The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Below we present several well-thought-out nominations for Volunteer of the Year for 2014.

Karen Depew for Volunteer of the Year

I would like to Nominate Karen Depew as Volunteer of the Year. I know I only know a very small part of Karen Depew’s volunteer activities, but hope others will fill in the blanks. This past year, Karen has been one of the Coulee Pioneer Museum’s most active volunteers, and, along with Constance Wilson, has organized several displays at the museum, not only bringing the ideas to the museum but rounding up the things necessary for the displays and getting them delivered and set up.

During the last great fund raising, the Historical Calendars, Karen took the lead to help with the setup, getting the right photos, and arranging for printing and assembling.

She is a sub teacher at the school and very active in several activities through the school.

So please help myself and other show Karen that we recognize her for her long time volunteering to the community and school system.

Birdie Hensley

Emily Robinson for Volunteer of the Year

It’s about time the community knows what a jewel Emily Robinson, the owner of Flo’s Café, is!! She has put on countless dinners and benefits for us. She always donates for all kinds of kids and sports. She has a good heart and helps out whenever she is needed. She is a very civic minded one and helps the chamber a lot.

Her loyal patrons and customers as well as her sister Patsy can all vouch for her on her many activities.

Please consider her for Volunteer of the Year, okay?

I would love to see her face when she’s told! She is a very worthy person!

Shirley Shelby

Marysville, WA

Earl Cole for Volunteer of the Year

It has been brought to my attention by more than a few people (I agree) that Earl Cole would be a good candidate for Volunteer of the Year.

He isn’t in the spotlight but does his good deeds on the quiet. If he hears of someone being ill or in the hospital, he has stopped and mowed their lawns without a word being said. When he hauls brush and sees some in front of homes he will stop and pick it up, add to his own, no word said. When he is on the job he goes beyond and sticks around changing light bulbs, moving sprinklers and other small jobs.

This sums up a very caring person. So, we would like to add him to the candidacy for Volunteer of the Year. He is very deserving.

Jerry Beierman

Ray Clover

Lonna Bussert

Kris Piccolo

Felix Marcolin

Donna White for Volunteer of the Year

I would like to nominate Donna White as Volunteer of the Year.

Since moving to the Grand Coulee Dam area in the early 1980s, Donna has been very active in our community, the unsung worker that steps in anywhere she is needed.

Donna has been a volunteer “Grandma” in the Grand Coulee Dam schools, where her granddaughter Areielle is a student, and in Nespelem, where daughter Tracy is a classroom teacher.

Donna leads an exercise class at the senior center, and, once a month, takes the seniors to the convalescent center in Grand Coulee to exercise with the residents there.

Donna is an active member of Zion Lutheran Church and sells cards and stationery to support its Sunday School.

And once a week, for four months out of the year, Donna is hard at work at the local food bank, organizing other volunteers and helping them to help others by stocking shelves, bagging rice, filling grocery sacks to be loaded into cars, and cleaning up when the afternoon ends.

Selecting Donna White to be Volunteer of the Year would be a great way to say “Thank You!” to her and to let Donna know that we recognize and appreciate her service to our community.

Linda Rise

Fern Blaylock for Volunteer of the Year

We are nominating Fern Blaylock for the Volunteer of the Year, as a belated acknowledgement of the countless hours and years she has served our communities with her support of the local food bank, the needy, and the students in our schools. Fern is the inveterate volunteer, helping people of all ages in our area.

Fern has managed the Grand Coulee Dam Area Food Bank for the past 13 years. During that time she has overseen a large growth in families served each week. When she started, the Food Bank served about 10 families with a few items, and now serves up to 160 with several bags of food from multiple sources. That means she has had to supervise the corresponding increase in volume of donations, commodities, storage, and equipment. She also supervises the volunteers from the community, who pick up, stock, bag, distribute, and deliver from the various sources to the recipients, throughout the year. In order to do this, Fern has to coordinate with various food programs and participate in regional food bank associations. That means keeping up with ever changing government rules and regulations. Her former business and government work experience is an asset for dealing with the various agencies. Locals requiring community service time can count on Fern to provide them work and supervision. Although Fern refuses to take compensation for her job at the food bank, she works countless hours over and above what is required, despite physical limitations and pain. There is no other local organization that does more for the needy than the Food Bank on a regularly scheduled basis.

Through the Grand Coulee Dam Area Charities (a community of local churches), Fern manages a funding and referral process to help the needy in our communities with such things as: food, clothing, utility bills, housing deposits, gas, or even a hot meal or warm place to spend the night.

Fern has volunteered for the children of the Grand Coulee Dam School District for more than a decade. She has worked with all grade levels from pre-school to seniors in high school. She has tutored students in reading, math, and writing. She has supported and volunteered in the P.T.A, Americorp, and SHARP Kids programs and most recently the Colville Tribal Foster Grandparent Program. As a school mentor, she helps struggling students and those needing to fulfill their community service requirements. In the past, she has even ridden the morning and afternoon buses to help supervise and reinforce safety and student compliance to the bus rules.

As a Foster Grandparent volunteer, Fern has spent the last six and a half years working with the kindergarten class in the morning and the first grade class in the afternoon. She tutors and helps students complete their work, and individually tests them in order to help teachers monitor progress. Even though the Foster Grandparent program was recently discontinued, and she no longer gets a gas and food stipend, Fern continues to work an 8 hour plus day. Many children in the school know her and call her “Grandma Fern”.

The Tribal Foster Grandparent Program nominated Fern for a Washington State Volunteer Service Award. On April 25, 2013, in recognition of the 2013 Volunteer Appreciation Week, Governor Jay Inslee presented her with one of 44 awards during the Ninth Annual Governor’s Volunteer Service Awards at the governor’s mansion in Olympia. If the state recognizes her, why shouldn’t we?

Fern is truly a treasure who does all she does because she loves people and children, and wants them to have the best in life. For many area students and teachers, Fern is their “Volunteer of the Year” every day, and they love her.

Thank you Fern, for all the people you help!

Pastor Adrian Harris, Grand Coulee

Nazarene Church

Rev Shawn Neider,

Zion and Bethel Churches

Father Robert Himes,

St. Henry Catholic Church

Monty Fields,

Grand Coulee

Methodist Church

Jan and Keith Erickson, Carolyn McNeil, Bob and Pat Piekarski, Mary Jane Bailey

Kathy Rice for Volunteer of the Year

This last summer I quit my job and brought my mother home to live with me and my husband.

I knew that her Dementia was quite far along, but I was not totally prepared for the grief that would assault me once I got a clear picture of her world.

I soon knew two things; my mother would never have wanted to be like this, and, that I could never let anyone else take care of her. My heart broke.

I was saved this summer by a neighbor who began to drive to my home several times a week. We bundled my mother into an adult stroller and we walked — often 1.5 hours. Some walks were cut short by mom’s needs, but many were nice and long.  

My neighbor talked to me. She told me about the land where we live; she knows much of the history. Her stories are interesting, and I felt my heart healing.

In learning of her, I found that she is a very busy woman. She works as a tax volunteer at the Senior Center each year. She is very active in church, community functions, and activities, and she’s a Hospice volunteer. She is active in the goings-on of her family farm and was feeding a home full of hired men through much of the summer. Yet still, she made time to literally save my life.

She’s a beautiful person inside and out, as I am sure many could attest to this.

With all my heart, I nominate Kathy Rice as your Volunteer of the Year.

JoAnn Ehlers

Kathy Rice for Volunteer of the Year

I would like to nominate Kathy Rice for the honor of “Volunteer of the Year.”

Kathy has for many years been the treasurer for the Lions Club and taken care of the cemetery books. If you need information on purchasing plots or the location of a loved one, a call to Kathy will get you all the information you need.

For many years, Kathy has been involved with the Hospice Program as a volunteer in our area. She has touched many families with her willingness to come to their homes and visit or just sit with dying patients so that the caregivers can have some free time.

Kathy has been treasurer for the Methodist Women’s Group of Washington for many years also. If you need books audited for any organization, she is always willing to do this for just the love of numbers and wanting to help people.

Kathy, through the years, has been involved in 4-H and Girl Scouts as a volunteer leader.

Kathy is one of those gracious, warmhearted, and caring people that is always ready to help anyone that needs her help. It takes a special person to be a Hospice Volunteer and Kathy is one of those people.

I hope you will all vote for Kathy Rice as Volunteer of the Year.

Diane Canady

Donna Shear for Volunteer of the Year

I am writing to nominate Donna Shear as Volunteer of the Year. Donna spends every Saturday at the VFW donating her time organizing items, cleaning and making sure everyone is taken care of.

Donna will be back again this year, and she works with pride. The veterans who also work there refer to her as the “Boss.” Donna does whatever is asked of her and never a complaint is had.

Donna takes items home to mend, wash, iron, and she washed approximately 50-60 coats so they could be given away. She is always one of the first ones at the VFW and one of the last ones to leave.

I have been fortunate to meet her, and I call her a very dear friend. She is very kind and giving.  She always makes sure that the little ones she knows has a gift at Christmas, takes care of homes that are part-time residences for others, mows lawns, weeds and never sits still.

Please consider Donna as a Grand Coulee area volunteer for 2014.

Ms. Gerry L. Salstrom

Bubba Egbert for Volunteer of the Year

I would like to nominate Bubba Egbert as “Volunteer of the Year.” For the past few years he has coached several local youths in football, basketball and baseball. Being a coach is a very demanding position to take, and he takes it in stride.

My son is one of the local youths who have had the honor of gaining knowledge and experience, in the sports that he loves, from Bubba. The knowledge and lessons he has learned will benefit him for a lifetime.

Bubba not only teaches the fundamentals of the game, but also the importance of being a team player and how to accept the fact that a bad call will be made and a call may be missed. After all, life isn’t always fair, but that the children need to stay focused and move on and continue to work together toward the ultimate goal, which is to work as a team and support each other. He also stresses the importance of good grades and being accountable for your choices and actions.

I don’t want to forget his wife (Dana Egbert), who has to deal with just as much (or more) as Bubba does. Being a parent of an athlete is demanding as well, but I love it and support my children to no end. But to be a coach, I can’t even imagine. He has to focus on the children, on the plays and the schedules. All of which he has to work into his own life and family demands. I’ve told him before that I don’t know how he does it, but I am glad he does!

The time and lessons he gives will guide my son, and all the other youth, throughout their life. And for this I am thankful and believe he deserves to be recognized as “Volunteer of the Year.” Because all the time, effort and knowledge he puts into our local youth will pay off. I believe we will see great things from these future Raider Athletes, all thanks to Bubba Egbert and us dedicated parents.

Niki Wippel

Zekkethal “Val” Vargas-Thomas for Volunteer of the Year

Val has been my basketball coach since about 1980, when I was the age of 9, and I still go to her for basketball and life guidance. I remember being about 4th grade or so and a member of the Nespelem girls’ basketball team “Val’s Gal’s”. She was one of my first coaches, and to this day continues to volunteer coach for the youth at the Nespelem Community Center. She’s just rounding out the end of her 3rd & 4th grade boys season.

Val has been part of the committee for Mill Pond Days since the event started in 2004. Mill Pond Days was started to bring the community out to celebrate the Town of Nespelem. The event includes a parade, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, 5k run, a horseshoe tournament, community vendors, among other things. Val volunteered to lead this event in the beginning and has been our president for years and not always by choice. As a community we were very lucky to have someone take on such a feat, and she didn’t even have to ask! Mill Pond Days is around Father’s Day weekend in June.

Val is also a breast cancer survivor! I, as part of the community and not only a friend of Val’s, am very blessed that she was and is such a fighter and continues to provide community support, breast cancer awareness, and early detection. Whether it’s donating to the cause, being a shoulder to lean on or participating in a fundraiser, she is there to lend any support needed.

In 2011, Val coordinated the Northwest Indian Youth Conference, which was sponsored by the Colville Tribes and lasted 7 days. This conference is voted on by the youth 2 years in advance and in the spring of 2009, Colville Tribal youth got the bid when the Spokane Tribe was hosting. This great endeavor includes scheduling workshops and key-note speakers to provide information and leadership to approximately 1,500 youth from Tribes all over the Pacific Northwest, along with a traditional dinner and pow-wow. Val gathered and coordinated all the volunteers to put on this huge event along with locating additional funding to make it a true success.

Val has worked with the Tribal Health Program in various positions and she always seems to go above and beyond for the people. Whether it means staying after hours and often sacrificing her family time for the community, she schedules workshops and trainings for suicide prevention, diabetes prevention, among many, many others.

Even though Val’s known me all my life, I know her from another role, on a more personal level. My auntie Donna Williams (who passed away 5/8/14) was very fond of Val’s daughter, Kim, and that’s when I got to know “Kim’s mom Val”. I noticed how she always had kids with her and I assumed they were hers, but turned out they were friends’ or their extended family members’. That was when I began looking up to Val as another “mother figure.” To this day, Val’s family consists of a full household of her first two children, Kimberly (Vargas) McCall and Augustus Smith, and through the grace of God, she and her husband Joe added 6 additional children to their family. The world truly needs more people like Val and Joe to accept children as their own through adoption and foster parenting.

This is just all I can remember in my 43 years on this earth. Although my earliest memory goes back to probably 1976, when I was in kindergarten, I’m pretty sure there is so much more that Val has done for this community before that. I know she will say she couldn’t have done it alone, which is true, but it takes someone with her passion to get people going and keep them going. She would say she doesn’t want any recognition for anything but with what she continues to do every year for the community, she deserves to be recognized.

Please consider my nomination for Zekkethal “Val” Vargas-Thomas as Volunteer of the Year 2014. Thank you.

Deidre Williams