Othello — About 270 members of the Othello community turned out for the Othello Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet recently. Besides dinner, the evening featured a silent auction and awards for Othello’s teachers, business, civil servant(s) and citizen of the year.

The banquet is the chamber’s only fundraiser, according to chamber director Amy Hurlbut. The event raised more than $8,000 through the auction and about another $9,600 in sponsorships. “All the money we raise goes to run chamber operations throughout the year,” said Hurlbut.

The banquet was emceed by city administrator Wade Farris, and Rep. Dan Newhouse made an appearance.

Two teachers were honored, one for K-5 and the other for grades 6-12. The K-5 Teacher of the Year was Anna Peterson, who teaches Life Skills at Wahitis Elementary School. Nominations for Peterson cited her dedication to her students in a particularly difficult area of teaching.

“Here we have a teacher that has suffered several broken bones, concussions, pinches, scratches and let’s not forget numerous bites from the kids in her class,” read one of the nominations. “That in itself is enough to make anyone want to turn and run, but not her. She sticks by her students and never gives up on them or their families. She’s always looking for new ways to improve their way of life.”

The 6-12 Teacher of the Year was Othello High School teacher Joshua Barber. One testimonial to Barber from a former student said that Barber “gave his all” to helping the student and his peers become great students.

The award for Business of the Year went to Columbia Bank for their effort in community involvement, including the use of the bank’s reader board to announce community events. Maria Quezada and Penny Morris were on hand to receive the award on behalf of the bank.

Civil Servants of the Year were the volunteers of Adams County Fire District No. 5. Nominations praised the department’s dedication and willingness to take time out of their personal lives to protect others.

Newhouse presented the Citizen of the Year award personally to Jon Warling. Nominations for Warling cited his involvement in Rotary, service on the City Council, and his business, Mar-Jon Labor, which supplies agricultural workers to local farmers and employs about 2,000 people, according to one nomination. “He works very hard at keeping the local agricultural workforce employed throughout the year,” wrote one person who nominated Warling. Others used words like “humble,” “warm-hearted” and “admired” to describe him.

The focus of this year’s banquet was doing business in the local community, said Hurlbut, pointing out that from tires to groceries to medical care, almost anything an Othello resident needs can be found within the community. “We want to drive home the point that you don’t have to leave Othello to get what you want. It’s a 45-minute drive to the Tri-Cities and half an hour to Moses Lake. We need to get people to spend their money here.”