Whitefish honors its top citizens
Jill Evans, left, presents the Great Whitefish Award to Carol Blake.
Richard Atkinson, known to many as Stumptown's "Old Man Walking," was named Whitefish's Citizen of the Year and retiring North Valley Hospital executive Carol Blake was honored with the Great Whitefish Award at the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet on June 2.
Also honored at the dinner were winners of the Chamber's other annual Community Awards:
• Business of the Year - Wright's Furniture, presented to owner Frank Wright in recognition of the company's 30-plus years serving the needs of the Whitefish community, and for involving themselves (and their employees) in a variety of projects designed to make Whitefish a better place to live, work and do business.
• Tourism Business of the Year- Whitefish Mountain Resort, presented to Dan Graves in recognition of the leadership role played by the ski area in establishing Whitefish as a world-class destination resort, beginning with the resort's founding in 1947, and continuing to the present day. Judges who decided this first-time award noted the ski area's outstanding performance the last two winters - despite the economic recession - and to the investment made by the resort in recent years to add popular new summer season attractions such as zip lines and "treetop" footpaths.
• Educator of the Year - Kindergarten instructor Lisa Olson. The award was presented by Whitefish School District Superintendent Jerry House, who described Olson as an "exceptionally skillful and dedicated educator, who has earned the respect of her students, their parents, district administrators and fellow colleagues.
• Youth Activities Volunteer of the Year - Presented to Terry Nelson for his years of service to local kids, athletes and others involved with the Whitefish youth golf program, as well as local school sports teams and organizations.
• Government Worker of the Year - Presented to Whitefish Public Works Director John Wilson in recognition of his work in guiding several major city projects, most notably the new Emergency Services Center, through to completion, in addition to performing his normal duties.