Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Beth Shook was mad Saturday night. But it was a good sort of mad.
?I thought I was here to get my sister?s award,? she said as she gripped the Junior First Citizen plaque, which had her name on it.
It was a night of deception for many as the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce held its 62nd annual Awards Ceremony at the Sweet Home Boys and Girls Club.
Shook?s sister Debi Cooley was named First Citizen, which makes this the first time that sisters have been honored on the same night, said City Councilman and 2005 First Citizen Tim McQueary. The First Citizen award goes to a recipient age 41 or older who has served the community for a period of five years or more through participation in clubs, organizations, community service, youth involvement and church work.
The Junior First Citizen award, which was presented by 2005 winner Kristen Adams, is presented to someone
who Junior First Citizen, presented to a local resident between the ages of 18 and 40 who has served the community for 18 to 20 months with a variety of activities in school, community, church, etc. Lin Gagner and Bob Waibel were honored with the Distinguished Service Award, given to a recipient age 55 or older, who has a minimum of five years of community service in recent or previous years.
Cynde Burford was announced as Business and Professional Women (BPW) Woman of the Year by 2005 winner Mary Sue Reynolds, while White?s Electronics owners Ken and Mary White took home the award for Chamber Business of the Year, presented by Beth Lambert of State Farm Insurance, last year?s winner.
A new award, the Outstanding Community Service Award, was presented by Community Foundation President Bob Burford to the Kiwanis Club for its work in developing the city skateboard park, a process that took ?eight to 10 years,? according to Kiwanis President Ben Dahlenburg, who accepted the plaque.
VIP awards went to Doug McKinnis, Dennis and Dianna Huenergardt, Joan Ryan, Mikayla ?Mac? Rossiter, Bob Dalton, Connie Trask and Keith Cantrell.
The event drew 350 people, who dined on prime rib and chicken provided by Mallard Creek Golf Course.
In the Best Decorated Table Trophy contest, given to the group or business whose table decoration is judged most spectacular and/or in keeping with the evening?s theme ?Celebrate Oregon,? the Grand Prize went to Cascade Timber Consultants. Best Theme Display went to A&W, Most Creative Went to the Community Foundation, and Best Company Representation was a tie between Weyehaeuser and White?s Electronics. The awards were announced by Lambert, representing the President?s Club, last year?s Grand Prize winner.
The program also included the presentation of a check for $24,500 from Kevin Strong of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group (SHEDG) to the Community Foundation?s Bob Burford from proceeds of the Oregon Jamboree. Some of the money will be distributed to local groups through grant processes next month, and the rest will be placed in an endowment for future use in the community, Burford said.
Members of the AMVETS Post 13 donated $250 to the Boys and Girls Club, presented by post Commander Jim Koenig.
Members of the 2006 Sportsman?s Holiday Court, who were selected last week, helped with raffle ticket sales and selecting winners, along with Rodeo Queen Holly Keesecker and Rodeo Queen-to-be Brandee Horn. The six Holiday Court members are Julie Burcham, Stefani Crocker, Olivia Lake, Sam Pierce, Tabby Trahan and McKenzie Walker.
Katie Kisselburgh sang the national anthem, while the colors were presented by AMVETS members.
Debi Cooley, First Citizen
Cooley grew up in Sweet Home, in a family of loggers, and is a graduate of Sweet Home High School. She enrolled in beauty college after high school and also drove a school bus for several years, during which ?she was quite successful in driving several of the riders crazy,? McQueary joked.
She was a member of the SHEDG Board of Directors when the Oregon Jamboree was founded and she and husband Scott were co-leaders of the Security Team for several years. Cooley, ?a very talented artist,? has sung the national anthem for the Sweet Home Rodeo and has produced some CDs of her work. Her ?slightly bold/straighforward approach to life? has earned her the nickname ?Hussie? from some of her friends, McQueary noted.
Cooley directs the children?s choir that performs with the Singing Christmas Tree each year and is involved in decorating Christmas trees for the Sweet Home Alumni Foundation?s ?Trees for Scholarships? program.
She?s also very involved in wrestling, in which her three sons participated. Her son Colton, a senior, won a district wrestling title Saturday, which raised the question of whether she would even make it to the awards ceremony.
Beth Shook, Junior First Citizen
Adams said that ?there is something about having deep roots in Sweet Home that makes a person almost inherit the strong desire to help others.?
Shook, she said, ?is one of the fortunate few that can say they are proud to have grown up in a family that has a long track record of giving back to Sweet Home and they themselves have a wonderful spirit of giving.?
Like her sister, Shook attended Foster Elementary and Sweet Home High School, from which she graduated in 1987. She has been involved in the Oregon Jamboree from its beginning, managing the security and backstage, and for years was chaperone to the Sportsman?s Holiday court.
?To this day, many of the young girls who attend Sweet Home High come to her for advice or just a willing ear,? Adams said.
Shook also is a strong supporter of the wrestling program, helping to coordinate fund-raisers to send wrestlers to national tournaments. She helped resurrect the Sportsman?s Holiday Kiddie Carnival and last year coordinated the entire event. Starting when her son Jacob was in preschool, Shook built Sportsman?s Holiday Parade floats for the school for four years until her float finally won the Sweepstakes Award for the best entry.
?Known fondly by her father as a ?redheaded pit bull with lipstick,? she has been known to tether her temper by doing something that makes her feel good,? Adams said.
Shook?s heart for young people has been evidenced in the way she has taken some into her own home and her current mission: to become a juvenile probation officer.
?Her goal is to help juveniles turn their lives around to become better people in this world,? Adams said.
Cynde Burford, BPW Woman of the Year
Burford was born and raised in Oregon City, where she was involved with Campfire Girls, eventually earning a Wohelhlo Medallion, the organization?s highest rank. After graduating from Willamette University, she met and married future Sweet Home Police Chief Bob Burford, a student in the police academy, after she helped with a homicide investigation in which the victims and suspects could only speak Spanish.
Cynde Burford teaches Spanish at Sweet Home High School, for Linn-Benton Community College, and interprets for the Police Department and others as needed. She has helped some 100 students from low- and middle-income families to travel to Mexico to experience other cultures and ways of life, Reynolds said.
She founded the high school Spanish Club, which is now the International Club, which raises funds for students who want to travel and experience foreign cultures.
?In order to pay for these trips, she has stood beside her students and washed cars, parked cars, sold poinsettias, inflated thousands of Valentines balloons, collected cans and bottles and donated her own money to make these trips possible,? Reynolds said.
She also helped organize and run the high school Student of the Week program, which recognizes students who are putting out ?full effort? but may not be otherwise noticed for academic or athletic achievement.
?For many students, seeing their name and picture displayed in the student hallway was their first and only positive feedback for outstanding effort,? Reynolds said.
Burford is also active in the Jamboree, Hillside Fellowship, Boy Scouts and the Walk for the Cure.
Lin Gagner, Distinguished Citizen
A 36-year resident of Sweet Home, Gagner is an ?untiring volunteer,? who spends a lot of her time and energy as a member of the Sweet Potato Queens, through which she raises fund for Habitat for Humanity. She also is interested in calligraphy, serves as president of PEO Chapter FA, and helps decorate the Christmas trees for the Sweet Home Alumni Foundation. She also plays the piano for St. Helen?s Catholic Church.
Bob Waibel, Distinguished Citizen
Waibel, a native of Brownsville, moved to Sweet home in 1961 when he married his wife Mona. He served in the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of major, and served 20 years in the Oregon State Defense Force.
A longtime member of the Sweet Home Jaycees, ?he spent many an early morning helping place the American Flags up and down Main and Long streets on special patriotic days. He is a charter member of the Rock and Mineral Club and has served as president of that organization as well. As president of Sportsman?s Holiday in the 1970s, he introduced gold panning and frog jumping in an effort to boost attendance. He has served as parade chairman of the holiday, has produced and competed in logging shows around the world, is an avid gardener, helped establish White?s Park, and is a talented artist and a person who gets things done, once he sets his mind to it.
Accepting the award, Waibel told the audience that his latest challenge is to build a railroad museum in Sweet Home.
?We need some good ground to put it on,? he said. ?It doesn?t matter that I?m retired. I?m still out there doing what I can.?
White?s Electronics, Business of the Year
Owned by Ken and Mary White, White?s has made metal detectors of various types since 1950, when Ken White?s father began building Geiger counters. The company owns numerous patents as a result of its role in advancing the technology of the industry. Lambert, as she presented the award, noted how the company has also been very generous to the community.
?It sounds to me like someone at this business has trouble saying ?No?? when a need arises, she said, jokingly.