Recognizing service
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce General Ambassador Alan Heroux, left, presents ambassador Terri Riley Brown with the Ambassador of the Year award at the chamber’s annual meeting Oct. 17.
COURTESY PHOTO/MOSES LAKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Outgoing Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Chair Jim McKiernan, left, presents Kevin Burgess with the Chairman’s Award, in recognition of Burgess’ service to the community.
The team from REC Silicon took home the People’s Choice Award for the best-decorated table at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and banquet. The theme this year was “It’s a Fiesta.”
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | October 24, 2023 2:09 PM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce honored two of its members at its 82nd annual meeting and banquet Oct. 17.
Terri Riley Brown of Assured Home and Hospice was named the Ambassador of the Year, and Kevin Burgess of Windermere Real Estate received the Chairman’s Award.
The event’s theme this year was “It’s a Fiesta,” and most of the 30 tables were decorated in accordance with that theme, said Lori Robins, marketing director for the Chamber. There’s a People’s Choice award for the best-decorated table, and REC Silicon won this year, Robins said. Summer Wood Alzheimer's Special Care Center was the runner-up.
The Ambassador of the Year Award is selected by the ambassador team, Robins said. The chamber ambassadors are a group of chamber members who represent the Chamber at ribbon cuttings, grand openings and other events, she explained. Ambassador General Alan Heroux presented the award.
“Terri is recognized from her fellow Chamber ambassadors for going the extra mile to help the Moses Lake Chamber with ribbon cuttings, Business after Hours, and all Chamber events,” Robins wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “Terri is also very active in our senior community with helping provide information to our aging community and senior events. She is also another great person who gives to our community over and over again!”
The Chair Award recipient is chosen by the outgoing board chair, Robins said, a position held this year by Grant County Fairgrounds Manager Jim McKiernan. McKiernan was unable to attend the meeting, so Heroux announced the winner at the banquet and McKiernan presented the award to Burgess in person Monday.
“Kevin Burgess: the name rings synonymous with someone willing to help,” McKiernan wrote. “That’s a hard trait to find these days as there seems to be fewer and fewer people willing to jump in and volunteer their time. But Kevin is unique in his ability to jump in and he never makes you feel like it’s a burden to help. I have been lucky to have Kevin on the Fair Advisory Committee. I did not know him prior to my current stint as director of the fairgrounds, but I am grateful to call him a friend.
“The Fairgrounds is not alone in the help that Kevin is willing to give. Friends, organizations, his clients, all benefit from this multi-talented guy (he can rebuild an engine) who can also dig up a fryer, if necessary, for a booth at the fairgrounds. Kevin was instrumental in helping another business in town expand their small restaurant to offer outside seating. Thanks to Kevin, many organizations in the county have someone they can count on.”
The Chamber is required to hold a meeting every year, Robins said, and it’s at that time that the chamber’s board of directors installs new officers and members, as well as honoring outgoing board members. Those members were Don Kersey, formerly with the Port of Moses Lake and now with Group14; Cameron Whittle; Gregg Fletcher, of Confluence Health; Bob Richardson, of the Columbia Basin Herald and Carlos Barragan, of La Imperial Furniture.
The incoming board chair is Jason Avila, of Renew.
“That’s why we had the fiesta-themed annual meeting,” Robins said. Jason Avila is our new board chair, and he's our first Hispanic chair,” Robins said. “We have Hispanic people on the board, but he's the first to be the chair. It’s exciting. So he and Deb (Doran Martinez, chamber executive director) picked the fiesta theme as a celebration of that.”
Moses Lake Chamber 2023-24 Board of Directors
Jason Avila — Renew Chair
Jim McKiernan — Grant County Fairgrounds — Past Chair
Kim Pope — Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin — Chair-Elect
Roger Silva — Hayden Homes — Secretary/Treasurer
Jeanette Ferguson — Danco Excavation
Scott Freidig — General Dynamics
Rosenda Henley — DSHS
Monty Sabin — Moses Lake School District
Alan Heroux — Realty Executives Real Estate
Shane Heston — Robert M. Trask Agency
Mellisa Klitzke — Washington Trust Bank
Rafelita Tijerina — OIC
AJ Escamilla — Platt Electrical
Brant Mayo — Grant County EDC
Steven Brooks — Samaritan
Moses Lake Chamber ambassadors
Alan Heroux — Realty Executives Real Estate — Ambassador general
Chris Arnberg — American Family Insurance
Chris Nelson — Washington Trust Bank
Liza Springer — VYVE Broadband
Kandi Bersanti — Windermere K-2 Real Estate
Connie Luna — Samaritan Healthcare
James Shank — Edward Jones Financial Advisor
Margie Milbrandt — Samaritan Healthcare
Wendi Stark-Ebel — Smith Martin
Shawn Koethke — Country Insurance and Financial Services
Kathy Mitchell — Washington Trust Bank
Terri Riley Brown — Assured Home Health & Hospice
Kimberly Tibbs — Central Bonded Collectors
Kelly Price — Guild Mortgage Company
Karisti Cox — Summer Wood Alzheimer’s Special Care Center
Steve Crapson — Allstate Insurance
Kevin Farias — Caged Cleaning
Jeremy Boetger — Michelle Boetger Graphic Designs
Michaelle Boetger — Care Moses Lake
Anne Fisher — Guild Mortgage
Roni Smith — A & R Mechanical
Tara Zerbo — Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
Victoria Drake — Springwater Insurance Group
Mellisa Klitzke — Washington Trust
Herman Schreven — LocalTel Communications
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