunday School teacher at her church.
“She loves being involved in the community and is very proud of Sweet Home,” Moran said.
Business of the Year
In presenting the award to Rick Funk, Reese said O&M, which has been run by his family since 1953, “goes above and beyond for the community of Sweet Home,” serving families in need, sponsoring youth sports and other youth causes.
“They have a ‘secret’ fund that folks can donate to to help families and individuals in emergencies,” she said. “This is just a short list of the all that they’ve brought to the community of Sweet Home. Plus, they love to have a good time and you can count on them to hit the pavement – or burn it – during Sportsman’s Holiday.”
Curb Appeal Award
Moran described Henry Wolthuis as “a good neighbor, very friendly, and who has a vision of bringing downtown Sweet Home back to life.”
Citing the work that Wolthuis has made with remodels of Fire Haus Ice Cream and Sugar Vibes Donut Co. locations, he noted that the retired local dentist, “has spent immeasurable time” doing research into what makes towns across the nation that are thriving tick, “in order to generate ideas of what to bring to Sweet Home.”
Organization of the Year
Reese presented the award to Susan Thompson, who chairs the Sweet Home Beautification Committee, noting that the organization has spent “countless hours” since 1980, when it was founded by Alice Grovom, “working to improve the community of Sweet Home.”
Volunteers, she said, “can be seen working, rain or shine, throughout the seasons, to help make Sweet Home a beautiful, welcoming and charming town to visit and live.”
Mayor’s Award
In announcing Alice Grovom, who was not present due to illness, as recipient of the Mayor’s Award, Mahler noted that the longtime local bookkeeper and accountant was also extremely active in many facets of the community.
She served with the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Presidents Club, Oregon Association of Public Accountants, the Chamber of Commerce, Fir Lawn Lutheran Church – where she was active in the Sew and Sews Ministry, Sweet Home Investment Club, Sweet Home Squarenaders, Sweet Home Beautification and was one of the the first two female Rotary Club members in Sweet Home.
Grovom has “significantly impacted our community,” Mahler said. The most visible representation of that, he said, are the downtown medians on Main Street, which she spearheaded and maintained.
“Alice didn’t do all of this on her own,” Mahler said. “She was able to accomplish many things in this town because she invested in the people around her. Alice built relationships while she served alongside community members and she inspired others to volunteer with her.”
Mona Waibel Hero Awards
The awards, known previously as VIP awards when Waibel presented them on behalf of the Presidents Club for many years before her death, were announced by Dawn and Bob Dalton, Waibel’s daughter and son-in-law.
Ken and Sherry Johnston were honored for their long involvement in the Singing Christmas Tree, for which Ken was heavily instrumental in the set-up of the greenery for the production, while Sherry sang in the choir for 32 years. Sherry also coordinated the Arts and Crafts Show during the Oregon Jamboree, a fundraiser for the Singing Christmas Tree, for 19 years.
“They have been devoted to, and clearly demonstrate, the volunteer spirit to the community which they love,” Bob Dalton said in presenting the award.
Rose Peda was honored for the work she accomplished during 10 years as Sweet Home’s library director.
“Her love for this community, particularly children, has indeed made her a very important person and hero in Sweet Home,” Dawn Dalton said.
Peda’s knack for grant writing helped the library acquire two new education computers, and “her summer programming brought music, art and culture from all over the world,” Dalton said. “Before the pandemic, the entire back room of the library would fill up with teenagers after school, doing homework, snacking, helping out and snacking some more.”
Peda has also been very involved in the community through Rotary and the P.E.O. Chapter FA, serving the latter as Education Chair.
Additionally, she’s been an active member at Holley Christian Church, where she’s served on the Greeting Team, in the Kids Ministry and Connection Cafe Team.
After retiring earlier this year, she signed up to start training as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the courts system.
Bob Dalton described Susan Thompson is a “quiet, unassuming person who has never sought attention.” An “accomplished student” while growing up, she shied away from leadership opportunities, choosing to be in the outdoors and nature, he said.
“After high school, while working with young campers, she recognized her desire to help others,” which drove her career decision to enter the medical profession, a choice that was followed by her three children, he said.
As a volunteer, Thompson has also been involved in the Singing Christmas Tree, and has also sung for years in the Lebanon Community Chorus, serving on its Board of Directors.
Inheriting a love of flowers from her father, Dalton said, “she began volunteering with the city’s Beautification Committee, planting hundreds of flowers throughout Sweet Home and the downtown median corridor.
“After being latched onto by Alice Grovum, she now leads the committee by organizing volunteers and working with the city Public Works to beautify our city.”
Lisa and Jim Gourley were honored for their extensive involvement in the community.
Both started at a young age, “early in school,” Lisa serving as president of GAA and as a Sportsman’s Holiday princess, volunteering in quality control for a cannery operated by her church, directing a camp of 600 girls, volunteering at Corvallis Outreach and the Jackson Street Shelter in Albany, and serving as president of Sweet Home youth sports, and volunteering in Boy Scouts and as a young women’s leader at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
More recently, she’s served on the Sweet Home City Council and chairs the Sweet Home Community Health Committee, has painted downtown windows at Christmas time to spread holiday spirit, was one of the organizers of the Hero Banner project, and sewed more than 1,000 masks following the COVID pandemic.
Jim Gourley began volunteering early in junior high with the local 4-H and in high school, including at Chamber of Commerce awards banquets, Bob Dalton said. Later, as a Key Club member, he helped with the Ames Creek Project.
Following high school, he continued as a member of the Jaycees, as a youth coach – particularly in wrestling, as a Scouts leader for 23 years, with his church’s young men’s program, and as a first responder, first aid and water safety instructor.
Gourley served on the City Council for 23 years, including eight as mayor, and on the Council of Governments for 14 years. More recently, he has been a School Board member and has served on the city Health Committee, the Community Christmas Committee and led the Hero Banner project.
He was active in the State Interagency on Hazardous Communication Council and the State Emergency Response Commission, and was vice president of the Oregon Lands Coalition and a founder of Alliance for America.
“These two are the product of the volunteer spirit and continue giving back to the community, which they both love,” Dalton said.
Blake Manley “hit the ground running” when he arrived in Sweet Home four years ago as the new natural resources teacher at Sweet Home High School, Dalton said.
Manley built the new program, spending “countless hours of his own time meeting with local industry leaders, building curriculum, developing relationships with his students, organizing forestry competitions and getting students out in the beauty of nature that is so prominent in Sweet Home,” Dalton said.
He noted that when the coronavirus pandemic shut down Oregon’s school districts early in 2020, Manley produced “Manley Jobs,” a series of short videos about industry jobs in forestry and natural resources, for use with his students.
“Each video tells a story, giving students a glimpse of unfolding narratives found in every profession,” Dalton said.
The videos have promoted Sweet Home as well, he said. The Manley Jobs YouTube channel has more than 3,000 subscribers, and teachers throughout the Northwest are using the videos as part of their curriculum, Dalton said, adding, “Thank you, Blake Manley, for being a hero in this community and loving us enough to promote us to the world.”
In introducing Maren Weld, Dawn Dalton quoted William Shakespeare: “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
“Fierce with a desire to be of service to others,” she added.
Weld has volunteered at carnivals and blood drives, delivered food baskets, washed windows and helped set up the Christmas Card displays around town. She’s been a member of the Key Club throughout her four years at Sweet Home High School, served on Class Board for four years and participated in Leadership Class for two. She was a three-sport athlete, actually competing in four during her senior year as she doubled in soccer and cross-country, and was a Class of 2021 valedictorian.
After the wildfires last summer, Weld organized a relief effort by local teens in the burned areas along Highway 126.
Dalton quoted Weld: “After we were done, we decided to drive further upriver to witness the devastation; it is absolutely terrible. It makes you so grateful for what you have. That day was probably my most valuable volunteer experience.
“Community service and giving back to your community is so rewarding. One thing that it’s taught me is that giving back never leaves you feeling empty. That feeling of doing something good for another sticks around and spreads positivity.”