Shanie Rountree was honored last weekend as Rathdrum’s Citizen of the Year and she couldn’t be more thrilled.

Rountree was actually nominated for many awards, including Professional of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

“It was amazing to be nominated by so many people,” she said. “I love Rathdrum. I love the business owners and the businesses and the citizens. It’s just a wonderful town, so to be named citizen of the year is just such a great honor to me.”

Rountree, membership and events director of the Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce, said she was surprised to be nominated, but she had a heads up that she had won.

“It was hard to keep it a surprise from me because I’m the one that orders all the plaques,” she said, laughing.

Rountree moved to Bayview in 2000. Her grandparents owned a motel there so she had been to visit many times and knew this was the place for her.

She now lives on a 10-acre plot in Twin Lakes with her husband and two dogs. The couple calls it their “own little Idaho.”

In any spare time when she’s not organizing events, Rountree loves to read. She said her favorite series is “The Wheel of Time” by Robert Jordan.

The Press sat down with Rountree to talk about her job and life in general.

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How did you come to work for the Chamber of Commerce?

I did volunteer work for the chamber. I got to know the people there and the board members when I worked at the Panhandle State Bank. The bank was very involved in the chamber. I was the senior customer service representative there.

In the summer of 2013 the gal doing Rathdrum Days just disappeared, so they called me and asked if I was willing to help them. Me and Tammy Phelps put the whole thing together in five weeks.

At that time the chamber didn’t have an employee doing what I do, they had an office assistant and that was it. They had decided earlier that year they needed to hire somebody for my position, so they offered me the position. And I was thrilled. There was a complete, formal interview process and I was hired.

Why do you think this is important work?

It’s very, very important for the businesses in Rathdrum to have a voice. We’re their voice for any legislative matter with the state and on a federal level, because it affects our businesses.

The chamber is the first place people call when they come in or relocate, so we can refer a lot of business members to those people.

The chamber brings a lot of people to Rathdrum so they can see what a wonderful place it is. We’re very involved with the economic development of Rathdrum. It gives our business members a chance to network and get to know each other.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

As much stress as it is, planning the events. I love planning the events. I think my No. 1 reason I like doing that, is the volunteers. We have a number of volunteers that put in hours of their time to help make these events happen. Working with the employees of the city, especially the parks and recreation department, that’s one of my favorite things.

I think it’s just the collaborative effort to bring together such wonderful events. Rathdrum Days is huge, it’s a 3-day event and it takes a lot of people and I just enjoy working with everyone.

What are your goals right now for Rathdrum?

Economic development. I’d like to see Rathdrum grow, but at a responsible pace. And to promote Rathdrum as a great place to be; a great place to live, work, play.

What is a quality you most admire in someone else?

A giving heart. There are so many giving people in Rathdrum. Whenever there’s anyone in need, our community, they step up, it’s amazing. So a giving heart, we have a lot of that here.