The 2020 Distinguished Citizens Award Winners
Watch the awards ceremony here.
The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce announced it’s 2020 Distinguished Citizens Awards winners last month. This year however, instead of attending a big banquet held at The Dalles Readiness Center the winners received their awards “publisher clearing house” style. TDACC performed surprise drop-ins at the winners residences. Spreading some joy and appreciation to our communities distinguished citizens.
“People didn’t know that they were winning,” said Jessie Lamp, Marketing Director at TDACC, “People were so surprised! So it worked out so well.”
“We sent out a call for nominations to all of our members so we encouraged people to vote that way, next year I hope to begin that process a little earlier and try to get more of the community involved” said Lamp. “It felt important to honor those who helped us through this year. Reading the nominations was really emotional, especially for the Educator of the Year category. I know I found it really moving and I hope in the future we can find a way to share all the comments and nominations that we received.”
TDACC received nominations from The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce members and from the community. However, TDACC didn’t receive any nominations for “2020 Youth of the Year” and so no award was given in that category this year.
Distinguished Citizen Award winners are decided by a TDACC committee. Some members of the community have expressed frustration with this system saying the process makes it "more of a ‘chamber’ event” and they’d like to see it shift to be “more of a community driven event”. And have suggested that a voting system, that allows the community to vote on its distinguished citizens, might create a more transparent process, garner more engagement outside of TDACC circles, grow the event to a larger scale, and bring in more diverse nominations from the community. Prompting CCC News to reach out to TDACC for comment about expanding winner categories and community involvement.
“Currently winners are chosen by a committee. As far as a voting system goes, we’ll have to decide on any changes to categories and the winner selection system as a team,” said Lamp “We’re all about community and it would be nice to have more community involvement. I hope that we will be able to add some new categories and pull some new voices and make it a community event as opposed to a chamber event.”
AND NOW THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR
The 2020 Distinguished Citizens Award Winners
TDACC presented the following awards:
Outstanding Volunteer of the Year: Kristen Harmon
Outstanding Educator of the Year: Lu Seapy
Outstanding Agricultural Achievement: Megan Thompson
Outstanding Woman of the Year: Carolyn Layson
Outstanding Man of the Year: Captain Raymond Morris
Outstanding Business of the Year: Columbia Gorge Honda and Toyota
Mid-Columbia Health Foundation presented the following awards:
Outstanding Philanthropic Group: Wasco Masonic Group
Outstanding Philanthropists: Dr. Peter Peruzzo and Mrs. Karen Peruzzo
Pictured: Kristen Harmon accepts the 2020 Volunteer of the Year Award.
“This year our recipient even works full time serving our community and then fills their time with continual service through service organizations, events, and more. This compassion to serve began shortly after High School graduation, knowing this recipient we feel it probably began even before that. Like we mentioned they work full time serving our community, but they also continue after hours to help recruit volunteers, constantly coordinating donation efforts of monies and supplies, and is always there to make sure events function as smooth as possible. They spend their holidays helping to make sure our community members who were without had a full meal to take home and enjoy for their own holiday. She also is THE SECREATARY for one of the largest service organization in The Dalles and has been doing that for over 20 years, we call that pure dedication and determination. This person does not just give a little here and there but looks constantly for more opportunities to give back to HER community. Sometimes that may be coordinating and helping the The Dalles Lions Club members to going to each of the schools and conducting Vision tests for the students. This also includes the follow up with the families to make sure they get the care, financial assistance, and needed eyewear for our local youth and sometimes this even includes the family members. We feel that our recipient works tirelessly for our community and we want to take this moment to say THANK YOU and let them know that they are appreciated, and we feel grateful that they are a part of our amazing community we call The Dalles.” said TDACC Director, Lisa Farquharson,
Pictured: Lu Seapy accepts the 2020 Educator of the Year Award
“Educator of the Year is a recognition to one of the educators in our area. It is not determined by accomplishments, being published, or recognition at the State level. It is a nomination of people who have changed your heart, given you a longing for education, changed our education system or way of thinking to meet our student’s needs and engaged them at their level, or even assisting fellow educators so that the delivery of education can be done even during a Pandemic … and this year’s recipient has accomplished just that. Our recipient has made a big footprint in our county and even further, as to classes taught, students assisted, and programs presented. They have taken a much-needed program in today’s world and received recognition at the Regional, State, and even National level. Their efforts have brought between $70,000 to $100,000 in additional funding to our area as grants, fund raisers, and awards for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program. They even were awarded an extremely competitive Farm to School Grant in 2020 which allowed them to hire a part time (temp) person to serve as a Garden Educator and lead garden clubs and activities in Wasco County. This program partnered with the Migrant Education program which let to training staff in plant science, horticulture, and plant-to-food connections. Our Educator has taught and coordinated over 200 classes, fun field days, workshops, and many other programs that have engaged over 1000 youth along with 40-70 Wasco County Educators in the many aspects of STEM. They were KEY during the COVID-19 response in by providing Professional Development training for 428 Educators and support staff through the SOESD EDTech 2020 Virtual Teaching Conference along with many trainings right here in Wasco County. We felt a past student stated it best as to why this educator should be considered for this recognition: ‘She is an outstanding example of a dedicated and passionate educator. She is dedicated to the quality of her programs, and she works constantly to adapt and improve with a focus on her students' needs and interests. She takes an interest in her students' individual success--something I can attest to personally. Her programs were crucial to my success throughout high school. I entered her robotics program as a shy kid who liked robots, and I left as a confident team leader, an engineer, and confident in my future. She provided me many valuable opportunities. She hired me to work with 4-H for summer camps and STEM programs. She encouraged me through the college application process and wrote many letters of recommendation. She helped me get a summer internship at the Columbia Gorge STEM Hub. During my internship there, she continued to act as a mentor, and I would often come to her for advice. During my time in the robotics program, she encouraged her teams to get involved in community outreach by volunteering. Finally, I know Lu strives to ensure her programs are accessible to traditionally underserved students. I remember for one 4-H camp I helped at, we left The Dalles early in the morning, drove three hours, and hosted a free robotics camp for 20 students in a Latinx community. The students learned about robotics, coding, and STEM, and took home their own robots at the end of the day. There is much more I could write to explain how deserving Lu is of this honor. Please consider recognizing the huge impact she's had on the lives of so many youth in The Dalles.’ We totally agree with Jacob Field, a past Outstanding Youth Award Recipient, and could Everyone please help me congratulate Lu Seapy as our Outstanding Educator of the Year.” said TDACC Director Lisa Farquharson.
Pictured: Carolyn Layson accepts the 2020 Woman of the Year Award.
“She has a passion for The Dalles and the people in it. She has led many projects and efforts for the betterment of her community. She truly has a gift of leadership … she will delegate efficiently and in a manner that will keep asking if you can do more to help and before you know it the project is done and complete! Our recipient will NEVER ask anyone to do a task that she has not already done or isn’t willing to do herself. We all know one of these amazing volunteers and we treasure the time that we get to work with them. She is not content to just belong to a service organization she must serve. She volunteers to be on working committees for projects and her committees actually get the tasks done. If you had the privilege you can see this magic happen when watching the many activities that The Dalles Lions club does for The Dalles and communities around us. She can be seen working with our youth and testing their eyesight and her follow through with the students is so essential. To hear the stories being told of students receiving a much-needed pair of glasses so that they can see the words on the chalkboard, read all the words in their books without it being fuzzy, or finally seeing colors vividly just makes you straighten your shoulders and be proud of the things that are accomplished daily. If you need a concession stand at your event you will not find a better person to run the stand, from organizing tasks, keeping volunteers on schedule, to the cleanup! She is also incredibly involved as a volunteer for our Veterans in our area. She cares so much for the individuals that make up our amazing community. She is a volunteer that may seem invisible, but she is vital to the success of our community.” said TDACC director, Lisa Farquharson.
Pictured Captain Raymond Morris accepts the 2020 Man of the Year Award
“He has only been serving our community for a little over 3 years but to know him seems like he has lived here for a lifetime. He has stepped in and stepped up to assist in a capacity that makes a daily impact for the community members in and around The Dalles. His passion to serve people has driven him to go above and beyond his call of duty to The Dalles during this pandemic. Along with serving the community He has been able to revive a retail outlet that gives back to the community in ways, that we at times take for granted. The store was having issues but by implementing new standards, procedures, and rotation the store is back to contributing to backs to its community. Hard worker really is an understatement according to everyone that knows our recipient and we know that these long hard hours of service are backed by COMPASSION and a fire in his heart to serve others. Our recipient over sees many programs that involve retail, food, youth, serving our community, and being the minister of a church that reached many in our area. They have made sure that their service isn’t only in our town but to those in need for all reasons … even making sure that our First Responders were taken care of while they are fighting fires to save our land, crops, and homes. They made sure they were fed and had personal supplies at their fire camps. He has been seen day in and day out he has made sure that the Food Pantry was open 5 days a week so that our community members did not have to go without the essentials needed.” said TDACC director Lisa Farquharson.
Pictured: Megan Thompson accepts the 2020 Agricultural Achievement Award.
“As an Oregon State Graduate majoring in Ag Sciences our recipient demonstrated their passion for Agriculture when returning to The Dalles and found their first calling in accepting a position of being the needed position of field liaison between the growers and the processing companies. As she continued in her role as a liaison, she became a strong advocate and necessary communicator for both the growers and the processors. She continues to be engaged on many boards that focus on agriculture and is always looking for opportunities to put agriculture at the table around the state and region. She has served on County, State and Regional boards making sure to represent our area and the SWEET Cherry. She most recently became the Chairperson for AgLink and is active in the work they do to promote, educate communities all over Oregon about Agriculture. She was also appointed as the Chairman of the Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission. BUT WAIT ... there is more. Many of our Ag reps are immerged into their field but our recipient strives to be incredibly involved in her community. She has helped with fundraisers for local non-profits, donated to many of our local events, and is active in helping St. Mary’s academy while helping her sons with their boy scout projects and fundraisers. She sits on the The Dalles Area Chamber’s Board of Directors to make sure that agriculture is represented, present in our discussions, and our decision-making processes. Most recently our recipient brought a little bit more than cherries to our community. As the new President of Cascade Cherry Growers, she oversaw the project of the new cherry hydrocooling facility in Dallesport, Wa and this winter some of you actually saw the inside of this warehouse. Cascade Cherry Growers so graciously donated the space to hold the over 50 pallets of PPE supplies that were distributed to businesses in Wasco County. She also doubled as the forklift driver unloading all those shipments. YES, she is a CAN-DO woman who really does get things done and all with her community in her heart!!!” said TDACC Director, Lisa Farquharson.
Pictured: Columbia Gorge Honda and Toyota accepts the 2020 Outstanding Business of the Year Award
“They are a new company with an old footprint. They came to our community with a heart for people and a willingness to serve. They had their staff getting plugged into different committees to see where they could help with different projects and events. They rolled up their sleeves and embodied the terms Community Service by helping with community clean ups and when we say HELP, we mean the coordination, picking up trash, and helping to dispose of it! This business truly can make things happen! They quickly learned what ALL ABOUT THE CHERRY means for The Dalles and jumped in and helped sponsor a new way to celebrate the Cherry when we were told that we could not gather. They quickly discovered and helped highlight the cherry and all it does to help our region, while encouraging people to spend local dollars in local businesses. They were not just a sponsor, but they helped with the marketing to increase the footprint … (cough cough) pawprint of the campaign. They did not let the pandemic keep us from celebrating our seniors. They created banners that were displayed in front of the dealership and then given to local graduates. They featured the seniors on their reader board for all of us to see as we drove by each day. They helped many families enjoy the unique and creative Drive-In Movie at the Sunshine Mill & Winery by sponsoring an evening while collecting goods for the Columbia Gorge Food Bank! We call that a win-win in partnership and collaboration. Many have seen their fun contests on their social media platforms with many opportunities for community members to win prizes, gift cards, but mostly the chance to have their picture taken with Lady! AND we just must mention one more campaign that they did during the holidays this year. They took the time to run a contest but also featured a small business each day to promote shopping local and the importance of keeping all our dollars local.” said TDACC Director, Lisa Farquharson.
Pictured: Dr. Peter Peruzzo and Mrs. Karen Peruzzo accepts the 2020 Outstanding Philanthropists Award
“Among their other community involvement, they have shown particular interest in supporting the Chaplain’s Fund, which helps patients of MCMC’s medical system facing emergency situations. Their support of the Chaplain’s Fund over the years has made it possible for our most vulnerable community members to have the medications and supplies they need as they are discharged from the hospital. Their support has helped to provide gift cards for the hungry, and temporary shelter for those in need. They have provided handmade quilts as raffle prizes, and volunteered their time for various community projects.” said Mid-Columbia Health Foundation
Pictured: Wasco Masonic Lodge accepts the 2020 Outstanding Philanthropic Group Award.
“This group provides programing support for The Dalles Art Center and the SMART program. They help fund the Community Backpack Program, putting food in the hands of children and families. They provide grant funding for teachers in our local schools sharing the burden of educating today’s youth. They sponsor contests and volunteer their time in the community. They provide $6,000 worth of scholarships to graduating seniors in the Columbia Gorge each year. They ask nothing in return,” said Mid-Columbia Health Foundation.
