Chamber honors Whitefish's finest

Citizen of the Year

In announcing the Chamber's Citizen of the Year award, Stumptown Historical Society executive director Jill Evans noted that Richard Atkinson was well known in the community for his fundraising work and helping turn the Whitefish Middle School auditorium into to a first class performing arts center.

"What's less known is that he was a National Security Agency code breaker at one time," said Evans, a former military intelligence officer.

Atkinson's name recognition in the community rose to the level of "branding" after he donned a green T-shirt and became "Old Man Walking" to raise money to finish paying off the auditorium.

"Who would've thought that a paunchy 70-year-old man could walk for 151 days straight and raise a quarter million dollars?" he said.

Saying he "felt I touched the soul of Whitefish" during his mobile fundraising effort, Atkinson later noted that he actually gained several pounds while pounding the pavement.

"I enjoyed talking to parents who appreciated how much the auditorium has meant to their children," he noted.

Atkinson and his wife Carol had put up their home in Whitefish to secure the construction loan for the auditorium, so he reminded everyone that although $5 million had been raised, about $200,000 remains to be paid off.

The Great Whitefish Award

Carol Blake was honored with the Great Whitefish Award for her role on numerous community boards but also for her leadership in helping North Valley Hospital raise $6.2 million for its new facility south of town.

Blake has been a registered nurse since 1969 and worked as a supervisor, director of nursing, clinic nurse or occupational health nurse until 1992 when she accepted an administrative position at North Valley Hospital to develop and implement a community relations program. Seven years later, she was asked to begin the North Valley Hospital Foundation.

One of her roles has been organizer of the annual MASH-BASH fundraiser, where she portrays the TV character "Hot Lips Houlihan." Over the past 10 years, MASH-BASH events have raised $270,500.

In 2003, she received the Soroptimist International of Whitefish Montana Women of Distinction award for making a difference for women in the community. She received the hospital's Planetree Spirit of Caring award in 2009.

Youth Activities Volunteer of the Year

Former Central School principal, Whitefish Winter Carnival Prime Minister and winning high school golf coach Terry Nelson is no stranger to awards.

Nelson has been the head coach for the Bulldog girls and boys golf programs for 25 years and was inaugurated into the Montana Coaches Association's Hall of Fame in 2007.

He's been named the MCA's boys or girls coach of the year numerous times, including for last year's boys golf team, which won the state championship. He was named regional coach of the year numerous times and National Golf Coach of the Year in 2006.

A member of the Whitefish Lake Golf Course board of directors, Nelson was also recognized by Golf Digest magazine in 2007 with a Youth Development National Award.

Recalling his first job as a parks department worker in Detroit at 15 years old, Nelson said he recognized several people in the audience whom he coached when they were teenagers. Nelson also coached baseball.

Educator of the Year

Lisa Olson was named Educator of the Year. A kindergarten teacher at Muldown Elementary School, she was nominated by school superintendent Jerry House, with accolades from her boss, principal Jill Rocksund.

"Mrs. Olson is an exceptionally skillful and dedicated educator who has earned the respect of her students, their parents, district administrators and fellow colleagues," Rocksund said. "She is able to motivate all students to do their best whether they are high or low achieving students or students with special needs."

Olson was hired by the school district in 1994. In addition to her outstanding performance in the classroom, she has participated in numerous education committees and programs, including the school district's Five Year Plan Committee, the Reading Committee, and the district's Strategic Planning Committee.

Her role in building the Reading Council and the Report Card Committee was instrumental in making Muldown's ReadWell kindergarten program a success.

"She connects with individual students and helps them feel good about their learning by helping them recognize their own strengths," Rocksund said. "Many parents stop by to tell me how much Mrs. Olson has helped their children grow and develop the skills needed to be successful in school."

Whitefish Government Worker

Mayor Mike Jenson called city engineer and public works director John Wilson, winner of the Government Worker award, an "unsung hero" who took on several large projects under trying times on top of his already burdensome workload.

In addition to overseeing construction of the city's new Emergency Services Center and the downtown infrastructure and streetscaping project, Wilson helped the city secure several important stimulus grants, Jenson said.

In addition to lining up money for necessary improvements to the city's wastewater treatment plant and to get its hydroelectric plant back up and running at the city reservoir, Wilson helped Whitefish obtain a $3.5 million federal TIGER grant.

That money will be used to upgrade Second Street from Spokane to Baker, including three intersections that are critical to improving traffic flow downtown, Jenson pointed out.

"I don't do this alone," Wilson said, referring to his staff in the public works department. "I throw the ball in the air and they keep running with it."

Business of the Year

This year's Business of the Year award goes to Wright's Furniture, but many people recognized that the honor also goes to owner Frank Wright, a Good Samaritan if there ever was one.

Wright moved here from Spokane in 1976 with his parents, Montana natives, to start up a furniture business here. He and his wife have been running the successful business for the past 15 years, but his father Dick Wright still pops in once in a while.

The list of organizations Wright helps is lengthy. He not only donates beds and quilts to the Abbie Shelter and Samaritan House, he helps mow their lawn, do yard work and baby-sit children for women who are seeking help from abusive relations. He also contributes to Doug Betters' charitable organization, For the Children, which helps families with critically ill children, and Relay For Life.

"Mostly, I read the papers and find out about troubled people, people hurt by fires or car wrecks, and I offer them help," he said.

He said he learned about a 70-year-old man who took over responsibility for his grandchildren after his daughter ran into trouble. Wright gave the man a recliner but later learned the man had fallen off a roof and broken his hip. When Wright asked the man what he needed, the man asked for wood pellets to keep the house warm, and Wright had them delivered.

In another case, Wright learned from a radio station about a woman with a 12-year-old child suffering from brain cancer. He bought some sleds and took the woman's three children out for a day sledding followed by dinner.

Wright also took on the huge responsibility of keeping U.S. 93 between Happy Valley and the county landfill clear of litter as part of the Adopt-a-Highway program. He doesn't just do this in April during Clean The Fish but throughout the year. Last fall, he delivered 26 pickup loads of trash from the side of the road to the landfill.

"The staff here does such a good job, it enables me to do all these things," Wright points out.

Tourism Business of the Year

Whitefish Mountain Resort was selected as Tourism Business of the Year, a new category in the Chamber's annual awards. The resort was recognized not just for providing world-class skiing on Big Mountain but for promoting Whitefish.

"The name change got some notoriety, but in the end it was a good idea," Terry Nelson said in presenting the award. "The branding helped the town and the resort at the same time."

Resort president Dan Graves, resort spokesman Donnie Clapp and director of marketing Nick Polumbus were on hand to accept the award.

Graves recalled when he arrived here four years, he went for a walk around town and "knew this was home."

"I also knew the mountain had a lot of potential," he said. "The past few years have been tough on everyone, but we've been very fortunate. Our numbers have risen, and we expect them to increase more in the next few years."

He said he also expects to have a good summer. In addition to upgrading chair lifts, rebuilding the Outpost into the Base Lodge and seeing that the state got Big Mountain Road rebuilt, the resort has increased its offerings in the summertime, including zip lines, an alpine slide and new mountain biking trails.

On top of all this, the resort maintains its affordability — summer or winter.