OTHELLO — Friday evening’s annual Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet went very well, Chamber Manager Jackie Wilhelm said. The event is the chamber’s only fundraiser each year and is also a chance to honor annual community award recipients. 

In addition to food from Blacky’s BBQ and dessert from The Cowpath Bakery, the banquet also featured a live auction, silent auction, various games and a raffle for a diamond necklace. 

“We're still doing the calculations and making sure we have all our ducks in our row, but we did very well,” Wilhelm said. “We had a lot of new items on the books and we had businesses that had never participated before, or even organizations that had never participated before, and it was so fun to see them do such a great job on their tables. They all went out and they made incredible centerpieces and there was just a lot of great stuff that was donated to us and I feel like that definitely contributed to how well we did on the auction side of things.”

Tickets for the event sold out, with 180 individuals attending the dinner. Wilhelm said the event’s fundraising efforts were very successful. 

For the awards, Othello Police Department Sergeant Jaime Mendoza was awarded 2023 Civil Servant of the Year, McFarland Middle School Teacher Steve Parris was awarded 2023 Grades 7-12 Educator of the Year and Lutacaga Elementary Instructional Coach Rosalba Salmeron was awarded 2023 Grades K-6 Educator of the Year.

“With the nominations this year, we got a handful — more than a handful — and our process is reviewing them, reading them, going through how many nominations came in per person, how much substance there is and just really who's making an impact for us,” Wilhelm said. 

When it came to awarding the 2023 Citizen of the Year, Wilhelm said Chamber staff and board members could not pick between two nominees, so Wilhelm proposed awarding both a Man and Woman of the Year. Othello coach and paraprofessional Rudy Ochoa Sr. was awarded 2023 Man of the Year and Port Commissioner Deena Vietzke was awarded 2023 Woman of the Year.

“We could not choose one person,” Wilhelm said. “I'm not sure if that's how we will do it again next year, but I guess we'll see how it goes with nominations and see what the community puts out for us.”

Wilhelm said this year they gave each award recipient a chance to speak during the banquet. 

“I feel like these people work so hard, not expecting anything in return, so it's only fair that we give them the time to be able to say a few words, because at the end of the day, yes, we're raising money, but at the same time we're honoring these recipients,” she said. “Let's give them that time to honor them and to learn about them. So I really liked that we did that this year.”

Guests at the banquet also voted on which of the 12 Othello organizations awarded Business of the Month in 2023 should be awarded Business of the Year. McCain Foods won the vote.

“With revamping the chamber and what we're doing moving forward, we felt like the banquet would be a great time to not only educate the public on what the chamber is trying to accomplish moving forward but also incorporate as many new businesses as we could and highlight people, organizations and businesses that have never had the opportunity to participate,” Wilhelm said. “I feel like we definitely accomplished that this year, in not only highlighting businesses that have never participated, but we invited them to sponsor a table. We invited them to get involved.”

Wilhelm talked about the feedback she has received on the event, including positive comments regarding the food, table centerpieces from event sponsors, the live auction and the event bringing the community together.

“Just talking to my board members and other people in the community, they said it was phenomenal,” she said. “They enjoyed themselves, they thought it was great … I feel like this year, it was really smooth."

The live auction, held by Jacob Barth of Chuck Yarbro Auctioneers, was new to this year’s event. 

“He did a fantastic job. We had so many people come up to us and say that he was a blast. He was just engaging with the crowd and cracking jokes and we feel like that definitely just helps the atmosphere, when someone's up there having fun. So he was definitely a highlight of the event for sure,” Wilhelm said. “Chris Dorow was our MC for the night and he’s been our MC for years and he just does a fantastic job of also keeping the crowd engaged and working with us.”

Wilhelm said that moving forward, the chamber will be considering a larger venue to allow more people to attend and participate in the event.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

    Othello coach and paraprofessional Rudy Ochoa Sr., left, was awarded 2023 Man of the Year by the Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce. Othello Police Department Sergeant Jaime Mendoza, right, was awarded 2023 Civil Servant of the Year and Port Commissioner Deena Vietzke, not pictured, was awarded 2023 Woman of the Year.
  

    The Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce awarded McFarland Middle School Teacher Steve Parris, left, 2023 Grades 7-12 Educator of the Year and Lutacaga Elementary Instructional Coach Rosalba Salmeron, right, 2023 Grades K-6 Educator of the Year.
  

    Attendees of the Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce’s annual Awards Banquet Friday evening voted McCain Foods 2023 Business of the Year. Pictured are representatives of Othello’s McCain Foods.
  

    Guests of the annual Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet Friday mingle during the evening’s festivities.